“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” – William Morris, Born Mar. 24, 1834. I want to talk about this in three ways. First…. While you can eventually apply that to your house, let’s at least start with your work space, wherever that may… Read More →
The Fear of Failure Feeds Your Forge – FEEL it, then USE it…
“Movie directors, or should I say people who create things, are very greedy and they can never be satisfied… That’s why they can keep on working. I’ve been able to work for so long because I think next time, I’ll make something good.” – Akira Kurosawa, Born Mar. 23, 1910. Today, let’s talk about defeat…. Read More →
How to Start Being a Copywriter: Start Writing Some Copy… Now
“All of my favorite creators started with zero… So you’ve got to make that first video. It’s not going to be your best, but you will learn as you go.” – Tyler Oakley, Born Mar. 22, 1989. Q. How do I get started writing copy? Just start. Q. What do I need to read to… Read More →
Creativity Comes to Life When You Feed it Something to Improve
“Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right or better.” – John Updike, Born Mar. 18, 1932. A lot of writers worry too much about creativity, and not enough about consistency of output. If that’s you, let’s talk about manipulating your mind out of making that mistake, shall we? Creativity is… Read More →
Discipline and Foundations are What You Build On (Because You Can’t Build On Nothing)
“Technique is what you fall back on when you run out of inspiration.” – Rudolf Nureyev, Born Mar. 17, 1938. “I don’t have a good idea.” Shut up. Write anyway. “I don’t have anything to say.” Stop it. Write something anyway. “It didn’t come out the way I wanted.” Fuck you, publish it anyway. We… Read More →
Stories Sell, But Only if They Start Out With Sucking
“The fact of storytelling hints at a fundamental human unease, hints at human imperfection. Where there is perfection there is no story to tell.” – Ben Okri, Born Mar. 15, 1959. Clients fuck this up when they write about themselves. And sometimes they get mad when they work with a writer who knows better. I’ve… Read More →
The “Big Problem” Is Almost Always Exercising Caution Over Taking Action.
“Action makes more fortune than caution.” – Charlotte Whitton, Born Mar. 8, 1896. Fortune can mean money. As in, he made a fortune in business. And it can mean luck. As in, he was fortunate to get into that business when he did. And it can mean your future or destiny. As in, let me… Read More →
Brick by Brick, You Must Build Your Own Destiny, According to the Designs You’ve Dreamed
“The most successful men in the end are those whose success is the result of steady accretion.” – Alexander Graham Bell, Born Mar. 3, 1847. This is important. Like LEGO bricks. Like Voltron. Your stuff needs to combine and stack and scale. Too many chase the next client or the next job or the next… Read More →
Perfectionism Is Just the Pretentious Kind of Procrastination
“The little dissatisfaction which every artist feels at the completion of a work forms the germ of a new work.” – Berthold Auerbach, Born Feb. 28, 1812. Yeah, you’re not alone. But you’re not getting younger and time is wasting. Quit trying to craft perfection. Publish imperfect work now. Fix later MAYBE. But even better:… Read More →
The Constrained Shape of Effective Persuasion Is…
“Each work has its own space, which should neither be conceived as a sort of cage nor regarded as extending to infinity.” – Marino Marini, Born Feb. 27, 1901. Marino here was a sculptor. And like carving stone, copywriting is an art constrained by certain limitations. For the sculptor, there is an outer limit to… Read More →
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