Five percent of the people think; 10% of the people think they think; and the other 85% would rather die than think.”
―Thomas A. Edison
Copywriters are needed in this world for the same reason pig farmers are: thinking is a dirty job.
"Everyone wants to just cut and paste, not think," says copywriter Gary Bencivenga.
But thinking separates the first-rate writer from the herd.
In fact, Bencivenga calls learning to think one of "three greatest copywriting lessons" he's ever learned.
To write clearly and convincingly, you have to mull. To mull, you have to understand the job requirements:
- Mulling demands quiet. "To discover what will work, and then be able to write clearly and persuasively about it, you must be able to think clearly," Bencivenga says. "And to think clearly, you first have to be able to relax, so that all the monkey chatter inside your head quiets down and you can have an ongoing dialogue with yourself—a series of pleasant, quiet conversations about what makes sense for this market at this time with this product."
- Mulling needs the subconscious. Generating workable options works; sleeping on them works charms. "After you’ve had an ongoing conversation with yourself, sleep on it and then, each morning, let your subconscious speak its mind," Bencivenga says. He also suggests writing early in the day and keeping a notepad, pen and flashlight on your nightstand.
- Mulling wants to be fed. "Food for thought" is more than a metaphor. Persuasive copy requires the writer to be an insatiable sponge for information. "View the abundant knowledge you lack not as a threat but as an infinite supply of new abundance for yourself—rocket fuel for your rise in our profession," Bencivenga says.
