Don't read this as though your life depends on it
Because it doesn't
But if you're like me....
And you write stuff everyday...
Or more often than not
Here's something on world class writing
Something that could shift the way you think about writing
Look at it like this:
When you set about digging a borehole
And you find water
What comes out first?
Dirty, muddy, coloured water yeah?
This continues for a while...
Until eventually... the clean drinkable water starts coming out.
And sometimes... in fact... very often...
When water stops running in your house and you turn on the pumping machine
What comes out first?
The dirty residue at the bottom of the tank yeah?
This goes on for a few seconds or minutes
Before the clean water starts coming out of your faucets and taps.
Now, let's bring it back to writing...
Your brain is a like a faucet... or tap.. or pipe...
It's biologically wired to send out the bad stuff first
And to become a top 0.00001% writer..
You have to develop the habit of writing out the bad stuff first
So whenever you sit down to write...
Understand this:
You won't immediately get that killer novel idea.
The way it works is...
Your brain will first send you a number of Mediocre ideas
Write them out (Don't just wave them off as mediocre.. write them out)
Doing this helps clear out your thought-process,
Creating an active pathway for better ideas to flow from your subconscious mind... into your conscious mind... all the way to your screen or paper.
Copywriting legend, Joe Sugarman... said it best:
"Your first... 2nd.,.. 3rd drafts are always crap... get those out as fast as possible... to make way for interesting big ideas.... and write out these interesting big ideas too as they come... keep doing this until you hit Gold.... that is... the one big idea upon which you'll build your marketing message!"
Gary Bencivenga, the world's greatest living Copywriter (now retired)... says:
"I write a minimum of 25 headlines before the really good stuff starts coming out.."
And of course...
His mentor, David Ogilvy... the King of Madison... would agree
Afterall... Ogilvy himself had to write over 100 headlines...
Before he came up with the classic "60Miles/hr" Headline
That sold out Roll's Royce's entire U.S inventory
I'm sure you're beginning to see the lesson here:
Make a habit of writing out a lot of rubbish first
Get out the mediocre stuff as quickly as possible (by actually writing it out...)
Don't fall into that mental trap of just going thru the motions in your head ...
Until you think you've found that one great idea that hits the nail on the head
No bueno
Sure... you can ignore this
And just do with whatever "great idea" comes to your mind at first
But take it from someone who knows...
If you really want to become a top 0.00001% writer
Make a habit of doing this little exercise during your writing sessions
The quality of your writing will improve
You'll get much better results
And soon enough... (if you keep doing this...)
You'll come to realize that:
The frequency with which you receive great novel ideas is increasing at lightening speed.
Stay frosty
A.
P.S: A common mistake I see many writers (even experienced writers) make is..
Focusing on work and clients
Sure, that's something worth paying attention to
But the stuff that makes you in-demand and highly-paid...
...is not in the work or your clients.
It's in what you know.... and how you apply it in the real world.
Knowledge... the right knowledge... and the right application... is really power.
The more "right knowledge" you have, and the more "right application" of that knowledge you deploy...
The farther you'll get... And in less time too.
This is the premise upon which I structure my teachings on Copywriting
And that's why my students are getting results they never imagined possible
If you' missed my Copywriting Masterclass this January
You can join the February batch here