Many, many full moons ago, I felt insulted.
I was working hard at “becoming a writer,” but felt grossly inadequate when I compared myself to Pat Conroy, one of the novelists I was reading.
As I read Conroy’s books, I was in absolute awe at his seemingly unrivaled ability to use picturesque words in an eloquent, non-pompous way. I found myself rifling through the dictionary to get the definitions for many of the words he used. ’twas both humbling and unsettling to my confidence.
One evening, when I was training a client named Ron, I openly expressed my feelings of inferiority as a writer. I told him how I wished I could write the way Pat Conroy wrote. Then I mentioned how I lacked the vocabulary he had, as well as the skill to use it.
And Ron, who was already a wealthy man who had retired from business to become a “useful” high school teacher, gave me a perplexed look.
Ron had previously raved to me about my writing ability, and now it was obvious that I was having severe doubts.
He remarked: “The thing about your writing is that it is CLEAR.”
Huh?
My writing is CLEAR?
Although I didn’t show any outward disdain for what Ron said, I considered it an insult.
Years later, when I was listening to the first course on info-publishing I ever bought, I learned from the legendary copywriter Gary C. Halbert, that “clarity is the hallmark of great copy.”
What?
For years I thought great writing had nothing to do with being “clear.” I thought it was something else.
Oh, how many years did I waste with my “wrong thinking?” about great writing?
More importantly, how many years are other people wasting with the wrong point of view about writing or copywriting?
I would say, “a freakin lot.”
And that is why it’s important to learn from writers who were doing it wrong before, or those who were thinking the wrong way about it before. They’ve been through the doldrums, the feelings of inferiority, the idea that writing is more than it is.
Look for writers who can teach you to do what they do, not in a knockoff sort of way, but in a way that brings out the best in you, a way that unleashes your talents, including those you have taken for granted.
Look for writers who break it down, who boil the essence into a soup that is easily digestible.
Look for writers who break through your mental barriers without you being aware of the glass being broken, the illusions shattered.
That’s what I set out to do when I held my Original Email Copywriting Seminar – and I accomplished that objective. The proof is in your email inbox daily, from people who latched on to what I taught, and ran with it, building for themselves businesses that make us marvel.
Want some of that for yourself?
Then grab your share of the wealth, too, by running with my Original Email Copywriting Seminar
Listen to it over and over again, and you’ll never look back, other than to reminisce about how hard you were making it on yourself when a much simpler, clearer, easy-to-utilize approach was within reach.
Matt Furey
P.S. If you already own the product mentioned above, then take your skills to the next level with my Info-Publishing Zen Mastery Newsletter
