Copywriting For Yourself. Part 1: The Handicap

Copywriting for yourself brings with it an extra challenge. As soon as you start, the playing field changes. For some reason, things stop being what they are, and your instincts stop working like they should. It’s like you forget how to do it. Your methods change, your approach, attitude— it’s like you’re doing it all for the first time. Well, it’s because you are. Copywriting for yourself is nothing like copywriting for someone else. It’s something different and new, and that is because you’re doing it without one of the most important elements: objectivity.

Part of the copywriter’s job is to uncover voice and reflect it honestly and authentically. But uncovering your own voice is difficult because it’s technically everywhere— in the things you say and the things you avoid saying. Your instincts don’t work on you the same way they work on others.  You know all your secrets and fears. We are blind to our faults; we overestimate and underestimate our strengths and weaknesses. What we see in mirrors and pictures is different than what others see. What we hear in recordings sounds nothing like our natural speaking voice. We are built to view ourselves differently from the rest of the world.

So, when objectivity leaves the conversation, clarity does as well. You begin to question what is true and what is just in your head; what you present vs what is shown. And try as you may, you can’t help but feel that you keep falling short— that the copy doesn’t truly resemble you. You may begin to feel like an impostor. You may doubt every decision. And being the only person involved, you are free to keep changing things, or even starting over, endlessly editing to find that copy that truly reflects you.

Because when you copywrite for yourself, the stakes automatically rise. What you produce has to be your best work yet, your most honest and authentic. You bear all the responsibility. You have to be the one responsible for keeping yourself on the track you choose. You have to be the one responsible for catching contradictions, breaking loops, and filtering out the noise. You have to be smarter and stronger than you really are. But it’s not like the standards suddenly rose, it’s you who has become weighed down by the handicap of being on your own.  When you copywrite for someone, you offer more than just words; you offer perspective and support. They set the bar, and you give them a boost. But it’s physically impossible to give yourself the leg-up.

Objectivity is magic. It can flatten mountain tops. It can make objects see-through. It can ward off demons and shine beacons along the path. There is no mess; objectivity is clarity. A copywriter is like an all-seeing eye, like a ghost with all the advantages of being in places and seeing things not accessible to the person involved. Stripped of this power, we’re as much in the dark as everyone else. But copywriting for yourself can become the easiest thing you can do when you realize that you gain access to an even stronger element of copywriting: subjectivity.