Welcome to the structure of starting every sentence with the exact same thing. Powerful, but tricky. The E Shape is the hardest structure to master. When done right, it always looks like you could have written it in about ten minutes. However, these can be the result of many late nights researching, crafting, reviewing, and rewriting.
But there’s also good news. This sparseness also gives the E ****Shape its power. Unlike any other structure, E Shapes are the highest rewarders of attention. Great ones sparkle with originality. Humans are pattern matchers by nature, and we like when those patterns are tweaked and reinvented. If you continue to deliver insights in new and interesting ways, your E Shapes can be some of the most engaging pieces in your book.
All E Shapes use a repetitive device. For most of them, this is parallel structure, which is as simple as starting every sentence the same way.
I will get up and walk the dog at 6:30 AM. I will eat some fruit as part of my breakfast. I will shave. I will clean the sink after I shave … —from “Man’s Last Stand,” Dodge
I am constantly amazed at how many different ways there are to start an E Shape. Great scripts have started every sentence with “Thanks,” “So,” “You will,” “Music is,” and more. The E Shape is also common when creating a list of founding principles or core beliefs. For that reason, “We” or “We believe” are common sentence starters as well:
We believe in going our own way no matter which way the rest of the world is going. We believe in bucking the system that is built to smash individuals like bugs on a windshield … —from “Live by It,” Harley-Davidson
Most of the E Shapes I end up writing usually happen by accident. I’ll notice I’ve written four lines in a row that all start with the word “Give,” and I think, “Huh, can they all start with that?” E Shapes take a long time to finish, but they’re very simple to test. Pull out a new sheet of paper and try.
Even after getting a first draft, I recommend exploring a few different types of parallel structures. Are you starting with a subject? Okay, what happens if you start with the verb instead? Got a list of commands? Okay, what happens if you turn it into a list of statements? You might surprise yourself by what you discover.
The E Shape is great for celebrations and tributes. If you’re honoring something, see if you can capture the primary feeling your brand or your audience has toward it.
Thanks for the swing. Thanks for the arm. Thanks for the glove, forever golden. Thanks for the slide. Thanks for the smile. The grin. The laugh … —from “Thanks for Everything, Junior,” Seattle Mariners
One more trick you can try. If you have a tagline or you like the name you’ve given your campaign, use that as a start (or end) for a parallel structure. For example, if you were given the task of creating a new “Think Different” commercial for Apple, you could explore some E Shapes that all start with “Think,” or even all end in “Different,” or even a sequence where the first word of every line was the last one of the one before it, or anything else that might be interesting.
Whatever you choose, always remember that you absolutely must continue the parallel structure all the way through until the very last line. That is what makes the E Shape what it is. Never change it before the last line. If you have to, figure out the last line first to make sure you’ve always got an exit strategy.
We’ll talk more about endings in Step 3. Before that, let’s take a really deep dive into the middle.
Each new line must introduce something new. A new thought, a new angle, a new insight, a new example, a new way to interpret the parallel structure—something that rewards the listeners for paying attention. The more delightful you can make every single one, the more excited they will be to continue down the list.
While that variety is certainly the most important element of any E Shape. we can reward listener attention in other ways as well. One way is by crafting the examples to work together with nearby items to create visual, thematic, and linguistic connections. This adds a rhythm, symmetry, or style to your list, as in this example about Kobe Bryant:
… Better friend. Better fighter. Better rider. Better eater. Better leader. Better generation. Better nation … —from “Just Be Better,” Nike
Each of those lines is an independent thought, but they work together. The alliteration between “friend” and “fighter.” The Rhyme between “fighter” and “rider.” The completely random transition to “eater.” The rhyme between that and “leader.” The thematic connection between “leader,” “generation,” and “nation.”
All of that comes from the proximity of the words, but it’s important to also note that those lines are not contingent on the surrounding words to make sense. You don’t need “Better friend” to understand “Better fighter.” It makes just as much logical sense to structure it in a completely different order:
Better nation. Better rider. Better eater. Better fighter. Better leader. Better friend. Better generation.