Metacopywriting. Mindfulness in advertising text. Natalia Maiorova

if you don’t skate well and fall, you are using the wrong technique. If it’s hard for you, you are doing something wrong.

      – I have no talent.

      – You need a skill, not talent. Do you really think people are born knowing how to drive a car? But look how heavy is the traffic on the roads. Does everyone have talent?

      – I am afraid to show my text to others. It is like getting undressed in front of them or maybe even worse.

      – Nobody sees you in your text. People think of themselves and recognize their own emotions in your text. They do not want to understand your feelings. First of all, your texts live their own life, not yours. Moreover, you do not need to write something private and intimate.

      – If I write badly, I will look bad.

      – Text is your product. It is your work, but it is not you. You do not need to identify your work with yourself. You perform a function. Sometimes you do it better than other times. If you get enough practice, you can do it perfectly. Tomorrow, you will try again. You are studying.

      – People will laugh.

      – What kind of people laugh at somebody’s training?

      – People will criticize. They write to me privately saying I wrote a shameful text.

      – Really? Do you think it is not a shame to write such things to another person?

      – Hundreds of people have already written about it!

      – Well. Look at the list of films. Every single drama, horror or comedy is based on the same story circle (the hero’s journey). Look at the fairytales! They all have the same template. So? Disney continues to make stories. You have to write too. The main thing in writing is interpretation. There are a lot of news channels, and they have the same news, but people prefer a different point of view.

      Sometimes limiting beliefs are confused with lack of skills

      – I do not have enough vocabulary.

      – It is not true. You do not have enough facts. If you had something to say, you would just say it. Ask yourself: “What do I want to say?”

      – I do not have enough knowledge.

      – What kind of knowledge? Where can you get it?

      – I lack perseverance.

      – Try to get in the right state. Can you imagine or remember the time when you were productive? Calm? Remember it! Let your body have a rest. Relax. Sit in a comfortable pose, change the pose if necessary. Try to find a perfect position. Breathe normally from the belly. Feel your body. Your body is relaxing, but your fingers are typing. You can work calmly and remain focused.

      – I lack patience.

      – What do you need the patience for?

      – To write that damn text!

      – Are you interested in this text? In this theme?

      – No.

      – How could you possibly be patient if you are not even interested in the things you are doing? You cannot write about something you are not interested in. If the author is not interested in his/her text, surely nobody else will be interested in it.

      – But I want to be interested!

      – Good. Then I will teach you. The interest is actually a skill. I will explain it to you later. Read on.

      – I lack logic.

      – You should know the structure, and the composition. It includes three, four or eleven blocks. It takes half an hour to study. Then, write according to the structure. You will get the logic.

      – And where do I get this structure?

      – Don’t rush. I will tell you one step at a time.

      – I do not have the right words.

      – Study editing.

      – I said I don’t have enough words!

      – I see. Sorry. You need to practice freewriting. It is the process of writing all the things you have in your mind. All of them.

      – Great! Now I have too many words.

      – Well, now use the editing skills.

      – My thoughts run like crazy. I can not catch them.

      – Put them down on paper. Do freewriting. Take ideas out of it and do another freewriting.

      – I cannot write a selling text.

      – You have to use conversional phrases.

      – Which ones?

      – Read along step-by-step, and you will know.

      Diagnosis

      – I have dysgraphia. Can I write?

      – Yes, you can.

      – But I have dysgraphia.

      – I see. What do you really prefer: to be unique because you have dysgraphia or to be unique because you write?

      – I have no inspiration.

      – Why do you need inspiration? Inspiration is not the kind of thing that is separate from you. You always have inspiration. You just do not know how to use it. “I have no inspiration”, “I am not inspired.” Why don’t you inspire yourself? What is needed for inspiration? How will you know when you have the inspiration?

      – I do not know.

      – How could you know?

      – I do not know. I just sit at the table and I can’t write.

      – You are not even trying to think about it! You have no interest. That is why you have no inspiration.

      – How do I get new interests?

      – Invest your time! You have to pay attention to the work you do. If you start doing something very carefully in three minutes, you will be immersed in this process. For example, you switch the TV on, you start watching a program or a film from the middle and you do not understand what they are talking about or what is happening. Look! Watch the show attentively. After three minutes, you are immersed; you are interested in the plot, and you are completely involved. Or you are washing the dishes. First, it seems to be boring. You are lazy, and you have no desire, but if you begin to wash carefully, you will be involved. After a while, you are immersed and you continue to wash everything around you – Cinderella syndrome. It is very important to bring your interest to everything you do, but the only way to become interested is to invest your attention. Not only the time you spend on your work but also the attention you pay. You cannot love anything if you do not pay attention to it.

      – I cannot start. I am lazy.

      – You are not lazy. There is no laziness or inspiration. There is will. Will is a desire, and will is a change from one activity to another, just like rest: also a change from one activity to another. So, why not take a rest by writing? Unplug from the outside world. Find time for yourself, for thinking. Spend time alone, just with your thoughts.

      – I need a special place.

      – Certainly. But actually no, you do not. You need a special state of mind and a special pose: a correct way to sit. For example, I can write at an airport, in a subway, in an office – I don’t care. Nobody distracts me. All I really need is a flow, a special state, trance. I just remember it every time I want to write something. I open my notes, start to type, and I feel the inspiration. It is that simple.

      – I do not know how to start.

      – Start with that. “I don’t know how to start, but I need to write a text.