Writing

My PAST Standing on The Giants' Shoulders

When you feel like your content has nothing to add, remember that everyone stands on the shoulders of Giants. You can and should add to the conversation.

Armando Roggio

• 4 min read
An AI image of a boy standing on a giant's shoulder.
Standing on the giants' shoulders is the idea that we all benefit from the writers and work that comes before us.

Sometimes, when I sit down to type an article, I feel like I have nothing of value to add and nothing new to say. Does the universe truly need another article about copywriting?

Maybe you've experienced that feeling, too.

Content creators —particularly those who write— have three options. We can inform, entertain, or help our audience. But that audience is, frankly, already up to their collective eyeballs with information, entertainment, and folks offering help.

Why would someone bother to read my version of the same old thing? Am I wasting hours writing articles and newsletters that fail to engage anyone?

The P.A.S.T.O.R. Framework

This article is supposed to be about Ray Edwards' P.A.S.T.O.R. copywriting framework as applied to blogging, freelancing, and composing email newsletters.

I have been experimenting with the framework at You, Money, Happiness and with some of my freelance writing since July 2024. My article, "Will Enshittification and The Dead-internet Theory Bankrupt Content Creators?" was the first time I used the P.A.S.T.O.R. framework for website content rather than sales copy.

Frankly, I have been very proud of the results.

Edwards outlines six sections of the framework.

  • P - Problem. Identify and articulate the problem that the potential reader is experiencing. Show empathy and understanding of their pain points.
  • A - Amplify. Amplify the consequences of not solving the problem. Paint a picture of what life will look like if the problem persists, emphasizing the negative impact and urgency.
  • S - Story and Solution. Share a story that illustrates the problem and presents the solution. This story helps to create a connection with the reader and positions your offering as the answer to their issues.
  • T - Transformation and Testimony. Highlight the transformation that the solution will bring. Use testimonials and case studies to demonstrate real-life success stories, showing how others have benefited from your solution.
  • O - Offer. Present an offer, including all the details about what the reader will get.
  • R - Response. Tell the reader exactly how to benefit from the offer. Make it easy and compelling for them to respond.

My plan for this article had been to tell you about Edwards' P.A.S.T.O.R. framework, point out the changes I have made, and share a few examples from my article. But then I decided to Google "the P.A.S.T.O.R. copywriting framework."

There were thousands of responses. Here are just a few:

What exactly would I add to any discussion about Edwards' P.A.S.T.O.R. framework that Edwards himself or Justin Welsh had not already covered?

Standing on The Giants' Shoulders

I had that feeling again. I felt like I had nothing of value to add. I went to the gym to spend 45 minutes on the elliptical machine whilst listening to an audiobook —Joe Rigney's "The Things of Earth."

In his rather lengthy introduction, Rigney notes that he will make use —extensive use— of the work of three other authors, John Piper, Jonathan Edwards, and C.S. Lewis.

Rigney got me thinking.

Earlier this year, I read Dan Martell's "Buy Back Your Time," which reminded me of Michael E. Gerber's book "The E-Myth Revisited." As I recall Martell even referenced Gerber, taking Gerber's ideas and applying them to new situations.

It is like the ancient metaphor, "standing on the giants' shoulders." Every modern content creator owes much to the ideas and experiences of those who have come before us. And sometimes we don't even need to "add something new." It can be enough to explain how an idea like Edwards' P.A.S.T.O.R. framework has helped.

So, after the gym, I wrote this article.

And standing on Edwards' shoulders, as it were, I offer a couple of minor changes to his content framework when applying it to articles or newsletters.

P.A.S.T.

First, drop the O.R.

Edwards specifically designed his framework to sell products. It is meant to be persuasive to the point of driving a specific out come. For my purposes —blog posts and newsletters— I don't always have a particular offer or call to action. Sometimes it is enough to state the problem, amplify it, tell a story, and then offer a testimonial.

In fact, this is specifically what I have done in this article.

  • P - Problem. "Sometimes, when I sit down to type an article, I feel like I have nothing of value to add and nothing new to say." The first section of this article describes a problem I have. My intention was to have you empathize with me, and, perhaps, recognize that you have the same problem sometimes.
  • A - Amplify. The phrases "But then I decided to Google 'the P.A.S.T.O.R. copywriting framework.' There were thousands of responses" and "Am I wasting hours writing articles and newsletters that fail to engage anyone?" were meant to paint a picture of the problem and emphasize it.
  • S - Story. I next told you a story about how the problem affected me. It was brief, but a story nonetheless. The story also introduced my solution —I changed how I thought about the content.
  • T - Transformation and Testimony. Briefly, I am now explaining the change in how I thought about this article, allowed me to complete it.

I don't need to make you an offer or get you to buy anything. If you have read this far, my work was a success, so I can omit the O.R. in P.A.S.T.O.R.

Blend Sections

The more I use my truncated P.A.S.T. framework, the more I find that I blend the Story and Solution with the Transformation and Testimony. It is really a P.A.St. framework.

I would encourage you to blend these too.

Just Write

I almost killed this article because it felt like I might be wasting my time. But, nearly a thousand words later, I feel pretty good about it. If nothing else, I would just encourage you to write even when you feel like you are sharing something everyone already knows.

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