It would be “like killing Tony Soprano.”
Series suicide, in other words.
No, I’m not talking about the ending of the Sopranos…
I’m talking about the show “24”.
Because when it was suggested to one of “24’s” writers that they remove the pounding timer…
His verdict was they may as well put a bullet through Kiefer Sutherland’s head.
Why?
Because what the writer correctly deduced…
Is that removing the time frame would have robbed “24” of one of its most powerful appeals…
A TICKING CLOCK.
A time frame in which Jack Bauer had to save the president, rescue his daughter, and diffuse the bomb before it blew a packed stadium to smithereens.
A ticking clock creates tension…
A ticking clock conjures up momentum…
And a ticking clock establishes what your hero has to do and why.
So try to find a way of adding a ticking clock to your sales letter stories.
It could be losing weight in time for a high school reunion…
Healing their joint pain so they can walk their daughter down the aisle…
Or earning enough money to put their kid through college.
A ticking clock raises the stakes.
And raising the stakes is what gives your story the dynamite it needs to draw readers in to see if the hero is victorious or if they explode.