Les belles lettres

I sometimes pause to consider just how exactly I ended up in this industry. As a kid, I wanted to be a microbiologist — until I paused to consider the number of math courses I'd have to take in college and beyond. High school had me thinking law. College found me, at various times, planning to pursue my career on Wall Street (I pause to breathe a sigh of relief) or enter international relations. Postgrad, I certainly pondered the academic life — get my PhD in Literature or History and teach keen young minds. And yet, here I am, an entrepreneur, working in advertising and communications, writing for others (though I won't pretend there aren't a few ... or more than a few ... half-finished manuscripts on my hard drive, too). But how did I get here? And what was the draw?

It finally occurred to me. I've always loved words — crossword puzzles, Scrabble (I'm vicious competition, warning you now!), and of course literature. I feel particularly drawn to poetry — Milton, Pushkin, Robert Browning, Richard Wilbur: the neatness of form appeals to me in some deeply satisfying way. The same way, I realized, that developing the perfect line of copy nourishes something within me.

Then the gears clicked. Hello, Jen .... they both appeal to you because they're functions of the same thing. Good copywriting is like poetry .... really. Hear me out. It requires word economy, discipline. You don't get more than a line or two to make your impression .... and the best impressions, I think, are engaging, slightly provocative, multivalent, tightly crafted — like you'll find in the finest poetry. To hint at, allude to, suggest imagery through just a few carefully chosen words .... isn't this both poetry and copywriting at its best?

I think so, anyway. For me, the pieces have at last fallen into place. I may not be hidden away in some ivory tower (thank God; I'd probably want to paint it pink), but I still get to play with words and ideas for a living .... I once recall being told by a creative director who crossed my path, "Good copywriting isn't exactly rocket science." At the time, I was ready for some serious eye-gouging, but looking back, perhaps this individual was correct. Good copywriting isn't a science: it's an art.