How to Write Greeting Card Verse

Posted by Anonymous , 9/4/2007 Tags:WriteGreetingCardVerse
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How to Write Greeting Card Verse

Introduction

Many would-be freelance greeting card writers make the same mistake. They read the ordinary, trite verses found in cards at the drugstore and think, "I can do that!" But it's not as easy as it looks. The successful freelance greeting card writer must learn to exploit ordinary language to guarantee a sale.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Steps

1

Step One

Respect greeting card verse as it is. You can make improvements, yes, but only from the inside out. You have to learn to write trite verse before you can write quality verse.
2

Step Two

Rid yourself of the notion that greeting card verse is poetry. It's not poetry, it's ordinary speech expressed in the framework of meter and rhyme.
3

Step Three

Express yourself in down-to-earth, everyday language. People prefer this conversational, simple style in their greeting cards.
4

Step Four

Read various greeting cards to observe content, verse pattern, writing style and rhyme schemes.
5

Step Five

Reword published cards. This is called paraphrasing.
6

Step Six

Determine what you'd like to say, and stick to one basic idea. Choose your words carefully to convey your idea.
7

Step Seven

Choose a message that is heartfelt, personal and yet general enough to meet the buying needs of the public. For instance, a get well card should be appropriate for both a cancer patient and a person with a broken leg. Marketability is key to the greeting card editors.

Overall Tips & Warnings

  • Remember that you are writing for someone else. When a woman in Missouri buys a birthday card for her sister in Ohio, she considers the message in the greeting card her own.
  • Paraphrasing does not mean that you plagiarize existing cards. Paraphrasinga??saying the same thing using different wordsa??is actually a good way for the beginner to go about learning technique.
  • Avoid specific religious references other than Lord, God or Jesus. Referring to the saints, Mary or Moses also limits your marketability to a specific niche.

Overall Things You'll Need

  • Thesaurus
  • Rhyming dictionary
  • Computer
  • Greeting cards
Tools: |