It took me years to find my voice as a writer. I know some writers who still haven’t found theirs. Oh, they’ve found it in their emails. Hilarious, well-written, colloquial emails. But when I read their copy, oh shit, formal, “hope the client likes this” clunky garbage. If you’re reading this and thinking, is he talking about me? Yes. Yes I am. And all I would say to you is, form the brand’s voice to fit yours, not the other way around. I remember one project specifically, where I was asked to write one of those brand mission kind of wank spots. You know the ones. With the repetitive listen-to-how- important-and-poetic-this-is writing style.
Deep-voiced Voiceover: It’s about the little moments. And the big ones. The good times. And the bad. The ones we remember. (said with smile) And the ones we can never forget. For all the moments in life, [any goddamn product and/or service] will be there.
I tried and tried to get it right. Felt like a huge failure. Round after round of getting shot down. Late one night I thought, Fuck it, I’m writing what I would write instead of what I think my creative director thinks the client thinks the franchisees think the consumers want. So I added my sense of humour to the script. Still making a big deal out of the message, but not in a “we take ourselves too seriously” kind of way. Long story short (only ever said after it’s too late and it’s already been a long story), boss loved it. Never got presented to client, project died, but I like to think they would’ve liked it too.
You were hired because you bring something special. Find out what that is, and do it.
Just a bit of what I bring to the job.