In the Margins Pt. 2
In the Margins is a series by Contributing Writer Emily Seitz. Each installment gathers some of the best writer-focused books from authors of all genres, and summarizes the biggest brand/copywriting takeaways from each.
In the Margins: Part I tackled some on-writing classics. This time around, we’ve picked three reads, exploring three very different sides of the job.
- Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell posits that cults and cult-like brands gain some of their power through language. Writers have a responsibility to avoid even accidental manipulation, and we wondered what Montell could warn us about.
- Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy covers the eventual place all brands go—on an ad. Though not without its critiques, this book is an advertising, Mad Men-esque classic.
- Finally, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. Though Lamott is novelist and non-fiction writer, her advice on living and making a living through storytelling is inspiring.
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, Amanda Montell
Cultish explores the human desire to belong, the allure of cults, and how language shapes the way we experience the world around us. While this book is far more of a true-crime read than a branding resource, Montell sheds light on the influence of cult-like branding.
“I promptly noticed how commonplace it was for cosmetic brands to invoke ‘cult’ as a marketing term to generate buzz for new product launches. A curiosity search for the word in my old work inbox yielded thousands of results...The next Crusades will not be religious, but consumerist.”
Sure, not every brand or ad can build a cult, but the world is a better place when copywriters and brand writers use their words for good. Here are our three takeaways from Cultish:
- No matter what product you’re writing for, you have a responsibility to uncover the assumptions you may not even realize you have about the product or intended user.
- Avoid dogmatic word choices. “So much capitalist vernacular—from the sacred stock market bell to the almighty dollar—continues to have religious overtones...a ghost of the Protestant Reformation…just look at the general vocabulary we use to talk about fitness: cleanse, detox, purify, obedience, discipline, perfection.”
- Skip the jargon. Using mysterious or expert-sounding words may go viral, but it’s more alienating in the long run.
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, Anne Lamott
Famous for her non-fiction and novels, Anne Lamott has led a long and rich career, though how we define “rich” here is important. In Bird by Bird, Lamott shares her philosophies on writing and living a writer’s life, framing success in the act over the outcome. Despite the lack of specific brand writing advice, we have a lot to learn from Lamott’s calls to pay attention, believe in ourselves, and practice.
#1 Pay attention
Early on in the book, Lamott describes the desire to write as the desire to better understand the world around us. She writes, “We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason they write so very little.”
Instead of making your goal to become the most awarded brand writer in the world, try being the most observant or the most consistent.
#2 “Be militantly on your own side”
As many writers will tell you, a lot of the job is convincing yourself you have something important worth writing about in the first place — a voice worth listening to. The cure? Lamott tells us to be “militantly on our own side.”
“Writing is about hypnotizing yourself into believing in yourself, getting some work done, then un-hypnotizing yourself and going over the material coldly…[this] is a matter of persistence and faith and hard work.”
Lamott acknowledges this self-hypnotizing is easier said than done, and commiserates with us over the days when “the smoke is faint and you just have to follow it as best you can.” Her advice:
- Fight perfectionism. “Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life.”
- Just start writing. “For me and most of the other writers I know, writing is not rapturous. In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really, shitty first drafts.”
- Don’t start a new project on Mondays, specifically Mondays in December, which Lamott believes are the hardest days for starting new work. I’m inclined to agree.
#3 Care deeply
It’s hard to get through a book on writing that doesn’t touch on caring. However, Lamott offers a new perspective on why caring is important. “Maybe [humanity has] gone beyond fixing. Maybe all we can do is to make our remaining time here full of gentleness and good humor.”
Ogilvy on Advertising, David Ogilvy
Having come up in the '50s and '60s, David Ogilvy had some pretty bad takes like, “Feminists are doing dreadful things to the English language. I refuse to write spokesperson, chairperson, househusband, or womanhole cover.”
However, so many folks have adopted his advertising and writing philosophies (his book is in SO many offices) that it’s worth at least knowing about. Plus, the advice is bigger than the man.
