Comments on: How I Write Today: Susan Johnston

By: Almost Slowfood

Almost Slowfood — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:08:40 +0000

Susan, I love how you always find unique and helpful ways to explain a thing. You also make just about any kind of writing seem interesting!!

By: Sheryl

Sheryl — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 01:22:02 +0000

This is so interesting. I love your point about word economy. Many people say studying poetry makes you a much more careful, economical writer. Same for your copywriting, I guess.

By: Vera Marie Badertscher

Vera Marie Badertscher — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:14:14 +0000

Great advice from Susan. I found this through a tweet by Jackie Dishner and really appreciate seeing it. Thanks.

By: Susan Matthewson

Susan Matthewson — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:47:07 +0000

Outstanding advice for any kind of writing. All writing should be crisp, dynamic, and concise and strong verbs are a key element to good writing. I know because I’m an adjective addict and am always having to kill my little lovely adjectives in revision. And as much as I love my lovely little adjectives, their absence makes my piece stronger.

By: Susan Johnston

Susan Johnston — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 01:34:42 +0000

Shera: The pay totally varies. Sometimes it’s by the hour, but more often I’ve gotten paid per product. And due to the high volume of items to get through, most of my clients don’t request too many revisions (they might ask me to revisit a few products here and there, but usually it’s on to the next batch).

Thanks to everyone who weighed in and to Meredith for hosting me on her blog!

By: Meredith

Meredith — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:17:47 +0000

I’m totally with Kim (and Susan) on this. I’ve done a ton of copy writing. Having to work on tight deadlines and crank out copy in a hurry has made me a far better creative writer. Those skills of finding the story (either in a 150-word post or a 1500-word essay) are totally transferable.

By: Kim Hooper

Kim Hooper — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:04:08 +0000

This post was interesting for me as I’m also in copywriting and have found that even writing about boring medical devices improves my overall craft. I’m forced to be creative with word choice, either to meet word count restrictions or legal constraints. There’s also an organizational component to copywriting (outlining a brochure or website, for example) that makes me better at structuring novels and short stories.
I’ll have to check out The Urban Muse!

By: Shera Dalin

Shera Dalin — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:19:39 +0000

So the big question is what do catalog’s pay?

By: Kara Williams

Kara Williams — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:44:01 +0000

I love all your advice!

By: Jackie Dishner

Jackie Dishner — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:32:40 +0000

Susan,

Great points made. And I love that you accidentally found a new niche. Nice photo, too!

Jackie