If novel-writing is an art…
Copywriting is a science.
It’s calculated. Formulaic. Measurement-based. Feedback-driven.
That being said…
Truly great scientists… and truly great artists… they both know that when you become great at either craft, the ‘neat’ lines separating these two fields begin to blur. Art becomes science. And science art.
Thus…
Great copywriting combines both science and art.
Yes, it’s calculated. But you need more than cold calculations. You need compelling, vivid pictures painted with your words. You need living, breathing, powerful metaphors. And you need to craft phrases that are more than the output of some dead formula.
With this in mind…
Be on the lookout for great phrases. Phrases that make you stop, and smile.
Phrases that seem to ‘open up’ your soul, so that fresh air can come in.
I was recently listening to a song…
And in it, the singer has a line where he’s trying to communicate the thought, “we fear silence.”
But instead…
He used a phrase that was wonderful. And captured my attention. And opened up my soul.
He said, “we fear the space between our breaths.”
Be on the lookout for phrases like that.
Learn to notice them. Write them down.
Return to them.
Sit with them.
Appreciate them.
And in time, you’ll learn to create them yourself.
