Yah?
Hey…this is WAR.
It’s war for the reader’s attention.
You’ve got to involve the reader….grab him by the lapels and slam him against the virtual wall so his attention is riveted on your message. (NOT “your writing” — this is a crucial difference.)
Ever see “Raider’s Of The Lost Ark”?
150 minutes of edge-of-the-seat entertainment in a world where movies are frequently nearly 50% shorter!
If you haven’t gotten your reader’s pulse to quicken, their eyes to enlarge with curiosity and got them blank out the rest of the world…a simple itch, a small noise, a nagging worry — will pull their attention away from your message as surely as a magnet pulls iron filings.
And you’ll lose.
You must be as focused on your reader as much as the enforcer is focused on his victim.
It’s the whole energy of engagement.
Most folks who see “Raiders” don’t realize how much time has past, the movie so fully involves them.
it’s like the internal timekeeper doesn’t have any time to “tick”.
And this is why, likewise, the length of a salesletter is not nearly as important as how vibrantly it engages the reader.