The 3-letter word that fixes vague copy

“Mum, why is the sky blue?”

“Because of the sun, babe.”

“Why?”

“Because its light gets reflected by the ocean,” I say, while trying to write my client’s LinkedIn post.

“That is categorically not true,” cuts in Steve.

“What isn’t?” I reply.

“Why?” asks Molly.

“It’s not reflected by the ocean.”

I give up on the copywriting and turn to face Steve, who is playing Mario Kart on the couch while Molly watches. A swathe of blue sky fills the TV screen as Yoshi races across a CGI beach.

“Daddy’s right,” I say, remembering that the whole ocean thing was just a misconception I held as a kid. (Pretty sure it was MY mum who told me it in the first place—thanks Mum. 🤪)

“Why?”

“Because daddy’s always right,” says Steve.

“Now THAT is categorically untrue,” I retort.

“But WHY is the sky blue?” asks Molly again.

Sooo Molly is four and categorically in her WHY phase at the moment. NGL, it’s kind of driving me crazy 😆

But it’s also a pretty decent stress test for writing better copy.

There’s actually a name for the psychological trap Molly keeps exposing with her endless litany of “why”—it’s called The Illusion of Explanatory Depth.

Yeah, bit of a mouthful lol.

A study was conducted by cognitive scientists back in 2002 that found people tend to overestimate how well they understand everyday concepts. For example, if someone asked you how the internet worked, you’d be able to give a passable answer, right? We’re on it literally everyday after all.

…But if I kept asking WHY to every explanation you give? You’d probably wanna hit me lol. And you’d probably realise you don’t know as much about how the internet works as you thought you did.

(Side note: Once upon a time, before I worked in a telco company, I thought the internet just sorta existed in the air lol. 🙈)

Basically, we mistake familiarity for understanding. We think we know how something works… until we’re put on the spot trying to explain the exact process.

The same can be said for your marketing copy. A lot of the time when it’s average, it’s because it’s come straight out of that illusion of understanding.

It’s when you think you know what your customers want better than you actually do. Or when you can describe your offer… but not properly explain why it matters.

This is one of the steps I use when developing messaging for clients. We’ll start off talking about the big picture—the vision, the values, the mission, all that good stuff. But the second we get to the positioning, I give my best four-year-old impression and just keep asking that single, annoying, three-letter word.

I must be a masochist because I’ve been subjecting myself to this exact same interrogation in the last few weeks as I write the copy for my new website. 😝

I want it to be absolutely KILLER… so instead of just typing it straight into Notion or a Google Doc, I went old-school and pulled out a pen and paper. It forced me to slow the fuck down and really think about my answers.

I’d start with a line: I help people write copy that sounds like them.

Then I’d ask myself WHY.

Because a lot of copy sounds generic.

Because people are taught to follow the exact same templates and formulas.

Because these templates strip out all the good bits—the personality, the point of view, the details that make people choose you.

And suddenly, I’m not writing some generic superficial tagline. I’m digging out my own point of view—the reason my business exists.

It’s incredibly frustrating. I got annoyed at myself and my mate Nick who has been helping me with it on more than one occasion. I had to throw my hands up in the air and leave it alone for a bit.

But it’s all part of the process. You have to sit with it, because the good stuff is waiting til right after you get pissed off.

So many businesses stick with the shallow, easy answers:

We save you time.

We put our clients first.

We provide bespoke solutions.

…

🥱

If you want copy that actually persuades people, you’re gonna have to do better than that. Get a little deeper. Ask WHY, again and again, until the easy answers fall apart.

4-year-olds ask why because they’re trying to understand the world.

Copywriters ask why because they’re trying to make everyone understand theirs.