#1 Being compelling is more important than being creative
Ogilvy warns writers of all kinds to avoid “the slippery surface of irrelevant brilliance…When I write an advertisement, I don’t want you to tell me that you find it creative. I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product.”
He goes on to say that this is especially true for B2B markets. “Some copywriters, assuming the reader will find the [B2B] product as boring as they do, try and inveigle him into their ads with pictures of babies, beagles and bosoms. This is a mistake. A buyer of flexible pipe for offshore oil rigs is more interested in pipes than anything else in the world. So play it straight.”
#2 You can work your way to better
Ogilvy believed in hard work, solid research, and actually delivering “news” as the way to win over flashy tactics. “Do your homework. You don’t stand a tinker’s chance of producing successful advertising unless you start by doing your homework. I have always found this extremely tedious, but there’s no substitute for it.”
#3 There’s no substitute for a big idea
You can brag and board all you want, but if everyone is the best, you need a different way in. Ogilvy wants us to ask ourselves—Did it make me gasp when I first saw it? Do I wish I had thought of it myself? Is it unique? Does it fit the strategy to perfection? Could it be used for 30 years?
#4 Take your time
While Ogilvy doesn’t advocate for empty phrases and poetry, he does have an interesting stance on brevity. “All my experience says that for a great many products, long copy sells more than short.” He even gets as specific to say that headlines of 10 words sell more merchandise than short headlines.
The Epilogue
This quarter’s reading reminds us that dedication to the craft will always win over a flash in the pan, that words can compel (for better or for worse), and that there’s no substitute for showing up to write. I can’t recommend Bird by Bird enough—Lamott is a joyful narrator. And while the other Cultish and Ogilvy on Advertising have some real gold in them, I’d only recommend it if you like true-crime and old school advertising, respectively.
If you read any of these or any of the books from Part I, let us know what you think!
Happy Reading,
Em, Contributing Writer + Book Worm
You can read more from Em on her blog/newsletter thing called Getting Wordy, or her previous piece for The Subtext on non-alcoholic beverage branding.
In the Margins Pt. 2
In the Margins is a series by Contributing Writer Emily Seitz. Each installment gathers some of the best writer-focused books from authors of all genres, and summarizes the biggest brand/copywriting takeaways from each.
In the Margins: Part I tackled some on-writing classics. This time around, we’ve picked three reads, exploring three very different sides of the job.
- Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell posits that cults and cult-like brands gain some of their power through language. Writers have a responsibility to avoid even accidental manipulation, and we wondered what Montell could warn us about.
- Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy covers the eventual place all brands go—on an ad. Though not without its critiques, this book is an advertising, Mad Men-esque classic.
- Finally, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. Though Lamott is novelist and non-fiction writer, her advice on living and making a living through storytelling is inspiring.
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, Amanda Montell
Cultish explores the human desire to belong, the allure of cults, and how language shapes the way we experience the world around us. While this book is far more of a true-crime read than a branding resource, Montell sheds light on the influence of cult-like branding.
“I promptly noticed how commonplace it was for cosmetic brands to invoke ‘cult’ as a marketing term to generate buzz for new product launches. A curiosity search for the word in my old work inbox yielded thousands of results...The next Crusades will not be religious, but consumerist.”
Sure, not every brand or ad can build a cult, but the world is a better place when copywriters and brand writers use their words for good. Here are our three takeaways from Cultish:
- No matter what product you’re writing for, you have a responsibility to uncover the assumptions you may not even realize you have about the product or intended user.
- Avoid dogmatic word choices. “So much capitalist vernacular—from the sacred stock market bell to the almighty dollar—continues to have religious overtones...a ghost of the Protestant Reformation…just look at the general vocabulary we use to talk about fitness: cleanse, detox, purify, obedience, discipline, perfection.”
- Skip the jargon. Using mysterious or expert-sounding words may go viral, but it’s more alienating in the long run.
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, Anne Lamott
Famous for her non-fiction and novels, Anne Lamott has led a long and rich career, though how we define “rich” here is important. In Bird by Bird, Lamott shares her philosophies on writing and living a writer’s life, framing success in the act over the outcome. Despite the lack of specific brand writing advice, we have a lot to learn from Lamott’s calls to pay attention, believe in ourselves, and practice.
