How many people have never picked up a book since they left school? I’ll tell you now, there are a lot of writers who simply do not read, especially fiction writers. It might also surprise you to know that there is a huge market out there for copywriters who never read.

It isn’t that they can’t read, they simply don’t. Copywriters are only interested in one thing – information. Practical information that makes life better or easier for them. Yes, they may read non-fiction books because they contain information that can help them but fiction books – no, they offer nothing.

Think about it. When you want to know something, you run a quick search on the internet and there it is – the information you need to know and that is all a copywriter needs.

Bad Education

This is where things get a little controversial. As a copywriter, reading anything other than what you need to do your job could end up doing you a great deal of harm. When you read fiction, you may be, whether you realize it or not, learning a different style of writing that may be of absolutely no use in the world of blogging and copywriting. 

And that’s not the only home truth:

Many of the copywriting clients you could work for do not care:

If you read every book you get your hands on and have a love affair with words

If you include a section on your website dedicated to short fiction stories

If you can show off your artistic talents.

What they do want to know is:

That you get what it is they want

That you can fully embrace what they want you to write about

That you can write clearly and concisely, in a way that their readers understand.

So, forget about all the flowery musings you may have on your own website; forget about telling potential clients that you dream of being an author – business clients do not care.

Be Methodical

So how do you become a copywriter or a blogger if you don’t read? Well, you can read but only stuff that is relevant to what you are writing about. Instead of being a creative discipline, copywriting and blogging are all about a set of methodical steps:

Study the client, study their proposition. Make sure to look at an existing copy

Next, look at competing websites and note down any good ideas you spot, and any copy that you can repurpose for your own work

Then you discuss benefits and features with the client and list down the important sales points. If there are any that set your client apart from the competition, put them at the top of the list

Put the content together and plan out exactly what you are going to write

Last, write your copy.

When you work to a series of steps like this, the copy will pretty much write itself and, when you’re done, you have an original piece of work.

For all you book lovers, this is not me telling you that reading is bad; everybody has different passions in life but most of the best copywriters will tell you that reading fiction or literature and great copywriting don’t go together and should be kept entirely separate.