I (think) my writing improved after 100 days of 'copywork'. Sharing my methods and tips

This year marks my 10th year as a writer.

While writing articles for my main job, I also personally manage X, note, and an email newsletter, so I am constantly writing every single day.

What I have made a habit of is 'copywork'. Simply put, it means transcribing text from books, newspapers, web articles, or notes.

I do it like this: I open the source text (in this case, Yuki Ishikawa's note) on the left side of my PC display, and Google Docs on the right.In short, I split one screen into two to do my copywork.

I have been doing 'almost daily copywork' recently, and as of yesterday, I have transcribed '108 days, 15 hours, 57 minutes, and 89,722 characters'. I used to do this in the past as well, so if you include that, I have probably done it about 220 times. Maybe.

When I post about copywork on X, I am often asked, 'How do you do it? Is there any point?'

To be honest, I don't think it has an immediate effect. However, I recommend it to anyone who wants to keep writing (even if you are not a professional writer).

What are the benefits of copywork?

I think the benefits can be broadly divided into the following two points.

① Improves writing ability

The reason why copywork improves writing ability is because good writing gets stored in your brain.

As a writer, I write interview articles and such, and when I submit them to editors, they give me advice like, 'You should write this part this way.' This is what is known as red-lining. Feedback from excellent editors is a treasure. It makes the manuscript even better.

So why can those editors give such precise advice on how to improve? I think there are many reasons, but one of them is that they have a large stock of 'good writing'.

This is because when you read a piece of writing and think, 'This should be corrected,' it is because you are comparing it to something else. The more 'good writing' you have stored within yourself, the more high-quality points of comparison you have.

That is why you can feel that something is off, like 'this is hard to read' or 'it might be easier to understand if written this way' (I don't know for sure, but probably).

By doing copywork, 'good writing' is stored within you, and as a result, your writing ability improves.

Oh, and your vocabulary increases too. Especially when transcribing the 'Tensei Jingo' column, I am embarrassed to say there are many words I don't know, so I have a feeling that my vocabulary is steadily growing.

② Expands the range of writing

Also, I think copywork expands the range of your writing.

I am more comfortable with 'formal writing' and not very good at casual writing.I think this is because I have written over 4,000 articles, mainly focusing on stiff real estate topics, and many of my interview articles are also business-oriented.

I rarely get feedback from editors saying things like 'the logic is flawed,' but I do often get feedback like 'it feels like there's a snag when reading it.'

I think one reason is that I don't have much experience writing casual text. In other words, my range of writing is narrow.

So, for a few months now, I've been occasionally copying casual text. For example, the writing by Yuki Ishikawa that I mentioned earlier. It sounds like a conversation and sinks in easily.

By copying writing that is different from my own, changes have appeared in the writing I do lately, such as an increased repertoire of sentence endings and a more conversational tone overall.

For instance, I don't think I could have come up with the heading for this section, 'What are the benefits of copywriting anyway?', a few months ago. I probably would have used a heading like 'What are the benefits of copywriting?'. So stiff!

Like this, I feel that by copying casual text, my range of writing is expanding. I think this is a benefit of copywriting.

The benefits of copywriting are roughly like this. There are probably more, but for me, these two are significant.

What should you copy?

What you should copy depends on what kind of benefits you want to receive.

For example, suppose you have the problem: 'I want to improve my writing skills because clients often point out my particles or say it's hard to read.' To solve that problem, you need to copy text that is grammatically correct in Japanese.

For example, the Tensei Jingo column in the Asahi Shimbun, or 'Gendai no Shozo' in AERA, or perhaps formal articles from major business media. Something like that?

Conversely, I don't think there's much point in copying casual personal Note posts in this case.

By the way, I know someone who was told by an editor, 'Your particles are strange, so you should copy Tensei Jingo every day.' When they followed that advice faithfully, the editor later praised them, saying, 'You've improved tremendously!!' They said their writing had improved beyond recognition.

Back to the topic.

On the other hand, if you want to write more frank text, it's better to copy casual personal Note posts than to copy Tensei Jingo.

Like this, it's good to choose your text by working backward from the future you want to achieve through copying.

Frequently Asked Questions (How do I keep it up? Should writers do it?)

From here on, I will answer questions that are always asked about copywriting.

To be honest, copywriting is a hassle. So I really understand the feeling behind this question.

The reason I've been able to keep this up for over 100 days is that I have a purpose.As I mentioned earlier, clarifying why you are doing this copywriting is a must.Without that, you probably won't be able to continue.

Also, don't raise the bar too high. I've decided to 'copywrite for 12 minutes every day.' But,there are times when I slack off, and times when I finish in five minutes.Being this relaxed is fine.

I also recommend keeping a record. I write acolumn almost every dayon X, and I keep a record at the end of it.

After all,the feeling of progress motivates me.Maybe the note feature on X or even the short post feature on note would work too?

As I said before, it's important not to push yourself, but I recommend doing it every day if possible. In a way,the feeling of 'immersing yourself in good writing' every day is important.

Honestly, I don't know how much of an effect it's actually having. But after doing it about 220 times, I do feel it's effective to some extent. I think that's becauseI've been doing it almost every day.

I open Google Docs and type. I think there are people who prefer handwriting, but it didn't suit me. However, I think some people find handwriting more comfortable, so I think either is fine.Try both and go with the one that suits you!

After saying all this, if you ask me,should a writer do copywriting? I think it doesn't really matter (laughs).

Of course I recommend it, but since it's a long-term training method without immediate results, I don't think it's a high priority. So,if you don't have time, I don't think you need to do it.

Maybe it's best to try it for about two weeks and then decide? Even five minutes a day is fine. In cases like this, I recommend 'just giving it a try'.

I sometimes see claims that 'copywriting is meaningless,' but I think that's going too far. Since things work differently for different people, not just with copywriting,I don't think it's good to dismiss anything as 'meaningless' based solely on subjective opinion (or so I think).

I don't care one bit, but there are people working hard at copywriting who might get discouraged by those words. I think you should be mindful of that (or so I think). Especially if you're a writer.

So, I hope this is helpful for those interested in copywriting! That's all. See you later.