If you don't like to write, why are you here?

Even before I finished that title, I knew it would sound harsh. But, it always surprises me when I hear students in advertising say they don't like to write. So, I ask the question: Why are you here, then?

I came to advertising through the side door--through art and graphic design. As an art student, I did very little writing after the obligatory English Comp classes. In our graphic design classes, we didn't have to write copy, we simply "greeked" in or drew horizontal lines to indicate where we thought the copy ought to go, without regard for how much copy would be needed, or any other considerations beyond design. Our headlines were usually given to us and the only creative challenge was what typeface to use and what size.

I started writing copy with my first advertising job after the degree. I was hired by a small (six stores) chain of "boutiques" as advertising manager. Because I chose to graduate at the time of a recession (pretty much like now), no one was hiring, and although this wasn't the advertising agency job I really wanted, it was a job. I landed the job as advertising manager because I had been doing some freelance work for the chain and the owner thought it would be cool to have his own advertising department. I was it. The advertising department, that is. All of it.

I wrote my first piece of copy on a yellow legal pad while sitting on the floor of the radio station recording booth while our "voice" patiently awaited the words he was to read. I don't remember much about that first radio spot, but I do know that it was awful. It was worse than awful. It was terrible. It was everything that people hate about radio advertising: clichéd, full of "addisms," hyped up to sound more important than it was. In short, it was nothing that I wanted associated with my name at all.

When I heard that terrible thing coming out of my car radio on the most popular station in town, I knew that I wasn't alone in hearing it. I suddenly became aware of an audience and how they must be reacting to that awful ad. I was embarrassed that I put that out there for them to hear. I was ashamed of it. That wretched writing. That pitiful prose. That noise. That dreck.

It was at that point that I vowed never to write such crap again. So, how did I learn to become a pretty good ad writer (not to boast, but I did win four Addy Awards for my work)? I studied. I studied ads--especially radio ads, because that was our primary medium, that and newspaper. I listened to the ones I liked and paid attention to what about them that I liked and resonated with me. I also listened to the ones that I hated paying attention to what about them made me want to cover my ears.

What I found in my studies was that I liked the ones that sounded conversational (without resorting to phony dialogue), and spoke directly to me. And, I started imitating them. Not copying them, mind you, but imitating the style, the tone, the manner. You know what? Before long, I was writing some pretty good radio copy. That was self-satisfying, for sure, but what was really self-satisfying was to hear customers say that they had heard it. And, even more satisfying than that, was to watch customers come in, ask for, and buy the things I told them about. Even hearing from self-appointed critics showed me that there were listeners reacting to my words.

Did I start out even liking to write? Not really. I did, however, come to love copywriting when I realized the power of good copy. That's not to deny the power of the visual, though. It may go without saying, but strong copy wedded to great graphics wedded to just the right creative concept is a force of nature. And, the little known secret about writing is: it can be fun. Whereas graphics are pretty much limited to the capabilities and talents of the designer, words have few limitations for creating images, conveying ideas, persuading. Communicating.

Try it. You just might like it.

Dr. P

In subsequent posts, I can tell you how working without typesetting, using dry-transfer letters, taught me to write succinctly. I can also tell you how being the entire advertising department taught me how to buy media, too.