How I became a copywriter
The lovely people at ProCopywriters interviewed me about how I got into copywriting, and why inclusive and accessible communication matters. Originally published on the ProCopywriters website.
Why did you choose a career in copywriting?
I’ve always been obsessed with words and stories. As a child, I loved reading because it made me feel like I was being transported somewhere else. As I got older, I learned that it’s not just a feeling.
I became an inclusive and accessible copywriter because words do so much more than reflect the world: words help create reality.
Language may be able to alter our memories. A 1974 experiment found that people who were shown a video of a collision and asked if they saw “the” broken headlight were more likely to report seeing one. Whereas people who were asked if they saw “a” broken headlight were less likely to say
they saw one. There was no broken headlight in the video.
Language can change our choices, as one study into the power of metaphor found. When crime was described as a “beast”, people were more likely to support strict policing and harsher sentences. When crime was a “virus”, more people supported social reform, structural solutions, and treating violence like a public health issue.
I’m particularly interested in the way language presents some people as normal, and other people as abnormal. “There is always a point of view in language, but we are apt to notice it only when it is not one we share” ― Deborah Cameron.
Here’s an example of male default language: “So I met this guy last week. She was hilarious.” Does that sound right to you? For most of us, it’s jarring.
Research by Scott Kiesling shows that “guy” is coded male. We’re happy calling a group of people guys, because we think of men as a sort of neutral or default human.
Or we might stress that someone is a “female pilot” or “female surgeon.” The noun itself is gender-neutral, but our understanding of it is coded male.
Default language can seem trivial (or plain hilarious, like mompreneur, She-E-O or girlboss) but it has an impact. Male default language tells us something about the world we live in.
In too many cases, it’s a world designed for men: from crash test dummies based on men’s bodies, to a male bias in drug research and heart attack diagnosis.
When we use language more carefully, we can make sure we design for everyone. Whether it’s sexism, racism, classism or ableism (to name just
a few -isms), language gives us a way into thinking about, and challenging injustice.
How did you get into copywriting?
I didn’t know what copywriting was until a few years ago, but I’d been doing it – in one form or another – for decades.
In my teens and 20s I spent a lot of time on activism around causes like climate, gender-based violence and access to education.
Whether you’re writing tweets or placard slogans, campaigning is perfect training for copywriting. You learn to be concise, clear
and emotive.
After studying English literature at university I bounced around all kinds of sectors and roles, trying to figure out something that would blend my love of writing with social justice.
I spent 6 years at an amazing small charity called the Schools Consent Project, which teaches sexual consent to young people. Then I went to work in digital communications for international development non-profits. That’s when I started to struggle.
My job was to tell just one part of the story. For example, I would talk about poverty without ever explaining how countries got designed into poverty, through a mixture of past and ongoing colonisation, unjust trade and debt arrangements, and absurd abuses, like Haiti being forced to pay reparations to France.
So I helped spin simplistic hero narratives, saviour stories, and presented poverty as something that just happened by accident. I euphemised former colonizers as “donor countries” and colonised countries as “recipients.”
In 2019, I quit my job out of frustration and disappointment with myself and the sector.
On the left side of a sheet of A4 paper, I wrote down everything I didn’t want: from simplistic “spend £2, save a life” storytelling to hero-making fundraising appeals. On the right side, I wrote what I did want: accurate, specific, collaborative storytelling that was honest about injustice and where it comes from.
I founded Fighting Talk, so I could work as an inclusive and accessible copywriter. A lot of my time is actually spent delivering training to other
writers and content professionals, but – at least in my heart – I’m a writer before everything else.
What work are you most proud of?
My absolute favourite has to be copywriting for a brand called Sojo, with the agency Sonder & Tell. Sojo is a clothing repairs and alterations app. It’s making fashion fit: our bodies, our values and our planet.
It was a dream project to work on, because it called for laser precision. And I love a challenge. How do you speak to people who care about climate change, without appealing to overblown stories about saving the planet? Or steer clear of the waste heap of environmental clichés, like “there’s no planet B.” Yawn. All while showing that small changes matter, but without hero-making or moralism?
It taught me the importance of asking the right questions: gnarly, complicated questions about why brands exist and who they are for. It feels agonising at the time, but it’s so worth it when you create something fresh, beautiful and true at the end of it.
What piece of copy do you really wish you’d written?
So many! I really love NASA’S Webb telescope alt text. Or Apple’s gorgeous video about accessibility, The Greatest. (And the image descriptions in the transcript are fab too). And if we’re accepting wrong answers too, then I’ll never forget the LGBT sandwich.
What do you do if you hit a bit of writer’s block?
Get clarity. If I’m struggling to write, it’s a sign I don’t understand the task.
Move my body. I just read Move! By Caroline Williams and it’s taught me so much about the link between moving our bodies and unlocking our creativity.
Lower my standards. No, seriously! Edna Ferber said writer’s block was caused by “trying to write better than you can.” Anne Lamott had it right when she talked about “shitty first drafts.”
Or like John Swartzwelder says: “Writing is very hard and rewriting is comparatively easy and rather fun.” In his legendary New Yorker interview, Swartzwelder talks about writing first so that the hard part is done. “It’s like a crappy little elf has snuck into my office and badly done all my work for me, and then left with a tip of his crappy hat. All I have to do from that point on is fix it.”
Be your own crappy little writing elf.
What are your favourite and least and favourite writing-related tasks?
I love editing. Give me a page of vague writing and I will absolutely tear it to pieces, snipping out words, ripping out jargon, hunting down inaccessible idioms. My least favourite task is starting to write the damn thing.
Any copywriting pet hates?
Copy that tries too hard to be clever.
I genuinely believe that simple writing is better writing.
So I can’t bear a wrenched pun, wildly exuberant headline or over-dressed metaphor. If language isn’t clear, it’s not doing its job. Like every copywriter, I bought and loved Dan Nelken’s Self-Help Guide for Copywriters.
One of my favourite nuggets of wisdom is a quote Dan shares from Luke Sullivan: “Say it straight, then say it great.”
What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve been given?
“Ready is a lie” – Angie Lee.
What advice would you give to people starting out on a copywriting career?
Write, write and write. Let your first (and second, and third…) drafts be crappy.
Read, read and read. But don’t just read what you like. Read things that confuse you, then figure out why. Read things that bore you, and perform an autopsy on them. Read jokes that don’t make you laugh. Read with a critical eye and you’ll learn so much about what does work.
Find a community. Oh, like maybe this one?
(And if I weren’t an ancient millennial, I’d definitely join Word Tonic, Carolyn McMurray’s community for Gen Z copywriters).
Why do you find ProCopywriters membership useful?
Writing can be lonely work. Writing about social justice can be just a little bit soul-crushing. So connection and community are everything.
It’s been a joy to meet other copywriters, and I can’t wait to meet lots more of you at CopyCon. And if you’re not there then come find me on social media. I love meeting and chatting to word lovers.
Where can people find out more about you?
You can: sign up for my free newsletter to learn more about inclusive and accessible communication.
Visit my website for free resources on inclusive and accessible communication. These cover topics like:
why simple writing is better writing
how to be more LGBTQIA+ inclusive
how to talk about disability
how to say and spell people’s names correctly
a guide to pronouns
what neurodivergence is
how to write an inclusive job advert
Come say hi on social media! You can find me on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram.