It’s D&AD New Blood next week – something very close to
my (blackened) heart. So in the spirit of nurturing all the fine young fillies
out there, I thought I’d do a little bit horse whispering to gee up any
aspiring copywriters unfortunate enough to read this blog. Sorry.
1. It’s a none horse
race
Nobody under 25 wants to be a copywriter anymore. This is
good news and bad news. The good news is that New Blood (and the industry as a
whole) is dominated by visual arts students. So if you’re peddling words you’ll
stand out like a juggler at a funeral. The bad news is that you’ll have to be
100 times more engaging than the fluorescent typefaces and experimental motion
graphics that pass for advertising concepts these days. So saddle up and get
ready to sell hard…
2. Be the horse,
jockey and trainer all in one
The best writing projects its own world. Reading it (or even
hearing it) should take you out of yourself and into another place. Forget
about tones of voice and think about creating characters - ones that inhabit
unusual situations, or better still, alternate realities. Make them your own
and they can only ever be yours. Suddenly the none-horse race has a single
contender. In other words, carve a niche and do what no one else does in a way that
only you can. Then whip it! If you’re unhappy with how something turned out,
tell people. There are all kinds of obstacles a writer has to face and the race
rarely goes smoothly. Just because the client loved it doesn’t mean you have
to. I always used to put work I was unhappy with in my portfolio because it
meant I could talk about how I’d compromised. After all, it aint just the
winning, it's the taking part.
3. Erm, when your
extended horse metaphor starts to wear thin John, say something about The Lone
Ranger
Writing is a solitary endeavor, and the sooner you accept
this the better. If you happen to be in a team that’s because at least one of
you is a sociopath and is currently using the other. But in time you will
almost certainly split up. You’ll probably want different things, or get lured
away by a boardroom position in Beijing, or maybe even die in a plane crash, so
get used to working by your self right now. In the meantime, understand the
limits of your joint creative tension and what you both bring to the party. Agencies
are a lot more fluid than they used to be which means can’t afford to live in a
bubble. You both have to make time to do your own thing. Yes, solo albums tend
to be shit, but they do make the band’s next record all the more interesting. This
should also preclude you from calling yourself “DanTom” like you’re a fucking
Push-Me-Pull-Me.
4. Horses for courses
There are as many kinds of writers as there are kinds of
writing. So you’re going to have to work out which one you are and which ones
you’re good at. This may sound obvious, but it’s also spectacularly difficult
at the moment. Here’s why.
Most agencies (or at least the ones you want to work in) are
fevered, inter-disciplinary cluster-fucks. They camp out at the “crossroads of
branding and social”, and tell “brand stories” (presumably around a digital
campfire). Because the industry moves so fast, and clients become more and more
demanding agencies can’t accurately explain what they do to anyone over the age
of 30, let alone have clearly defined roles for writers. So be prepared to
enter a world of paranoia and fear. Most days will feel like being inside the
mind of Philip K. Dick after 4 nights without any sleep. One minute you’ll be
writing a radio ad, the next you’ll be proofreading a letter from the chief
exec (this did actually happen to me). If this sounds scary then you should quietly
go and finish that novel in a coffee shop. But if, like me, you find this
sadistically thrilling, then welcome to the party. The truth is there’s never
been a more exciting time to be a copywriter – to learn, to develop and try
your hand at anything and everything; forms, styles, voices, the lot. Likewise,
the industry needs writers more than ever. Not just to cut through the
increasing noise, but to make sense of the all the chaos. Embrace it and ride
it like you own it.
5. Take off your blinkers and ride like the wind
A good writer is also a good reader. So read widely and
voraciously. Those of you who do will know that it was William Faulkner who said,
“In writing you must kill your darlings.” So please, let’s start by killing
David Ogilvy. He may be long dead but his twee and genial ghost still haunts
the industry like a mischievous fart. No one, save for SEO, has done more to
limit the scope and remit of what copy can do and how it should be used. This
isn’t to say Ogilvy was wrong. It’s simply that over time his (blandly
aphoristic) wisdom has been co-opted by clients, to the extent his thinking is now
regarded as stricture. Likewise, Dave Trott, the legendary art director-turned
writer-turned-predatory raconteur. Unless your idea of writing is having a shot
of scotch between every line-break, you’ll learn nothing from Dave other than
how to make a very obvious point sound like a cold Boxing Day walk back from
the pub with your granddad. But ironic character assassinations aside, you
really need to make your own rules. Conventional wisdom is just that.
Conventional. Learn these rules, break them and make your own. Be mad, bad and reckless.
The only way to surprise an audience is to surprise your self. Think the
unthinkable and say the unsayable. Remember, you are a writer and you can go
wherever your imagination takes you, so enjoy the ride.
Giddy up!
