Why Am I Writing This Anyway?

If your lifelong dream is to write Bible studies, craft devotional guides, or create fiction for today’s Christian woman, you may not ask this question. On the other hand, if you mainly write about cat litter, bed sheets, and communication software, it might come up every now and then.  

Those last three topics probably weren’t what you had in mind when you breathlessly announced at your Bible study, “God is calling me to be … (dramatic pause) … a writer.” You probably imagined yourself crafting prose that would uplift souls, uproot injustice, and upgrade your credit rating. Copywriting, if you’re good at it, can do the last bit but not the first two.

For copywriters, the art and science of writing aren't about ripping open the layers that guard your soul Share on X

For copywriters, the art and science of writing aren’t about ripping open the layers that guard your soul or introducing people to life-changing esoteric truths. It’s about moving products and selling services in order to make money for the people who hire you to write.

Let’s face the ugly truth, y’all. We’re hacks. (I’m reminded of Hyacinth Bucket saying to a journalist, “If I were the victim of gross indecency, you would have been round here quicker than a split infinitive. …Illiterate hack.”)

Recognizing that we’re hacks leads us back to the original question: Why am I writing this anyway? When translated from the original languages, that question means: Is my work worth anything to the world?

And so we come to the heart of the matter—Does my work matter? Do I matter?

You know I’m not going to say No, you don’t matter. Why don’t you give up trying to write, you silly twit, and take up a real hobby? So at this point, you can skip to the end, leave a glowing comment, and open the refrigerator to see what’s landed inside it in the last 30 minutes. I’d rather you stuck with me, though. There’s a particular reason copywriting matters.

Copywriting starts with a problem. It’s not the obvious problem. Share on X

Take my cat litter box client for instance. What’s the problem they solve? Is it just that they keep people from seeing and smelling cat waste by containing it in an elegant box? At one level, yes. But let’s probe more deeply into the cat litter. (Wear a mask.)

What problem do the cats themselves solve?

Our average customer is a single apartment-dwelling woman in her thirties who is living in a major urban area. Why does she have a cat? Probably because she’s lonely. The cat is company at night. He’s someone who cares if she comes home. He depends on her. Needs her. Loves her.

Cats solve loneliness. We help our clients take care of their furry problem-solvers in ways they can feel good about. My client isn’t just solving the problem of cat stink. They’re also helping their customers take care of the creature that alleviates loneliness and isolation in a profound way.

In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott writes, “If your wife locks you out of the house, you don’t have a problem with your door.”

Effective solutions start with correctly identifying the problem. Share on X

Effective solutions start with correctly identifying the problem. What problem does your client’s product or service solve? What basic human pain does it help alleviate? Maybe they’re not selling cancer drugs, but they’re selling something that makes someone’s life better. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be in business.

You’re writing matters because your client’s products matter to someone, and they probably matter on a more deeply emotional plane that you think. That’s why copywriting counts. That’s why you’re doing this.

I think you and I would benefit from a broader vision of what’s important. Of course, devotional or fiction writing that touches the soul is important. But writing that helps someone take better care of the cat that’s alleviating their loneliness matters, too.

It’s a myth that the only writers who help people are those who write the Biblical novels, the devotions, the Bible studies, and the marriage helps. The writers who help people are the ones who pay attention to other people’s needs. Those are the copywriters.

The writers who help people are the ones who pay attention to other people’s needs. Those are the copywriters. Share on X

Penelope Trunk says, “Your idea … is generally a wish that your own passion is a gift to other people. But ironically, most (people trying to do good) are not paying attention to other people at all. And most entrepreneurs who are raking in money are paying very careful attention to what helps other people.”

Are you paying attention to other people’s pain? If so, your words can help people make choices that alleviate that pain is positive ways. And people will pay you for that.

Copywriting, like all writing, counts not because it’s deemed “beautiful” by snobby critics or “bestselling” by relieved publishers. It counts because it helps change people’s lives.

Why do you write sales copy? Tell us in the comments.

Holland Webb: I love telling the stories that people put down so they go take action. I’m an advertising copywriter by day, an aspiring novelist by night, a parent, a dog-lover, a prison volunteer and a follower of Jesus.