Devoted to technical writing and technical writers

Today we shall talk about procrastination and a sense of urgency. 

Don't you just hate reading product manuals? Whenever I buy a gadget, my "sense of urgency" is to get the parts onto whatever new thing I bought - a new camera for instance. What a sense of urgency should dictate in great copy should be "read the manual ... it might save you from a replacement warranty."

This is precisely what Brian Clarke is saying when he talks about how good copy should:

Never pressure people to PUSH them into purchasing. Instead, use pressure to PREVENT them from procrastinating.

There is a fundamental difference between the two.

 "You know, if you delay looking at the manual, you might fry those batteries..."

But that example won't work in the real world, because geeks, as you know are like men who never want to ask for directions.