I used to think copywriting was about finding the right words. The kind that sound smart, well-structured, impressive enough to make people pause.
So, I spent most of my time there: rewriting sentences, adjusting tone, fixing how things sounded. Trying to make it better.
Around the same time, I was also trying to make a relationship work.
And strangely ....
I approached it the same way.
I thought if I could just explain thigs better, choose the right words, say it more clearly, then everything would be understood.
Unfortunately it didn't work like that.
No matter hoe carefully I spoke, something still feel ... missed.
Until one moment stayed with me.
We were having conversation, one of those where you're both talking, but not really meeting in the middle. And then he said something, very simple:
"You're listening to reply, not to understand."
That line hit harder than anything. Because he is right.
I wasn't really listening. I was waiting. Waiting for my turn to speak. Waiting to fix it. Waiting to say the "right" thing.
And that's when I clicked. Not just in relationship, but in the way I write.
People don't connect with perfectly chosen words. They connect with the feeling understood. And most of the times, what breaks connection isn't bad communication. It's the lack of real listening.
That's when I started to change the way I approach copywriting. I stopped starting with words. I started with listening; listening to how people describe their problems; the words they repeat; the ones they avoid; the pauses in between.
Because just like relationship, what people feel already there. They just don't always know how to express it clearly.
And my role as a Copywriter is to understand. Deeply enough to say it back to them in a way that feels right.
Because good copy doesn't sounds like marketing. It sounds like someone finally gets you.
And for me, that didn't come from learning how to write better. It came from learning to how to listen.