Day two

Hello again.  I enter Day Two of my daily writing exercise.  The result may be as disjointed as a Chinese contortionist, but you'd watch that contortionist anyways, right?  Let's catch up.

BLACK IS BACK.  As of last summer, I have started thinking again.  About the same time that I restarted reading and thinking, I also started copywriting.  

So my sentences got shorter.  For necessity.  It's your fault!  It's your short attention span!  And mine, too . . .

 

Moreover, I started reading every retail zoomer, direct mailer, Internet banner, church bulletin, nonprofit flyer, newspaper circular, mail-order catalog, DVD box, corporate tagline, fast food bag, blog, light rail side panel, V-log, dog collar, etc . . . I could find.  I must etcetera because every day the marketers manage to cover another inch of our viewing space with messages.  Their latest invention is airline tray table ads.  I can't wait to finish Skymall and start on my tray!

I read Claude C. Hopkins, who is to copywriting what Freud is to psychology, and I found a terse and confident writer, unafraid to sell but entirely wary of making a mess with someone else's money.

Seth Godin is another favorite of mine.  He is a marketing guru who every day will deliver an insightful blog to your inbox.  It's no wonder he's Top 25 in the blogosphere (#14).  Yeah, he wrote Purple Cow.  You might know that one. 

I read Jesus.  Like every good itinerant preacher, he knew his theology, but he told stories instead.  People love stories!  We're wired for stories.  We're hard-wired to appreciate God's meta-narrative.  It's a BIG STORY, and we're part of it!

I don't know if I'll succeed in copywriting, but I like it.  I have always loved the short piece, the one that punches you in the gut.  Whereas many wish to write the great American novel, I want to write round after round of meaningful copy that will engage the imaginations of my readers.

I love people.  I love writing for people.  I like when writing can bring people together.  I don't need an audience, but thinking about my readers makes me want to suck less.  That matters.

"You can't bat .300 in this league." -A sage creative director I met a few weeks ago

That's all for today.  This took me 45 minutes to write, 15 minutes to edit and many hours to ponder.  I'm publishing on Day 3, because unless I can find an editor on demand, I leave a day between "comp" and "pub"!

-Andrew