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Non-snarky reply: like a stand up comedian honing a set over hundreds of times on stage, your job is to learn to write to your audience. Ultimately, that audience is the consumer. But there are a half dozen you need to learn to write to along the way: your CD, legal, and the client to name a few.
Itâs a process my friend. Get obsessed with the process of responding to feedback well, and youâll go far.
...Or be the comedian who never gets booked because they bomb and blame the audience.
Listen to this, OP.
Pro
I mean, that's never going to go away. Creativity is subjective. There's no way around that.
If you don't mind me saying so, what I'm hearing is a new copywriter who is convinced their favorite (or early) ideas are gold. But their CDs don't agree. So they're very bitter.
I remember back when I was just starting. I had similar feelings. Now, I luckily had a work ethic that made me bring TONS of ideas and TONS of lines. Invariably, my very favorite lines and ideas were never picked. EVER. It was very frustrating.
About 8 months in, I stumbled across a list of ideas I showed my CD. And with that distance in time, I could see so clearly that the ideas I loved were not good. That the CD was right with the ideas they picked.
So I started making a habit of looking back after a few months. And you know what, the CD was usually right.
This is why the creative department structure exists.
It is nearly impossible to accurately judge your ideas in the moment.
And there's never enough time to step away to get perspective. Your CD serves as that perspective.
Now, of course, some CDs are better than others. And some people just have different tastes.
But my advice to you is give the CDs the benefit of the doubt. Embrace their feedback. Take it and make it something you love.
I started to view it as a challenge. "Oh, you want me to do that shitty thing...well I'm gonna do it in a funny way or a crazy way"
And you know what, that's what they wanted. And it worked.
Copywriting is an art. That means itâll always have subjective feedback.
If youâd prefer something more objective, I suggest you look into technical writing. Or brick laying.
@CD1, art gets analyzed because of the aesthetic value that is reached by exploring new techniques and concepts. Advertising never really bring any artistic breakthrough. Some copywriters are very skillful and crafty, but not artsy. Thatâs the difference. The JL ad is beautiful of course. But I canât consider it a piece of art. Rather a great piece of craft.
@GDC1 what you said is partially true until art was on commission, but we are talking pre-renascence time. Ever since then, art has been an effort to show the artist pov free of otherâs opinions. And in this regard, thinking that advertising is art, it pushes art back a few centuries since we work on commission without that freedom that art should grant you.
@CD2, I got your point. I agree, but as of today I think we would call that craft. Or if anything we could call it applied art. To me advertising is way more similar to pottery, or anything that requires you to be a craft person rather than an artist.
Nothing to do with language is objective. Also, part of the job is working out the overlap between âwhat I think is goodâ and âwhat my CD thinks is goodâ.
(Sometimes, unfortunately, there is no overlap)
Lots of great advice in this thread, but also, remember that in addition to the experience your CDs have, they often also have a rapport with clients, and have seen lines and ideas shot down year after year.
If you want to see your ideas come to light, work with CDs who are on new business or CDs who are new hires.
To add to this: Don't be afraid to ask why! It's a lot easier to stomach feedback you may not agree with when you know what in particular isn't sitting right about it with your CD, and not every CD is going to explain their logic without you asking first.
I definitely donât envy that part of creative.
Thereâs only a few ways to do numbers and Iâve learned to not care how theyâre presented as long as theyâre accurate
I almost got into an argument about a color scheme once and realized âwhat the hell am I even talking aboutâ
Oh yeah. Iâve learned to just say âsounds goodâ unless I feel very strongly about something. Otherwise, I take it as an opportunity to be a team player. (And cash those chips in later on something else.)
Chief
Then back what you're doing with data.
If you can't 'prove' your point then it just comes down to opinions and generally the most senior one will win.
You can always go a debate/rhetorics approach as well, try to sway their them.
Copywriting in our profession is about what you can make someone feel, what action that compels them to take, or how you can provoke them to respond. Thatâs why feedback feels more subjective, people are responding to how they feel about what youâve written. Focus on how you want someone to feel, see if it changes how you approach your writing.
Rising Star
Same. We shouldâve been accountants.
Youâd still have to deal with office politics
Rising Star
Subjective feedback is the name of the game, my friend. Itâs like an engineer saying, âIâm so tired of math.â
To be fair, math does sound pretty horrible.