#1 Pay attention
Early on in the book, Lamott describes the desire to write as the desire to better understand the world around us. She writes, “We are a species that needs and wants to understand who we are. Sheep lice do not seem to share this longing, which is one reason they write so very little.”
Instead of making your goal to become the most awarded brand writer in the world, try being the most observant or the most consistent.
#2 “Be militantly on your own side”
As many writers will tell you, a lot of the job is convincing yourself you have something important worth writing about in the first place — a voice worth listening to. The cure? Lamott tells us to be “militantly on our own side.”
“Writing is about hypnotizing yourself into believing in yourself, getting some work done, then un-hypnotizing yourself and going over the material coldly…[this] is a matter of persistence and faith and hard work.”
Lamott acknowledges this self-hypnotizing is easier said than done, and commiserates with us over the days when “the smoke is faint and you just have to follow it as best you can.” Her advice:
- Fight perfectionism. “Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life.”
- Just start writing. “For me and most of the other writers I know, writing is not rapturous. In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really, shitty first drafts.”
- Don’t start a new project on Mondays, specifically Mondays in December, which Lamott believes are the hardest days for starting new work. I’m inclined to agree.
#3 Care deeply
It’s hard to get through a book on writing that doesn’t touch on caring. However, Lamott offers a new perspective on why caring is important. “Maybe [humanity has] gone beyond fixing. Maybe all we can do is to make our remaining time here full of gentleness and good humor.”
Ogilvy on Advertising, David Ogilvy
Having come up in the '50s and '60s, David Ogilvy had some pretty bad takes like, “Feminists are doing dreadful things to the English language. I refuse to write spokesperson, chairperson, househusband, or womanhole cover.”
However, so many folks have adopted his advertising and writing philosophies (his book is in SO many offices) that it’s worth at least knowing about. Plus, the advice is bigger than the man.
#1 Being compelling is more important than being creative
Ogilvy warns writers of all kinds to avoid “the slippery surface of irrelevant brilliance…When I write an advertisement, I don’t want you to tell me that you find it creative. I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product.”
He goes on to say that this is especially true for B2B markets. “Some copywriters, assuming the reader will find the [B2B] product as boring as they do, try and inveigle him into their ads with pictures of babies, beagles and bosoms. This is a mistake. A buyer of flexible pipe for offshore oil rigs is more interested in pipes than anything else in the world. So play it straight.”
#2 You can work your way to better
Ogilvy believed in hard work, solid research, and actually delivering “news” as the way to win over flashy tactics. “Do your homework. You don’t stand a tinker’s chance of producing successful advertising unless you start by doing your homework. I have always found this extremely tedious, but there’s no substitute for it.”
#3 There’s no substitute for a big idea
You can brag and board all you want, but if everyone is the best, you need a different way in. Ogilvy wants us to ask ourselves—Did it make me gasp when I first saw it? Do I wish I had thought of it myself? Is it unique? Does it fit the strategy to perfection? Could it be used for 30 years?
#4 Take your time
While Ogilvy doesn’t advocate for empty phrases and poetry, he does have an interesting stance on brevity. “All my experience says that for a great many products, long copy sells more than short.” He even gets as specific to say that headlines of 10 words sell more merchandise than short headlines.
The Epilogue
This quarter’s reading reminds us that dedication to the craft will always win over a flash in the pan, that words can compel (for better or for worse), and that there’s no substitute for showing up to write. I can’t recommend Bird by Bird enough—Lamott is a joyful narrator. And while the other Cultish and Ogilvy on Advertising have some real gold in them, I’d only recommend it if you like true-crime and old school advertising, respectively.
If you read any of these or any of the books from Part I, let us know what you think!
Happy Reading,
Em, Contributing Writer + Book Worm
You can read more from Em on her blog/newsletter thing called Getting Wordy, or her previous piece for The Subtext on non-alcoholic beverage branding.