In Dublin, 1906, a tall, gaunt, brooding man by the name of Samuel Beckett was brought into the world. A boy with “little talent for happiness”, he often spent entire days trapped in bed and depressed. He moved to Paris in 1928 and struck up a lifelong friendship with the now-famous experimental writer James Joyce.
From 1931 to 1937, he travelled Europe working odd jobs and writing on the side. After being stabbed by a pimp upon resettling in Paris (later meeting and dropping all charges against the attacker), he took up arms with the French Resistance on the Nazi-occupied streets. He and his wife fled to avoid the Gestapo forces, and he was eventually awarded the Croix de Guerre for his bravery in defending a foreign country.
After the war, he began the most prolific stage of his career, crafting absurd masterpieces like Waiting for Godot. He used experimental tactics such as writing in German and French (his clumsiest tongues) to force clarity in every word he wrote and continually experimented with his creative approaches. His work challenged language itself in delivering powerful messages about nihilism, joy, and everything between.
One of his most famous lines (from Worstword Ho!) sums up his career as a drifter, a soldier, a lover of life, and finally, a successful writer:
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
The process of becoming a better writer didn’t end for Beckett; the process became a part of his life. He was eventually awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969 before retreating to the country to focus entirely on his writing.
Many of us don’t have the option of moving into the woods to write, but luckily, we have access to plenty of good practices and even some high-tech tools to help us make the most of our words. Like any skill, it demands practice, patience, and the ability to accept having made mistakes.
Copywriting is essential for a successful business, from concise mission statements and product offerings to effective communications and keyword integration. No matter where your writing is being deployed, the process of strengthening as a wordsmith is a matter of time, care, and a few cheats along the way.
Here are my tips for becoming a stronger writer so you too may try again, fail again, and fail better.
Consistency
No one crusted the perfect crème brûlée on the first go. So too, no one writes the perfect pitch without ample use of the backspace key. While frustrations can mount, your document can be made of more edits than final proofs, and the ideal word count seems miles away; keep going.
A consistent approach to anything is the best way to achieve results. Would you drop your advertising campaign if it didn’t generate a lead within the first two minutes? Of course not. You would keep moving, keep growing, and learn from wherever you can.
Writing Every Day
Whether it’s bullet journaling or taking notes down on the daily oddities you see, never underestimate the power of writing every day. Creativity is a muscle that requires a daily workout to stay effective and sharp. The point isn’t to create something worth sharing every moment but to simply make. Spontaneous, free, and without boundary.
Keep a list of tasks you’re putting off. Have you added new products to your lineup? Try writing out some tag lines or feature lists! Updating your services? This might be a good time to update your website! Some leads going cold? Draft some emails up! When you practice every day, you aren’t limiting your productivity to workdays. You might end up creating some gold out of the dark.
Collecting data and feedback about what you write
Getting feedback on writing is an intimate process. Finding an audience you trust is essential in getting a sense of how your writing comes off to others. Just because it makes sense to you doesn’t mean it makes sense to anyone else.
Feedback should be honest, thoughtful, and comment on both strengths and weaknesses. Are your jokes landing? Are your keywords being integrated smoothly? Most importantly, is your work easy or enjoyable to read?
Consider having different “proofers” for your different voices. Writing creatively (say, for a blog on creative writing) has different demands than writing technically or for a website. If you find your skill set better suited to one job than another, seeking out feedback may help even out your writing in problem areas. Allowing yourself to hear critique is the best way to improve.
Using tools to coach yourself
Language is a complex process of interrelated symbols and cues compiled from asynchronous and temporal meanings (we geek out on semiotics here at MKC). It is nearly impossible to quantify or guide words through digital means. AI is getting close, however, through online tools like Hemingway and Grammarly.
Hemingway is an application that allows you to paste in your writing and, through color-coding, see hard-to-read passages, opportunities for more effective synonyms, and a reading comprehension meter to see what reading level your writing is. The goal of this being readability—often, the simpler your message, the better.
Grammarly is far more in-depth and serves as an add-on that can interact with most writing boxes online like Google Docs. It scans your document for common grammatical errors, improper formatting, and spell checking. Additionally, its AI-learning gives you an emotive response to how your writing may come across others and suggests rewrites for large or complex passages. A premium subscription is worth the price for these long-form editing features alone if you are writing consistently.
Writing, like marketing, takes experience and a heavy dose of patience. We’re natural communicators as a species, but there is always room for improvement. My services can help you communicate your media more clearly, effectively, and with the results to show for it.
Contact me today to get started on your next best strategy—wherever your business takes you.