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Charles Bukowski, the dirty-realist author and poet, saw humanity in everything — especially in the ordinary.
just read this passage from his controversial book, Women:
— -
“I was sentimental about many things:
a woman’s shoes under the bed;
one hairpin left behind on the dresser;
the way they said, 'I’m going to pee.'
hair ribbons;
walking down the boulevard with them at 1:30 in the afternoon, just two people walking together;
the long nights of drinking and smoking;
talking;
the arguments;
thinking of suicide;
eating together and feeling good;
the jokes;
the laughter out of nowhere;
feeling miracles in the air;
being in a parked car together;
comparing past loves at 3 am;
being told you snore;
hearing her snore;
mothers, daughters, sons, cats, dogs;
sometimes death and sometimes divorce;
but always carrying on, always seeing it through;
reading a newspaper alone in a sandwich joint and feeling nausea because she’s now married to a dentist with an I.Q. of 95;
racetracks, parks, park picnics;
even jails;
her dull friends;
your dull friends;
your drinking, her dancing;
your flirting, her flirting;
her pills, your fucking on the side and her doing the same;
sleeping together…”
— -as a copywriter, it helps to be sentimental this way, too, sensitive this way, too.
because copywriters conjure emotion (in as few words as possible) for a living.
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because making The Reader feel something is central to good copywriting, which is why it helps to be sentimental as a writer, sensitive to life’s nuances, moved by tenderness and sadness and nostalgia.
it helps to recognize traces of emotion — of pain and pleasure, gain and loss — in the mundane moments, the ordinary moments, the moments people take for granted.
because if you zoom in close enough, these moments become stories we can all understand and, yes, feel.
and stories are marketing currency.
anyway, yeh.
ok.
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Hey there, thanks for reading. :)If you want more “micro” content, feel free to explore 100s of articles, interviews, courses, and series — all free. Enjoy!Eddie Shleyner
VeryGoodCopy, founderP.S. If you like VGC, you’ll love VGC Plus. Instantly unlock every post right here.
