Put down your pen and listen

I never tire of Bill Bernbach quotes.

They make sense.

Take the example below. It demonstrates a perfect understanding of what copywriting is about. It is also, as with all BB quotes, elegantly expressed.

"It’s an insight into human nature that is the key to the communicator’s skill. For whereas the writer is concerned with what he puts into his writing, the communicator is concerned with what the reader gets out of it. He therefore becomes a student of how people read or listen."

It's not science. It's not poetry. It's not journalism. It's not 'creative writing' in the sense of novels and the like. It's about understanding the leap between what's written on the page and how it connects with the person reading it. And whether or not this can create an emotion or an action (or if you're lucky, both).*

* There are many other factors involved such as time and place too. HND has a theory about this which involves Schrödinger's cat but more about that another time.