Now That You've Become A Copywriter

By Author: Benjamin Brown
Total Articles: 37
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So, you've become a copywriter. You did it. Sweet.
And in your early days in the biz, you've then probably written your fair share of coupons and direct mail pieces and in-store promotional stuff. Then maybe you even dipped you toe in the writing for radio waters (which look calm enough but which are actually very dangerous!)
But maybe all that wasn't your ultimate goal. Maybe, just maybe, you've become a copywriter to work on the big puppy...television. So after you write the killer spot and sell it (which is a dreaded nightmare) and you land at LAX to shoot it the next morning, what will you be doing at the shoot?
Hitting on the person running the Kraft Services truck?
Hardly.
You're job on the shoot will be to make absolutely sure that each and every word on each and every one of the scripts IS COVERED. Spoken. Orated. On camera. This is imperative! Wait. Isn't that going to just happen anyway? Don't the director and the script lady (they're usually women) and the first assistant director and the entire crew know to cover the script?
NO. They don't.
They all have tasks. But it is ...
... on YOU to bring back the script. The person you will be spending most of your time with will be the script girl. And you will learn to hover near her and around her and beside her like you've never hovered before. You will watch as she uses her Highlighter and her stop watch non stop and make sure that all of the words, and all of the variations of those words is covered.
Now here's the biggie for you to remember on your shoot: You will methodically pull out all of the lines that were killed by the client that you still have great heart for. Long after you've become a copywriter and done all of the things you need to do you will learn, very quickly, that a ton of your best work will be killed by the client.
But that doesn't mean you shouldn't shoot it.
In fact, in many, many cases, material is 'revisited' and is shot and then is SOLD even after the client saw it in only the script form and killed it.
How about that?
It is very important that you have the lines that you and your art director fell in love with ready as you spend your day shooting. You will 'feed them' to your director as time permits throughout the long day...and you will be incredibly happy that you did when you go to edit your spots. Think of it this way. It took an incredible amount of effort and work for you to become a copywriter. Becoming a great one happens just by knowing a few tricks of the trade...

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