TL;DR A good brief plus a good copywriter = great work

I was half listening to Mumford and Sons being interviewed on Radio 2 the other night on Jo Whiley and Simon Mayo’s Drive Time and I had to fully listen when they started talking about the creative process and knowing when to say The End. Not the end as in no more music; the end as in this album is finished we can/should now release it. They said something I felt was quite profound about letting the art fly.

Simon Mayo asked if their new album was finished which prompted the discussion about committing artistically, indecision, stopping tinkering and creatively knowing when to let it go, when to let it fly. I agree Mumfords.

Now, I am in no way comparing what I do as a copywriter to being in a band but there are parallels. There is a LOT written by copywriters about the art of copywriting and perceived wisdom about the process. And here I am adding to it…

Knowing when to say enough is enough/The End is really important for both the client and the copywriter.

In order to get to The End you need to begin with a good brief. A good brief is about pinning down the client (metaphorically speaking). If you nail the brief by asking all the right questions and giving the client the opportunity to really open up and give you the nuggets you need then you can deliver great copy.

If there’s no brief or a woolly brief, or an ever changing brief or a team involved in the approval process who weren’t involved in the brief…and the list goes on, then the revisions are likely to be lengthy, multiple and exhausting for all.

In my opinion, if you need more than a couple of revisions it’s probably down to a bad brief, maybe a bad copywriter (or just the wrong copywriter) or dare I say a bad client. Or to put it another way, a client who doesn’t know what they want, or maybe will never be happy.

I’m in the first draft is the best camp. If you’re in the first drafts are always rubbish camp don’t @ me – difference is good!

If you keep going over and over something you can rework it to the point that you no longer see sense in it. Having the confidence to know when it’s ready to fly is key for both client and copywriter.

If you need good work and can confidently tick the box ‘I am a dead good person to work with (essential)’ Get in touch https://deadgoodwithwords.co.uk/get-dead-good-stuff-done/