Sunday, November 28, 2010

The Copywriter-history,current&future-2

The Effulgent. Those to whom ideas come easily and who can improvise with words and thoughts as readily as a latter-day Byron. They can be truly valuable – sometimes invaluable;  but  they  are  no  one’s  backbone.  And  all  too  often  they  are  dilettanti incapable, as the actress said, of hard, grinding, unflagging effort.

The  Undeserving.  Those  who  have  drifted  into  advertising  and  who  can’t  drift  out again soon enough for me. They tend to think of the whole thing as a bit of a chuckle and  really  rather  beneath  them.  They  are  in  advertising  not  because  they  like  it  or believe  in  it,  but  because  it  is  a  way  of  making  a  little  dishonest  money  until  their screenplays are accepted by Hollywood – which they seldom are.


The Troopers. Those who view the business as a worthwhile career, and one that gives  them  the  opportunity  to  spend  their  lives  doing  something  they  enjoy:  selling through writing. They are the mainstay of advertising and while they rarely win acclaim, to say nothing of awards, their work is consistently competent. This kind will attack a brochure for a small micro-engineering outfit with the same enthusiasm as they'd fetch to  a  six-commercial,  national  TV  campaign  data recovery for  Jack  Daniels  or  Jaguar.  They  are  an asset to their agency and a credit to themselves.


It has been said by others, and I agree, that too many copywriters have far too little ability and far too high an opinion of their artistic talents. Really good writers are rarer than  cabs  on  a  wet  night,  and  even  the  troopers  mentioned  above  don’t  come  easy. Ask any ad agency copy chief.
It may be worth noting that, a while ago, I ran a copywriting distance learning course. Over  eight  years  or  so,  I  trained  some  500  writers  –  most  of  whom,  incidentally,  are now  gainfully  employed;  and  a  phpto recovery large  percentage  are  making  names  for  themselves. What was obvious, however, as each of these came into my ambit, was that while the majority could write reasonably well, they were generally more concerned about what advertising could do for them, rather than vice versa. Mind you, it didn’t take me long to disabuse them of this notion.


What initial advice, then, have I to offer potential copywriters? Just this. If you are as good as you fancy you are, you will have (or should have) no trouble imposing yourself upon your agency’s executives and your clients. They should come to think so highly of your work that they are always afraid you will sulk and withdraw your services. If they don’t, then maybe you are not a very good copywriter after all.

But if you insist on pursuing the occupation of copywriter and find yourself behind an agency desk, take the opportunity in both hands. Don’t meddle. Don’t get involved in office  politics.  Push  your  photo recovery for Mac talent  rather  than  yourself.  Take  the  rough  with  the  smooth and be grateful – be very grateful – that you are probably getting more of the smooth than the rough.

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