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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