Most legendary artists are unknown in their own time. Many people regard that as ironic. I regard it as causal.
My point is that good art isn’t designed for an audience; it has inherent value. I believe copy is different - it’s (ultimately) for making money, and ought to be designed for a target audience - but I believe that if you want to write great copy, you can’t lose sight of the original point. To focus too much on audience is to forget about art… to forget about producing great writing that speaks to any reader, no matter their age group or interests.
Advice: speak naturally to humans, about your passion, and about your passion-induced product… and you’ll produce artful copy. It’ll work.
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note: or maybe it won’t work - maybe you’ll die broke, alone and depressed.
Two more quick things on perfection:
1. I talked a little about the specifics of achieving perfection in part 3, but I thought it might be helpful to go through my exact process here. Of course, this is just what works for me - it may not necessarily work for you. Give it a try, and take what you will from it, but if anything, use it to find your own process. Here’s what I do:
1st draft. rest/feedback. 2nd, 3rd, and 4th drafts, all done on the computer (just reading through it). less if needed. more if needed. more rest. more feedback (if needed). then, 5th and 6th draft (if I need both) are done out loud. sometimes printed off onto paper, sometimes just on the screen. but always out loud.
2. I don’t make a pitch too often here - people are welcome to email me, and I’ll help them out if I have the time, and if I’m a good provider for the project. But I certainly don’t stuff my services down your throat. I still won’t do that here, though I will make the case for a professional writer - mostly because the type of perfect writing I’m talking about here takes time and skill. You can do it. Anyone can do it. But if you want your copy to be perfect, and you don’t want to spend all week making it perfect, working with a professional can be a real help. Especially a good professional.
Of course, you can contact me about that… if you want my help in work, or even in finding someone else that fits your needs better. Either way.
In Part 1, I said that writing can be perfect. In Part 2, I’ll talk about how to get there. This is dangerous territory though, if for no other reason than every writer is different. Some write best in secluded silence, others write best blasting AC/DC. Some write 30 pages a day, others write 10 words a day (Joyce is famous for this). Some write when the mood strikes, and some write everyday, for a certain number of hours. The point is, there are a lot of different styles that produce a lot of different types of good writing.
But I will argue here that one style, or one tool, is the key to perfect writing… no matter what type of writer you are. Those who read the blog will probably be unalarmed to hear that it centers on revision, and on writing out loud.
I think, as I said in part 1, that a certain set of words has a harmonious center - a certain combination of look and feel, timing and meaning, that’s right. Given this, It’d be presumptuous for any writer to assume that they’ll get it right on the first try, every time. It just doesn’t happen like that. Not in athletics, not in chemistry, and not in writing. If you want perfect writing, you have to work for it.
Some of your revisions can happen on paper, on screen, or in your head. But I believe it’s essential, at some point (preferably in the end), to read your writing out loud. The act of saying it, not to mention hearing it out in the world allows you the chance to truly evaluate it. It is then that you either hear disharmony or harmony, and then, depending on your motivation, that you choose to go on or revise again.
Training your ear takes time, but it’s not a magical skill. It’s an inherent one… available to any writer who wants to use it. Which brings me back to the question I ended with in Part 1: if it’s just a little work, and there’s such a high reward, why would you settle for anything less?
