Comments on: “You just don’t understand…” – the copywriter’s torment

By: Mary Whitehouse

Mary Whitehouse — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 11:05:18 +0000

When I first met my sister in law 30 years ago and explained what my job was, she took it literally and thought I meant that I copied writing. Perhaps she imagined I worked in a doctor’s surgery and made the prescriptions legible, I don’t know. But she did comment that it would be a god job for her husband as, “he has lovely handwriting.”

By: Kady Potter

Kady Potter — Thu, 27 Aug 2015 12:02:13 +0000

Thanks for the replies, everyone. This has been something that’s touched a collective nerve. And the anonymous person who suggested the ‘copyrighting’ site to me has read this post, and still won’t apologise.

On the subject of websites/web design: who also gets “so, how much will it cost to write my website?” I’ve described this as the ‘piece of string’ of copywriting. It might well become my next post…

By: Anna Milan

Anna Milan — Thu, 27 Aug 2015 11:42:15 +0000

I feel your pain, especially regarding the copywriting vs copyrighting issue.

Several years ago I discovered my own father had been telling everyone I was a website designer. I’d been a copywriter for four years by that stage (and have never been a web designer). Why is it so hard to understand I wonder?

By: Jenii Lowe

Jenii Lowe — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 19:16:16 +0000

Hi Jackie – great response! Also nice to know I’m not alone!

By: Jackie Barrie

Jackie Barrie — Fri, 21 Aug 2015 12:35:18 +0000

Jenii,

Yes, me too. Typical response (with a sigh): “No, I don’t do the coding; I do the words.”

By: Jenii Lowe

Jenii Lowe — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 11:36:06 +0000

Awesome article! In telling people that my services include writing website content and copy, the response I’ve received more times than I can count is “SO YOU MAKE WEBSITES? OMG I NEED A WEBSITE! HOW MUCH FOR A WEBSITE!?” Any of my web copy brethren get this too?

By: Andy Nattan

Andy Nattan — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 08:44:23 +0000

Preach it sister.

I’ve had enquiries about copyright law, I’ve had a lead throw a wobbly because she wanted “fresh contents no copy” [sic] and I spent half my wedding day explaining to my own family what I did for a living, let alone the new in-laws.

As an aside, I think we’re at either end of the bell-curve if someone plotted the height of PCN contributors. There’s one for the pub quiz at the next #copywritersunite