One of the great things about Steffan Postaer and other top practitioners in the ad biz endeavoring to share on blogs is the series of spontaneous tutorials in “How To Make It In This Business” they periodically (and instinctively) make available.
Postaer just offered one on the process he brings to writing ad copy:
When I sit down with a brief, I begin hunting for one true thing I can say or express about the client I’m being asked to advertise. If I hit upon something then I go about trying to prove it out in a paragraph or two. We call this a mantra. Writing a mantra is akin to making art. We do not just hash something together. We roll the words around like stones in a rock tumbler until they are perfect. We find grace.
Next time your creative director shoots down a particularly beloved concept, be glad she didn’t say, “Come back when your copy has achieved a state of grace.”
