Word Apothecary

It’s crazy right? You started a service business because there was this thing you’re really good at. Something you had expertise and credentials for coming out of your hooha. A thing that, once you took away the office politics from your previous jobs, made you feel as though you’d gamed the system. Like, “as if I can get paid for this?!” sort of gamed. Because you loved your craft so much, you’d have done it for free. Plenty of people were giving you referrals. But the gurus told you you HAD...

The first time I read The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron’s assertion that “shadow artists often choose shadow careers—those close to the desired art, but not the art itself,” floored me. Because there I was, plain as day: a shadow artist.Now, I know I’m not the first frustrated creative to find a creative compass in The Artist’s Way. But, crucially, TAW showed me the uncomfortable truth: that I was living in the shadow of the art I burned to create; living in the gloom of the paid artist — the...

Yes, you read that right. My fiancé thinks lime green is a perfectly acceptable colour for his wedding suit. He’s adamant that anything else would be “boring” and “personalityless.” I am adamant his suggestions are more "peacocks at a pageant" than "please take me as your lawful wedded husband". But let me explain, because I’m not just being a killjoy here: The iterations for his suit started with lime green (disgusting – is this a brat wedding?), escalated to bright orange (absolutely not),...

So, the general thinking in copywriting land goes that we shouldn't be negging out our customers with doom and gloom. If I had a pound for everytime a client asks me if we can "make it sound a bit more optimistic" I'd have quit copywriting and opened a cat fostering charity, fo sho. And they're not wrong. Rule of thumb: don't bum out your customer. But... if you fancy yourself as a better writer, that's not always the right approach. You see, a lot of the time it's actually more powerful to...

Firstly, OK, yes, yes I know. How am I going to tie a frothy reality show about real estate into copywriting? But behold, dear reader, for I am about to and I am about to do it VERY well. Here's the scene: Me, Sunday afternoon, semi-comatose on my sofa after a house move and weeks of no sleep due to a 12-week old kitten. I may or may not have bothered to put on trousers. I'm delightedly chainwatching the new Selling Sunset OC spin off, which is even more thrilling for the fact I didn't...