It's just one line

Okay.  Let’s talk about finding the line.

That is your job description as a copywriter.  I mean, copywriters do a lot more too, all very important, but ultimately the copywriter is responsible for finding the line that works, the line that gets peoples’ attention, the line that sticks in their head, the line that embodies the brand, the line that offends, captivates, excites, pulls, pushes, attracts, compliments, and anything in between.

The line is this crazy thing that seems so elusive so you spend forever trying to come up with it. You add suffixes and find synonyms and try alliteration and throw away all puns and eventually choose between way this and way that. Sometimes it pays off and you get one nice, crisp, clear line of copy. Other times you find yourself using a metaphor that only you understand because you’ve spent three days thinking about saying one thing and finally came up with something obscurely related that you think is creative but is really just convoluted. And then you’re really messed up because its been three days and you don’t even know what you’re saying anymore.

Starting over, you could get lucky and go back to a line that you had come up with on day 1 but passed over. Good. It was there the whole time. Good.

Or, you could start over and realize you still don’t have anything and try to reroute your brain.  Only rerouting at this point is like rerouting Google Maps under a tunnel, without service, stuck in traffic, surrounded by semi trucks so you can’t see anything around you.

Screw this line.

But that is what makes this so fun. I try and try and most of the time I just almost get a line but then don’t.  And then occasionally I get one. I get one. I get one. I get one.