You didn’t think I’d forget, did you?
Felicitations of the season: t’is National Writing Day. So I wanted to celebrate. Not with an NWD card, or putting up an NWD tree or even drinking various egg or cream-based drinks in the name of fun.
No, I’m going to let you in on a special secret.
I’m going to tell you 4 reasons why I find being a writer a bloody nightmare, most of the time.
And then, to top it all off and for a bit of a laugh, I’ll share with you some working titles for my upcoming blog posts, just to show you how naff writing can be.
So grab a blanket, switch off your NWD Hallmark movie and listen to me moan for a few minutes. (Ah come on, indulge me – National Writing Day comes but once a year!)
4 reasons why writing is a pain in the arse
1. It can be hard to really open up
Obviously, this applies to when we’re writing our own website copy or that memoir we started seven years ago, but it’s true. We are very good at telling other people that they should shout about, that they have a million selling points we can turn into great calls to action, but writing can be tricky when it’s honest, confessional, or a bit embarrassing.
On the other hand…
Luckily, because we don’t have to be in the room when someone reads it, being a writer is a good way of getting things off your chest and then running away with your fingers in your ears. And let’s face it, it feels good to get things off your chest.
2. It can feel like you’re never really ‘done’
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve dug out an old bit of copy I’ve written, to give it a read for a bit of inspo or just have a look at how far I’ve come since I wrote it, only to start correcting something in the first paragraph. You can send yourself crazy, thinking you need to tweak this or reshuffle that to get it absolutely perfect. It can sometimes feel like you’ve reached the top of that mountain, only to see you have another twelve miles to climb.
On the other hand…
Repurposing your old copy has its place, especially when you’ve written something that’s really rather great and deserves another outing, like that smashing cardigan you finally got around to de-bobbling last winter. Give it a tinker to make it relevant and better if needs be, but set yourself a limit either with a hard deadline for posting it or a timer of say, 30 mins.
3. Procrastination is a killer
When I have a big project to start or a deadline that is tantalisingly close but just far enough away for my distracted brain to ignore it just a little bit longer, boy do I find other way more interesting things to do. Like de-cobwebbing the kitchen or putting my pens in chronological order. Procrastination takes many forms, most of them waaay more boring than writing.
On the other hand…
Procrastination can be exactly what your writing needs. Find out why in my blog post from 2021!
4. It’s repetitive
I’m lucky enough to have been commissioned to write loads of pages for new websites – including all the location pages and little bits of meta copy. It’s great, you get to write and have creative control over the whole site, not to mention be a nice little earner for a few months. But boy, can it be repetitive sometimes. Finding new ways of saying ‘customer service’ or ‘high quality’ tries the patience of even the most saintly of copywriters.
On the other hand…
The geek in me rather loves to become a living, breathing thesaurus and thinks, “well, this is what my degree was all about…”
Not only that, but I’ve started experimenting with AI to generate the really repetitive copy and while there is a long way to go, it certainly helps with Blank Page Syndrome, giving me something to edit and mostly to change completely.
Finally, here are some of my latest blog post ideas
The reason for showing you is to demonstrate how ideas can sound like utter shit in the beginning, but really come to life with some great copy and creativity if you try hard enough.
These are pasted with no editing and with no explanation – stay tuned to see if any make the cut!
- Trusting your anxious brain
- What am keywords?*
- Ways to take control/ feel better and it all begins in your inbox – either read the email and see if it actually benefits you or unsubscribe completely
- Sometimes it’s good to ignore the brief**
- Why copywriters are so smart (we have to have an understanding of what we’re reading and therefore what we’re re-writing)
- What else do I do apart from bang on about copywriting?
- Tidying up my slippers with the right tools
- Be the man in The Fast Show who asks anyone if they fancy a pint
- Make it big with a simple design tool
- Do You Make These Common Copywriting Mistakes?
- Marketing for Introverts: How to Write Killer Content (While Hiding Behind your Computer)
- Mental health heroes
*My personal favourite
**Ooh this sounds scary!
Kate's World of Words 