Copywriters Are Idea Generators. The Words Come Later.

The great majority of people do not know what I, or the thousands of people who do what I do for a living, do for a living.

I’m a copywriter.

I’m a copywriter who has grown used to following that line of introduction with this explanation: In advertising, a copywriter is the one who typically generates the ideas for the ad campaign.

The client may know what they want to convey, but it’s up to the copywriter to say it in a way that fits the brand and attracts customers. It’s up to the copywriter and the art director to take the strategy and make it come to life.

Forgive Me, Father, for the Client Has Sinned

Digiday is running an anonymous “Confessions of a Copywriter” interview, where the pain of being misunderstood and devalued that many copywriters feel comes shining through.

Sometimes I’ll get a brief from the client and project management that is like, ‘They want it to say this but they thought it sounded boring so they want you to zhuzh it.’ I’m not a zhuzher. I’m a writer. The client doesn’t take photoshop files and change them. We don’t give them access to that. So why am I getting revisions from clients that say, ‘Just change it to say this.’ You’re messing with my work, and it’s not…