greggblog

October 27, 2023

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I am woman…age 25-45, with 2.5 kids.

Hear me roar.

 

 

Typecasting us typing types

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I really have nothing to growl about: I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a woman…married, with two kids (or three), nestled in that comfy middle-to-upper income range at the end of a cozy cul-de-sac.

 

I also relish my role as an endoscopic surgeon—45-60, privileged white dude, perched on a chief of staff post, in his second marriage, but would rather be on the first tee. I got everything in the world but time.

 

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Identity crisis? Chameleon? Crackpot? No, I’m a copywriter.

 

“Have you ever written for bulimics?”  (No, but I’ve eaten with anorexics…I think.)

 

After being asked that somewhat recently in an apparent attempt to gage my aptitude for a project, I reticently answered, “No.” (Sigh.) I quickly added, however, that I had never written for:  at risk teens, homeless single mothers, mouthy celebrity brand spokespersons, corporate lawyers, over-agitated kid museum visitors, hospital CFOs, 20-somethings who just want to get keep their brights their brightest, etc.

 

And yet, I knocked every project out of the park…first time at bat.

 

 

Expertise over experience

 

Good writers—designers, art directors, illustrators…anyone communicating, for that matter—know how to get up to speed and become their audience. Being steeped in a particular industry puts you a bit ahead of the learning curve, but it doesn’t guarantee efficacy over a newbee to the sector copywriter. And, in fact, folks mired in a particular industry can be just that: tending to crank out the expected, me-too work that should never be cranked out.

 

But maybe I’m typecasting…

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