Monday, September 7, 2009

Copywriter, right?



After reading Nathanael Green's lucid blog post 6 Reasons Why You Need a Copywriter, I confessed that my idea of what a copywriter does had only become clear--or clearer--quite recently. He suggested that it might make a good post here, and whether or not it proves interesting to others, I did want to think about a kind of tangle of words that I was somehow caught up in, a situation which I'll assume is not unique to me, because, for better or worse, nothing ever is.


As Nate says on his blog, copywriting has nothing to do with copyrighting, which may seem obvious now it's spelled out, but perhaps is part of the problem. It's not that I thought copywriters were people who sat around crunching out copyrights all day, but I do believe that this second twin word lingering in the back of my mind may have lead me to think that copywriting was a more esoteric craft than it is.

(What it is I thought copywriters did I can no longer pin down, anymore than I can pin down a dozen other vague assumptions that I don't trouble to define.)

Copywriters write copy. Period. They write texts for others, often to help them sell something, though not always. (Hmm--perhaps the real word of ignorance here is simply "copy".).

At any rate, it's not hard to be a copywriter. If you can write, or more likely, type, you too can be a copywriter. Comforting, isn't it? Something to fall back on in these tough economic times. But there's a catch. (You knew there would be.) Writing copy doesn't make you a good copywriter. And if you want to get paid for your troubles, you'd better be a damn good one.

What does it take to be a damn good copywriter? Well, let me take my analogy from another medium--television. And not just television, but cable television. And not just cable television but a channel like QVC or the Home Shopping Channel.

I love these shows. I don't buy anything. I'm not even tempted to buy anything, because in my heart of hearts, I am not a shopper. But I love watching the host, or more likely the hostess, take one in a long line of very similar things--handbags, maybe, or jewelry, dolls, whatever and confer distinction upon it by their powers of description. "Look at these cute buttons!" she'll say, or "Doesn't Tanya look stunning in those peridot earrings?" (And, no, I don't know what peridot is--I only know that it is highly desirable--at least, I know it for the length of the show.)

It sounds easy, but you try it sometime. I once saw a hostess lovingly describe the front of a portable radio. If you think it's easy to lavish attention on a black plastic box capable of AM-FM reception in a new and inviting way, think again.

However if you think you could do that, and do it in the cold and less visually helpful medium of print, then, yeah, you should probably think of becoming a copywriter as one of your options.


If it works out, you can buy me a peridot ring to thank me. I know just where you can look for one.

21 comments:

  1. Seana,

    I'm not sure of the etymology of "copy" meaning text for printing, but you see it not just in advertising but book houses, too, where they've got copy editors.

    Also, copywriters will often write for a wide variety of projects. Obviously advertisements and sales letters, but also speeches for the CEO, website text, phone scripts, press releases ... basically just about any communication a company does is fair game.

    By the way - I like your QVC analogy!

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  2. Yes, I may have given the impression that copywriting was all about moving product. And I suppose in a way it is, but often that product is the company or its representatives not just the strict product line.

    I'm glad you liked the QVC analogy because I did realize that I was sort of going off the deep end with that one.

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  3. My v-word is bargen -- appropriate for a post that invoked QVC.

    Copy writers sound like a non-literary version of pulp fiction's honorable hacks.

    Copy editors? Well, we won't have them to worry about in a few years.
    ==============
    Detectives Beyond Borders
    "Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
    http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com

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  4. bargen is very apt, yes.

    Yes, I think honorable hack is about the size of it. Emphasis on honorable, though. It's the whole 'don't quit your day job' admonition followed through on.

    We will always need copy editors, but we actually grow so stupid that we don't recognize that fact.

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  5. We will always need copy editors, but we will not always fill that need.
    ==============
    Detectives Beyond Borders
    "Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
    http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wait a minute, copywrite is different than copyright?

    How did I pass the bar again?

    v-word: dersh. Very appropriate.

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  7. Never mind, Brian. I'm sure when some case of a copywriter being sued for infringement of copyright, you will get up to speed pretty smartly.

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  8. How come the word copy has taken on that particular meaning?

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  9. This seems to be the unanswered question that's emerged from all this. As we've had a copywriter and a copy editor weigh in here, and still no answer I suppose I should face facts and do the digging myself.

    But not right this moment.

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  10. I don't know how copy acquired that meaning, but the phrase "Wake up and smell the copy" comes to mind for some reason.
    =================
    Detectives Beyond Borders
    "Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
    http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

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  11. This is all very well, but what actually is copy?

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  12. I did look into the term 'copy', and though it generally means text or material sutiable for printing, I haven't been able to delve deeply enough into that to find out why text is called copy. I wonder if it has anything to do with the act of printing multiple copies.

    Will update if I find more.

    I know that no one is actually waiting with bated breath for my next post, but the fact is that while my computer is in the shop, I'm just posting and emailing on the fly.

    Never worry that the well of ignorance has run dry. That is an imposibility.

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  13. Actually, I have been wondering when you'll be back. If I have time later tonight, I'll try to research the copy question.
    ==============
    Detectives Beyond Borders
    "Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
    http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

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  14. I've been waiting and no one has explained anything!

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  15. Now I've decided on giving up fixing the computer as it will cost as much as buying a new one. But I must get this one back as a backup and I can't even get them on the phone.

    The problem isn't a virus apparently, but poor memory, which is just so ironic. Or appropriate. Or something.

    In the meantime, Peter, surely it's the kind of lore that's passed down from copy editor to copy editor?

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  16. Such lore is not passed down from copy editor to copy editor. The term "copy" is not much used at newspapers these days. I suspect this may have something to do with the advent of computers that replaced paper as a medium for handling copy. We have other words for the material that previous generations called copy. It is perhaps best that I do not share these words in public.

    I don't know who the them is you can't get on the phone, but don't give up hope. Within days you will be chatting away with a merry technical-support person in Banagalore who will pause at all appropriate places in the script, say "no problem" at least once, and have your problem solved within three hours.
    =================
    Detectives Beyond Borders
    "Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
    http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

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  17. Actually, they are local, so I will probably just end up walking down the street and breaking in.

    I didn't really think there was any lore passed down through the copyediting generations, anymore than there is between booksellers.

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  18. You know, I remember that your provider was local. That's why I figured the problem was elsewhere when you talked about being unable to get through on the phone. Good luck with your B&E.
    ==============
    Detectives Beyond Borders
    "Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
    http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. Well, I did go down and they were still open so I didn't have to break any windows.

    The Santa Cruz equivalent of the phone call to India is "Oh, I was supposed to call you back yesterday. Sorry, I forgot." But on the upside he's not going to charge me for his labor, as he couldn't really fix anything.

    I should have it back tomorrow evening--if he doesn't forget.

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  20. Yeah, that's the trouble with real, live humans. They're so inefficient. Once again, good luck.
    ==============
    Detectives Beyond Borders
    "Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
    http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com

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  21. Not inefficient, really--just a little absentminded.

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