I think my week as a fashion writer was always doomed to fail. When I started the assignment, to help a large fashion brand with copy for their website, I realized I had no idea what was “in fashion”.
I google “Vogue” and spend an hour reading.
When you work as a freelancer or running your own business, as I do, the temptation is to take any job that comes your way — (guilty). The merits of this approach are that it is important to try new things, challenge oneself and grow.
The downside is feeling like a complete and utter fraud as soon as I make one small mistake.
I had a stack of glossy high-fashion magazines as high as my bedroom door when I was a teenager, this counts, right? I know what VPL stands for.
Did all the fashion lingo come flooding back to me? Nope. Did I learn that copywriting outside my comfort zone sucks and makes me feel like a newbie? Yes.
This is a fun lesson. Don’t get me wrong, the ego is a little bruised. I want to be amazing at it all on the first go. I want to add a new niche to my repertoire, just like that. Boom, I’m a fashion writer.
But turns out — knowing how to describe items of clothes without being literal is a bitch of a skill to master. (You heard it here first.)
The strategy I opted for:
Just have a go. Do the extra research. Ask for feedback.
The worst case is they read it, highlight everything red and send it back with an emailed titled “WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?” in aggressive and shouty CAPS lock. And, I get fired, without pay.
Well, what a relief. They just sent back a polite email suggesting for the second half of the project I refresh the tone of voice.
They didn’t ask for any rewrites but did give some serious feedback. They said I started off great, but slowly the tone of voice wandered from high-fashion to, not what they wanted… (aka me, on the British High Street, probably in the home section of Primark).
My options are, one, beat myself up mentally for getting in out of my depth and give up.
Or two, beat me up mentally a little bit, comfort eats at least two cookies and half a loaf of sourdough bread and lean into feeling a bit silly.
It’s been a while since a job was new and hard. Thing is, it’s a simple task for a junior fashion writer and a big lesson for me as a senior copywriter used to fitness and sales.
The lesson here. This has self-esteem building potential all over it, and is a possible hilarious cocktail story for my friends, titled:
“The time I decided to take on a project that was for junior fashion writers and couldn’t do it — the punch line, imagine me typing chic in a thesaurus 10 times an hour.”
I can’t deny a little bit of me wanted to quit. Admit defeat, say “it’s not my industry anyway” and run back to the safe space, writing Facebook ads and social media posts.
Instead, without being asked to, I rewrote all the copy.
I initially rushed the creative stage because I am so eager to complete tasks. Also for some reason, I associate being “a pro” with completing jobs quickly. That’s my ego and I think wrong to continue. Fail number one.
Fail number two, my arrogance of breezing through the tasks, like I could just pick up a new industry and not have to spend a bit of extra time learning — I could have edited the copy myself properly the first time, sat on it a day and come back to it with fresh eyes and I’d have noticed the tone of voice slip too.
So I’d fucked up. I always want people to think good things about my work so I was excited to show I had listened to the feedback and make the small polite adjustments and then some. I was wrong and so I ate a full-fat piece of humble pie and redid all the copy I had written, without them asking me to — I did it to action the learnings.
I now hold my breath until the second email comes back with a shouty caps lock title, “NOT THIS SHIT AGAIN…”.
HERE’S THE SERIOUS BIT, HOW TO BE A BETTER COPYWRITER THAN I AM:
- Do not rush.
- Proofread it out loud to yourself. Go away, drink a cup of tea (or your preferred beverage) and proofread it again.
- Do not take on briefs that you’re unsure about without giving yourself extra time to research it, and work a bit harder than everyone else.
- Ask more questions — get more detail than you need so you really understand what the client is expecting.
- Focus on content and creating value, not word count.
- Don’t try and “talk fashion”, when you don’t know what any of it means. (It’s all chic and great style.) Just focus on completing the task in a simple thorough manner, as they asked. Do not over complicate it.
- Blink more — my contact lenses are so dry from staring at my screen, it’s a serious distraction.
- If you must eat all the cookies in the cupboard, ensure you make time for physical activity in the day.
Good luck fashion copywriters. I think you do a great job to make bits of material come to life. I on the other hand, can offer you a sarcastic comment, anytime.
IF I WERE TO WRITE A FASHION BLOG, IT MAY SOUND SOMETHING LIKE THIS…
That neon green colour that’s “SO IN” at the moment. It’s like a really really bad pop song. I’ve seen so much of it, I’m starting to like it. I’m not sure if I actually like it, or if it’s just become part of my existential sense of self and I feel part of it?
Thank you for reading my confessions from the front line of terrible copywriting.
I can write great copy — sometimes. When I want to.
If you gave me a clap — you’d make my year.
