I love writing, and I am grateful that my job as a Sr. Marketing Manager involves me writing so many papers, blog posts, and collateral pieces (like brochures).
You might think writing all day and then stopping to write these emails and moving on to writing my novel or whatever I’m writing at the moment (breathe) would be exhausting, or at least creatively exhausting.
It’s not.
They say do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. Then they say that’s b.s. and you’ll hate doing what you love. I did find this true when I taught subjects I love to kids who literally ruined my joy in some subjects, but nothing gets me going like the opportunity to disappear into myself and let the words flow out.
Like right now.
But this email shouldn’t be about me. It should be about creativity! After all, we are all bards! (Speaking of bards, I have started using Google’s Bard AI tool, and I like it better than getting Google search results back. It’s good for starting research if you ask for sources.)
Okay, bards.
I have a lot going on in my life, and while I love my life, I am finding all the things outside of my story world(s) distracting. I just want to escape inside my creative skull. Is that too much to ask? Sometimes my story world can be all-consuming and I can’t stop thinking about it, even while working. Those times are hard. (#WoeIsMe)
But then there’s my job… writing factual, researched information, often to convince business executives that we have a solution to help them make more money. Some 20+ years ago I took a copywriting course, hoping to make that my next career, but alas, it did not pay the bills. Now that experience is coming back… if I can remember it all.
When I taught fifth graders, we had a unit on persuasive writing. Their job was to convince someone to join either the Colonists’ side or the Loyalists’ side. That kind of essay writing can be a chore that turns kids off to writing forever, or a joy—because fifth graders are great manipulators, so it should be a talent that comes naturally to them.
Anyway, marketing is all about persuasive calls to action. Read my blog! Click to see more! Make an appointment now! Buy it now - Don’t miss out! Download this paper! Sometimes it’s more subtle than that, but essentially, you're constantly trying to convince people to take action. And depending on WHOM you’re trying to persuade, you change your tactics a bit. Execs have mandates to meet, but teens have FOMO syndrome (fear of missing out). Sometimes execs have FOMO too, and that’s going to be a different persuasion than for teens. “Get on board! Don’t fall behind your competitors!”
Needless to say, I may not be the best at it, but I really enjoy this craft.
I’m just going to sign off with that. A short email with a happy ending.
What’s your creative passion? Do you do it for a living? Let me know—I’d love to interview you.
Cheers,
~Ingrid