Rick Roberts – author, essayist, advertising guru and proud Baby Boomer – has a simple philosophy when it comes to writing: think more about what you’re going to write before you sit down at the blank page, be concise and know your “purpose.”

“Most mistakes are made in writing before the first word is written,” Roberts says.

This November, Roberts, who recently resettled in Windham after a 30-year commercial writing career in Boston, is bringing his unique writing method to Windham Adult Education with three courses: two that focus on how to write for businesses and one on how high school students can master SAT essays by learning business writing – otherwise known as “ad copy.”

His business writing courses, “Your Company in Six Words or Less” and “The Small Business Press Kit,” revolve around common techniques used in the fast-paced world of ad copy where “you’re only as good as your last headline.”

“In advertising, you get one shot for your nickel,” Roberts said.

The third course, “From Ads to Essay,” teaches students how to construct a persuasive essay by learning how to write for advertising.

“It’s the toughest writing,” Roberts said of ad copy. “There’s nothing that has to be more to the point, there’s nothing that has to be quicker and there’s nothing that has to be more convincing than an ad.”

For this reason, Roberts uses his expertise in ad copy to teach students how to write with speed, clarity and persuasion. Roberts sees ad copy, and writing in general, as forms of persuasive essay – writing that “ties point A to point B” and sways the reader’s opinion.

At the core of Robert’s teaching are four simple steps, modeled around the persuasive essay, that he said can improve any type of writing.

Before a person sits down to write, they should do “free thinking,” Roberts said, where they brainstorm on paper, draw a rough outline and decide what the purpose of the writing is.

Then they should write three drafts: the first for content, the second to draw together the argument that presents the purpose and a third draft to polish the writing, adding all the “hearts and flowers,” Roberts said.

“People get frustrated that they can’t write the last draft first,” Roberts said. “(The process) sounds long, but it’s actually faster when you get used to it.”

Roberts practiced these same steps while writing his new book entitled: “I was Happier when Everything I Owned was in the Back Seat of My Volkswagen.”

The book, a collection of socio-political essays, is a self-described “call to action for the Baby Boomers to finish the job we started in the Sixties” in which Roberts relates the Iraq war and life in 21st century America to the Vietnam era, an era that defined his generation.

The book takes aim at the Bush administration and what he sees as its use of political rhetoric to sway public opinion.

“I was writing in response to the phrase ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction,'” Roberts said of why he began writing the book in 2003 shortly before the Iraq war. “I recognized it immediately as a well-constructed phrase. It had a comic feel to it and they were selling it too hard for it to be true.”

In the book, Roberts tackles everything from the war on terror, mass media, prescription drugs, political correctness, religion, and taking responsibilty for the future of America.

Roberts wields these persuasive essays to illuminate how a “well-turned phrase,” like Weapons of Mass Destruction, can persuade mass audiences.

Roberts believes the Boomer Generation, “70 million strong,” are coming into a phase when they will become concerned with their legacy and act on the “ideals that forged a generation.”

Will the book persuade you to see his point of view? You’ll have to read it to decide.

“Your Company in Six Words or Less” and “The Small Business Press Kit” classes will be held on Oct. 21 and Nov. 18, respectively. “From Ads to Essays” will be three-week class starting on Nov. 15. For more information, call Windham Adult Education at 892-1819.

Roberts also has a Web site, www.writewithrick.com, with information on private tutoring, upcoming seminars by Roberts and a quiz to test your writing skills.

Roberts’ book, “I was Happier when Everything I Owned was in the Back Seat of My Volkswagen,” is available online at www.amazon.com.