A copywriter’s key to survival.

Read.
Seriously. Read memoirs and novels. Poetry and screenplays and blogs and columns and whatever you can get your hands on. Just read. It will make you a better writer.

Learn to cook. Or go running.
If writing is your only hobby, get another one. Quickly. I don’t care if you wrote your first short story when you were 3, you will get burnt out if it’s all you do.

Don’t get married to your words.
If ideas are king, body copy is a peasant. And it’s okay that way. Be open to changing it. Always.

Consume advertising.
It’s the business you are in. Get to know it. The bad, the good. The best of show. Some of the best writing is in really good radio. Go listen to some.

Have an opinion on design.
The best art directors are good writers. The best writers understand design. Spend some time appreciating great design. It is, after all, the determining factor of how a lot of ideas will take shape.

Learn to take criticism.
Everyone can write. It doesn’t mean that they should, but it won’t stop them from trying. Be open to suggestions. Have a reason behind why you wrote it the way you did, but don’t be defensive about it.

Get comfortable talking in front of people.
Take a class on public speaking. Sign up for improv or open mic night. Just. Get. Comfortable. Because you’re not just a writer. You are a client-facing expert on writing. Stop sweating at client meetings and start shining.

Have fun.
This isn’t brain surgery. We’re not solving world problems. We are selling things to people. So have fun with it. Lighten up. You’re getting paid to be creative. Sit back and enjoy it.

Jessi Hamilton's favorite things include words and ideas, bacon and new running shoes. She is currently a senior copywriter at Kuhn & Wittenborn. Before that she was at AdFarm and Barkley, before that VML. And before that, Jessi waded through the waters of journalism. She also blogs, runs half marathons and writes poems and personal essays that make her mom cry.