As a copywriter, you get asked to write about all sorts of things. In any one day, I have covered topics as diverse as recruiting SaaS sales-people, the benefits of genuine ink cartridges and how to achieve Scandinavian style on a budget. Some of these things I can get genuinely passionate about (who doesn’t love Hygge?) but others? Not so much.
I always think of copywriting as finding a way to get across the importance of something, but if a subject doesn’t excite you, then how can you do that? That’s when I do the thing I call ‘method writing’.
It’s probably a combination of my am-dram background and being a fiction writer. If I don’t have a use for this product or service, can I imagine someone who does? Can I slip into their head for a little while and imagine what it might be like to worry about my ex-pat pension, or how to remove pet stains from my hardwood floor? Usually, the answer is yes.
Does it help if there’s a natural connection between me and the subject matter? Definitely. It means that I’ll be able to make a quicker start on an article, and the ideas will flow more easily. Does that mean I can only write about the things I know or care about? No.
It’s a bit of convoluted mental process to go from thinking like me to developing a character who has an interest and then viewing the product or service from their point of view, but it works. As Dennis Hopper says, you have to keep yourself open.
Bid, business, and blog writing 