Confessions of a Copywriter
There's something I need to get off my chest;
I wrote a pun today.
A bad one. Really bad actually.
I also added an exclamation mark to a headline.
That's two copywriting sins in one day.
Both of them in the same job.
Thing is, each time I committed a copywriting sin I prefaced it with;
"I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but..."
As a result, a good idea has now become a great idea.
I think there's a lesson for all of us in my work today.
Don't be afraid to say dumb things or have dumb ideas.
The more you open yourself up, the more chance you have of something brilliant coming out.
posted by Stan Lee at 9:18 pm
6 Comments:
Nothing wrong with puns or exclamation marks mate!
I want to be brillant! Maybe I have been trying too hard NOT being stupid? No chance of that- I don't even have to try to be stupid....comes so naturally!
Don't understand, Stan. How did a good idea become a great idea?
PS. Nothing wrong with a good pun. Not so sure about a bad one.
As for exclamation marks, you should really only use them to shout!
And are you sure you weren't shouting to compensate for your bad pun?
You know where I see the most exclamation marks? On emails to me. People love them.
I've started replying using them! It just seems rude not to! It's really addictive! And fun! I love it!
THIS IS SHOUTING, TOO.
And you see this on a lot of posters, which is poor, as it's also harder to read.
As a fairly junior copywriter, I once took a very senior metropolitan police office aside on a shoot and cautioned him on the exclamation mark he'd put on the end of my copy. It was a bit 'Disney', I explained, tactfully.
Of course, the ad ended up running WITH exclamation mark:
'Find out if you've got what it takes to lead police officers. Follow some!'
It's only my opinion Marcy, but I believe that you can sometimes try too hard. There's nothing wrong with a bit of stupidity. Just use it wisely.
To your question Hayes, we all have good ideas. Lots of them.
Sometimes it takes someone to say or suggest something about the idea that makes you see it in a whole new light.
Thus making the good idea even bigger and better.
Yes, absolutely.
But what are the specifics?
Come on, Stan, generalities don't sell!
(Sorry, I've had a beer)
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