Every now and then, a piece of non-fiction catches the public’s attention and draws praise and admiration from audiences.
Here are just a few of the more recent triumphs that made extensive use of copywriting patterns:
The Innovator
In 1849, a British newspaper editor named Peter Mark Roget published a set of practical copywriting patterns that he called the ‘Thesaurus of Journalism’. These patterns became so popular that they were soon adopted around the world.
Thesaurus is still in use today. It’s a reference work that provides the terms and expressions used in English-speaking regions. When you enter a new word or phrase into Thesaurus, it shows you how others have used it before and suggest alternative words and phrases to choose from.
But Roget never intended for his thesaurus to be used in just the same way that words are used in journalism. He believed that the creative process of coming up with ideas and expressing them in a compelling way could be applied to many areas of life. And so it has.
That’s how we get from Mark Roget’s original 1849 publication to a 2018 bestseller by Nick Vujicic.
Wondering Where to Send Your Wedding Invitations?
Not long after the publication of his Thesaurus, Peter Mark Roget started working with James Duff, the editor of the Daily Telegraph, on a children’s book. The result was A First Book of French Poetry for Beginners, published in 1851. A few years later, Roget and Duff collaborated on a third book, A Book of Household Management.
In all three cases, they drew from their experience of copywriting for newspapers. They wanted to provide the reader with a compelling case for why they should choose one option over another. And they knew that a good opening salvo was vital to create that sense of ‘readability’ that makes a book more appealing and easier to understand.
Even now, more than 150 years later, Roget’s copywriting patterns remain among the most popular and influential pieces of non-fiction in the world. And they haven’t lost their value. We still use them today in everything from wedding invitations to tech help prompts. They’ve even been featured in a Netflix series.
“I think it’s fair to say that if you’re looking for inspiration,” says Kate Winch, director of branding and marketing at London-based agency WIRED Business Works, “you probably won’t find a better place to be than Roget’s journals.”
Embrace the Awkward
In the early 1800s, William Winch, a British journalist, was working for the Morning Chronicle when he came across a business trip that would change his life forever. While covering the gold rush in Australia, he spent a night in an ‘outback’. Awkward. And noisy. And very cold. But most of all, very lonely.
When he returned to London, he started attending evening classes at King’s College to learn how to write. But even here, the influence of his newfound appreciation for solitude and quiet wouldn’t leave him. One of his early efforts was a series of essays on the “art of conducting oneself with grace in social situations”. These early essays would go on to inspire a whole genre of writing: the etiquette guide.
Of course, not all etiquette guides are created equal. Some are quite old-fashioned and overly formal in tone. But as an introduction to cultural norms, they can be quite useful. One of the more recent and successful examples of this type of writing is Emily Post’s 1922 classic, Etiquette. Not only does it cover the most essential social graces, it also provides the reader with helpful tips on how to introduce new manners and customs to their social circle. And today, one of the first things that anyone thinks about when they hear ‘Emily Post’ is her classic 1922 etiquette guide.
Tell Me More
In today’s world, a surprising number of people still use fax machines. They’re still around because they’re useful. It’s quicker to use a fax than to write out a long letter or print out a scanned document. But more than that, these days, people use fax machines because they like the familiarity. It takes less time to type in a fax number than it does to say ‘hello’ over the phone.
What was once a luxury item used primarily for business purposes has now become a mundane part of daily life for many. But that doesn’t mean that it’s lost its value. Far from it. In 2018 alone, U.S. consumers spent more than $13.5 billion on products related to mobile phones and $7.6 billion on printer cartridges.
If you’re still curious about what all the commotion is about, you can download the trial version of WIRED Business Works’ InMobiDoc. It’s a quick and easy way to create professional-looking invoices, statements, or presentations. And it was designed with copywriting in mind.
With InMobiDoc, you can take a narrative approach. Tell a story with your documents. Make them interesting and easy to follow. Then, when you’re done, simply print out the results and hit ‘send’.
The possibilities are endless. You can use any text as the basis for your invoices, statements, or presentations. Then, simply add images and some callouts to make them more engaging.
As you can see, all of these cases demonstrate the enormous influence that Peter Mark Roget’s journal writings have had on contemporary culture. Not only did he pioneer the use of structured copywriting for non-fiction, he also popularized the idea that a creative approach could be used to solve practical problems. And in so doing, he changed the way that we see the world. Not bad for a guy who started out with nothing more than a quill and a pot of ink.
“These days, it’s commonplace to see people cite Rogers as the source of ideas,” says Kate Winch. “Whether they’re wedding invitations or business proposals, the elegant simplicity of the designs are unmistakable.”