I’ve gotten a few copy critiques in my day. I’ve given a few, too. And I’ve discovered there’s one essential element to making them effective: “ego butter.” Let me back up a bit, so I can explain by way of example… Continue Reading
I joked in an issue of my e-letter about writing “good,” and got a note from a reader soon after that said… “So there I was reading my favorite newsletter writer and I come across, ‘For career success: lather, rinse,… Continue Reading
Get a kitchen timer and put it on your desk. Set it for 33 minutes. Now start writing. Write anything. Just fill the page. If you can’t write, then sit there and stare until you start sweating blood. Here’s what copywriter… Continue Reading
Somebody once asked David Ogilvy for a list of traits that matter most when hiring copywriters. Above all, he said, they have to have an unwavering, overpowering, enormous sense of curiosity. I can’t help but think that has to be right. Why? Continue Reading
Seriously, I don’t much believe in writer’s block. Oh, there have been times I don’t know what to write. And even times I’ve felt a little desperate about that. But I’ve never been afraid or unaware of how to plow right through it. Why? Because I don’t think blocked writing is where the problem originates… Continue Reading
Regardless of what kind of writing you do, says a study from the National Writing Project of Louisiana, three key components seemed to have the biggest influence on how creatively productive you’ll be. What are those components? 1) A More Consistent Working… Continue Reading
What’s the single toughest secret you’ll ever learn, if you hope to blow the doors off the world of writing sales copy? For all the clever metaphors you’ll ever come up with, for all the phrases and images, the formatting… Continue Reading
I’ve gotten a few copy critiques in my day. I crave them, no matter how harsh, because that’s what makes the writing better. I’ve also given a few copy critiques, too. And I’ve discovered that when I’m on the handler… Continue Reading
“We must not be free because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.” – William Faulkner My friend Paul Hollingshead is pretty smart fella. He recently wrote a piece that shared the math on this career path we’ve chosen,… Continue Reading
Sleep, it turns out, gives your brain time to “repack” the day’s collected memories for longer-term storage. In the process, your powers of creativity get a boost. The more you sleep, the faster it seems you’re able to sort through all those ideas and make the connections you need to come up with something new… Continue Reading