“Marketing? Fashion? Ew.” people have said to me with a tinge of disdain when I tell them the majority of my clients. I smirk, because as great as I am at writing a compelling fantasy piece–I am enjoying where I’m at right now. Maybe someday I’ll write the next great lesbian high fantasy love story. (Oh, I will. You just watch.) but for now, I’m enjoying writing great copy and blogs to help other businesses succeed.
That’s the key word there, success. What’s it mean to you? What’s it mean to the people who are parting with their money and trusting me as a writer to deliver them something that will make people buy their product, or stay on their website enough to say, “I like these people. I want to know more.”
You don’t have to give up dreams of ever being a creative writer to write for the professional circuit. That would be silly. I feel that my humble beginnings in fiction and fantasy have lead me to becoming a better writer for businesses and professional clients, because as a creative writer–you need to know how to talk. To create meaningful, flowing dialogue between your characters that doesn’t sound like a bad Disney movie or a commercial. Everyone’s seen the blog posts that are trying too hard to be friendly, and heard the radio ads or read the taglines on Facebook. I was driving one day and I heard an ad use the word, ‘Nice’ about 6 times in their 40 second clip. I cringed. We get it, you’re nice. That’s great. I felt like asking, “What else are you?” but of course, they couldn’t tell me. Shame, too–because I might have needed their product. I wonder if that’s how their target audience saw it, too.
Your clients are relying on you–and mine are relying on me–to answer that question when they come to us as copywriters. “Who else are we? Why are we better than our competition, and what can we do to connect with you?” that’s what writing’s all about. Creating connections. Whether it be between two lovers in a fiction story, or a brand and their clients–we’ve got to make that work.
That’s why I ‘jumped ship’ and write for the professional spectrum. I don’t regret it. You’ll see me here for as long as my words can make someone’s campaign succeed.
At night, though…I might work on a daring tale of magic, intrigue, and romance; with two heroines destined to conquer the world. You never know. I just might surprise you.
Surprise your clients. Keep them guessing. Write things that are so spot on they wonder how they lived without you. Bring their ideas to life, and you’ll be laughing all the way to the bank.
all about the words 