So use single-stroke characters to indicate a headline or tag. Don't be concerned with how pretty the type looks. Don't bother to put serifs on letters. Just make sure your words are easy to read.
To indicate body copy, simply put a series of straight or squiggly lines where you want the body copy to go on your layout. In the trade, it's known as "greeking in" the body copy.
Type everything-headline and body copy - on a separate sheet of paper. That way each part of your ad will be easy to read and clearly understood. Then tape or staple your copy to the back of your layout, or place it on a page next to your layout for presentation.
HOW TO DO LAYOUTS
Again, very simply. No one expects you to be a brilliant designer, so don't take time away from working on concepts to try to become one. Instead, do layouts which are easily indicated and communicate your ideas quickly. Just take a sheet of bond paper, a magic marker, and indicate what goes where.
If you don't want to take any time to come up with your own layouts, I've included a few basic formats which you can use if you want.
INDICATING VISUALS
Again, do them as simply as you can, especially if you can't draw. Don't be intimidated by the fact that you're not a Da Vinci. When you get a job, it'll be because you can think, not because you can draw.
If you don't feel secure in your ability to draw or sketch, then use stick figures. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. Stick figures are neat, clean, and they communicate your ideas very quickly.
To this day, when I get an idea for a visual, I explain it with stick figures. And theoretically, I'm supposed to know how to draw. I graduated from a highfalutin' art school.
If you would rather not use stick figures, spell out your visuals by writing a description of your layout. Write "man with coat" where you want a man with a coat. Write "woman" where you want a woman to be, and so on. Don't go to the trouble of describing where every blade of grass should go. Just be complete enough to insure that your idea will be understood. There's no possible way for you to be embarrassed by your drawings, because you don't do any. Yet, you can still have a perfectly neat and clean visual for your layout, and one which communicates quickly.
Another way for a copywriter to indicate visuals is by using "swipe art". This is the way a lot of writers like best because, while they don't have to draw, they still end up with a completely professional-looking portfolio.
INDICATING TV SPOTS
One good way to do this is to follow the same steps you took to put your print ads together. Don't bother to account for every second in your commercial visually. Instead, try to get away with as few pictures as possible. Use key frame storyboards. And that means just one visual if that's all it takes to communicate your idea.
You can use stick figures if you want, then simply type the copy next to or underneath them. Or, if you'd rather, you can get black cardboard storyboard formats in almost any art supply store. They'll give you plenty of room for visuals, with a space under each picture for copy.
Still another way for copywriters to indicate television commercials is by writing a description of each visual. Put video (pictures) on the left, and the audio (words) on the right.
Don't worry if you're not familiar with film terms. If you don't know that the effect you want is called a "wet dissolve," simply describe what you want the effect to look like. And if you should happen to know some film terms, don't get caught up in them. Don't do commercials designed specifically to exhibit your knowledge of film: keep them simple. You're trying to get a job writing TV commercials, not feature films.
The only other thing a writer needs to know about indicating TV spots is how to indicate who says what, and we'll get into that later.
INDICATING RADIO COMMERCIALS
Indicating radio is about the easiest job you have. Simply type out the script, with sound effects and music mentioned at those points where you want them. After you've got all of your print ads and TV and radio commercials indicated-TAH DAH!!-you have a portfolio. All you need now is a way to organize your samples and something in which to carry them. We'll get to that as soon as the broadcast and print producers get their stuff ready.
