5 Secrets an 8-year old Natalie Wood Can Teach You About
Persuasive Writing  This article originally appeared on the
Copyblogger website.   by Susan Daffron  Like a lot of people,
every year my husband and I watch Miracle on 34th Street during
the holiday season.  One of my favorite scenes in the movie is
right at the end when Natalie Wood is riding in the car with her
mom and Fred Gailey.  The camera focuses in on Natalie sitting
in the back seat of the car staring out the window looking bored
and kind of annoyed, mumbling “I believe, I believe …”  Then,
there’s a moment where the camera closes in a bit on her eyes as
they widen in shock.  She shrieks, “Stop, Uncle Fred! Stop!
Stop! Stop!”  The camera angle switches and you see Natalie
running up the hill to the house that she had asked Santa Claus
to give her.  Persuasive writing is like that.  When it works,
the writing takes someone from a neutral state of bored
indifference to excitement.  I think of that split-second
transition as the “magic moment.”  C