Copywriting is not a spelling test

 

Copywriting is not a spelling test

Stu the copywriterClick here to view Stu the copywriter’s profile

Stu the copywriter

Self-Appointed Ruler of Post-Apocalyptic Britain at End of Days

Published Dec 1, 2016
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I was recently greeted with, “Ah. You’re that Stu the copywriter. The one who doesn’t let grammar get in the way of good copy”. Which I took as a compliment – even if that’s not how it was intended. Because it’s true. I don’t happen to think spelling and grammar are that important. Not for a copywriter.

Accuracy IS important

I’m not saying it doesn’t matter if there’s a typo on an ad. Of course it does. But it’s not a copywriter’s responsibility – as long as they’ve turned on spellcheck, they’ve done their bit in the war on error. But some people confuse copywriting and proofreading. I don’t know why. They’ve obviously got their wires crossed somewhere along the line. A copywriter has bigger fish to fry than mere spelling or grammar. If you think the accuracy of copy is more important than what it’s saying, you’ve got your priorities completely wrong – and have a very odd idea of what a copywriter is and we do for a living.

Turns out I was wrong

I’ve had this debate may times over the years, with all sorts of people – including so-called copywriters – and I’ll often say I can think of 10 things that are more important than spelling, and start randomly listing them until they walk away. But I’ve never actually written them down before - and it turns out I was wrong. There are loads more than 10…

Things that make a good copywriter – which are more important than spelling and grammar:

  1. Being able to understand a creative brief
  2. Being able to challenge a brief 
  3. Spotting holes in a brief 
  4. Asking the right questions 
  5. Creativity and imagination 
  6. Having an endless supply of ideas 
  7. Problem solving and lateral thinking 
  8. Explaining complex things in simple ways 
  9. Being able to spot holes in logic, and fill them 
  10. Cultural awareness 
  11. An awareness of current and past ad campaigns from major brands
  12. Structuring copy 
  13. Active writing 
  14. Plain English 
  15. Understanding your audience 
  16. Writing for your audience
  17. Understanding your client 
  18. Being able to write an ad campaign 
  19. Experience writing for different media 
  20. Being able to work with an art director to become greater than the sum of your parts
  21. Understanding tone of voice guidelines 
  22. Quickly adopting a brand’s tone of voice 
  23. Seeing the bigger brand picture 
  24. Ad/brand agency experience 
  25. A sense of rhythm 
  26. Being able to write persuasively 
  27. Commercial nous 
  28. A highly-tuned bullshit detector 
  29. Being able to understand, and challenge, waffy amends 
  30. Self-editing skills 
  31. Being able to sell in your work 
  32. Being able to turn on spellcheck

I’m not saying I have all these things or that you have to have them all to be a good copywriter. I just think they’re all more important than being able to spell ‘necessarily’ first time or knowing what an adverb is.

I say, let the grammar grannies spot your typos while you’re busy smashing another brief.  

How has this happened?

I think there are a couple of reasons for all this confusion: 

  1. People assume copywriting is a writing job. It’s not. It’s a creative problem-solving job. Sometimes the solution is words, sometimes it isn’t
  2. Lots of people who aren’t copywriters are going around calling themselves copywriters because they're good at spelling

Obviously this is all just my opinion and I take no responsibility for the accuracy of this post. I can, however, guarantee the accuracy of any work I do for my clients because I use an amazing proofreader. Details available on request.                              

If you’d like me to add anything to this list, please comment below.

If you're a 'copywriter' and think this is a load of rubbish, please comment below - but be prepared for me to look at your website and, as politely as I can, suggest that maybe you're not a copywriter at all.

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