July 10, 2003

The Art of Uncopywriting

I have been doing a good deal of reading lately since my uncopywriting has pretty much bloomed into the delicate weed I'd like to trample beneath my sneakered foot. Some important lessons for future uncopywriters like myself.

1. Minimize expectations
Get real! Writing a commercial is no joke. Don't fool yourself into thinking that someone is going to put your first draft into a radio ad to be heard by millions of people. If you don't believe me, you are seriously delusional and almost assured to fail and lead a miserable self-doubting existence. (wahaha... just like me!)

2. Progress not perfection
The important thing in this business is not to be a genius, but to have the perseverance to keep on trying like an idiot. Seriously. Some people who are brilliant just don't have the desperate need to write and be rejected over and over and over again. Progress happens when you've honed that idea over 100 times into a script, a poster, a tv ad, you name it and then you revise it. If your 2nd draft was better than your 1st, if your new ad is better than the last... then you're making progress =)

You're probably thinking that one month in the job gives me absolutely no credibility in stating these things and you are right. All those were gotten from a book entitled, "If You Can Talk, You Can Write" by Joel Saltzman. Check it out if you have loads of time to uncopywrite. It was lent to me by a former uncopywriter who is now making loads (and I do mean loads) of money.

However, if there is one insight that I came across on my own, it has to be
3. The only weapon you fight with is your work
Advertising is like showbiz, its not strictly business. But when it boils down it, its doesn't matter if your boss doesn't think you're alive or if everyone else likes your personality, the only thing that matters is the work you actually produce. If you think you are being mistreated in any way, don't act grudgingly. Don't make faces. Don't whine. These blunt tactics will only serve to rouse the enemy. Just write and keep on at it , because a single sharp blow is sure to get the enemy's attention.

When that happens, better be prepared to hit the target.