Look it’s another list
It’s quite impossible to have an objective take on copywriting; aside from grammar and syntax of course. A copywriter has a lot of variables, social and mental, that affect the words that he or she puts down on paper. This Hacklist is intended to be a guide of sorts for the wordsmith, discerning or otherwise – addressing those very variables.
Here are 43 hacks for the modern copywriter. Douglas Adams may have said that the ultimate answer to life is the number 42, but the ultimate goal isn’t to create a good life for yourself.
The ultimate goal is to create ideas that outlive it.
1. Always write the post copy in the end
2. Don’t absorb the brief. Read it. Build on it. Don’t be afraid to change it.
3. Don’t adapt to the brand. Be it.
4. Read the long copy you’ve written in at least two different voices in your head before you send it out.
5. While working on a concept, list down 5 words that you associate with the property and then write down the concept note. When done, see if all 5 words connect to your idea.
6. Know the difference between sentence case, title case, and proper case.
7. Know who John Hegarty, John Bevins, David Ogilvy, and Neil French are.
8. Follow the news.
9. Puns are good
10. Use clichés as crutches
11. But know that you’ll never run with them.
12. stumbleupon.com is your friend
13. Follow all your clients on social media
14. Have a favourite band/artist/writer.
15. If a sentence sounds awkward in your head, it’s awkward.
16. Don’t write words that you wouldn’t use in daily conversation
17. Learn how lead generation and SEO work
18. Know how to use a semicolon.
19. Coffee
20. More coffee
22. Keep those Facebook and Twitter tabs open.
23. Don’t mull over an incomplete idea for over two nights
24. Don’t be afraid to sell an idea even when it’s been shot down
25. But know when to stop
26. Know what your design partner’s preferred drink is.
27. Most of your best ideas will come to you when the sun goes down. If one does, write it down immediately.
28. Participate in the Longhand awards
29. Don’t end a sentence with a preposition
30. If a sentence has more than two commas in it, erase it.
31. Know what causal effect is
32. Know what the Oxford comma is
33. Use colloquial whenever required
34. Know that typically, the ellipsis has no more than 3 periods.
35. Do not bring dishonor to your clan by using a hashtag on a creative
36. Know how patronizing is pronounced
37. Know the origins of the phrase, ‘…turn the page, young man.’.
38. Try to write at least one portfolio-worthy copy a month
39. Know when a meme gets old
40. Know the difference between affect and effect
41. The boring briefs maketh a writer
42. Don’t use maketh in a sentence. It’s 2017.
43. Don’t follow lists not made by either yourself or your mother.
What a plasuere to meet someone who thinks so clearly