I spend a lot of time writing blogs, website content, and ad copy—and I also spend a lot of time listening to fantasy audiobooks.
The experience and practice of writing ad copy versus writing 1,000+ page books are about as far apart on the spectrum of “writing” as possible. But the fact remains that both are writing, whether it's waxing poetic for pages on end or creating the smartest, shortest form headlines possible.
I’d never connected high fantasy novels to copywriting (because honestly, why would I?) until recently, when I had the all-too-familiar experience of creative burnout in my work.
When the constant content ideation, research, and inventive thinking becomes too much, I tend to do the exact opposite—I recycle old tricks, lose my curiosity, and generally write along the path of least resistance.
In other words, burn out from the creative process actually means that I’m not using much of a creative process at all. I write. I get distracted. I try to focus. I grind out 200 words. I pause. Sip coffee. Reference some notes. I write 10 more words. And the uninspired pattern begins again.
I often justify this “just getting by” behavior when I’m working with a really complex B2B client because, “Of course I’m writing the same version of this sentence for the tenth time this week — what else does this tech company expect from me?”
But that’s where these fantasy books have been my spark of inspiration in recent months.
I’ve mostly been listening to Brandon Sanderson, an epic fantasy writer with a series called the Stormlight Archive. These books are sprawling thousand page monoliths, spanning worlds and timelines, tribes and magic systems, and nearly a dozen points of view in a given book.
I could spend all day listing out the ways these fantasy books are fundamentally different from any sort of copywriting and no one would argue with me. Instead, let's explore the ways these writing forms are connected.
Complexity
I’m good at understanding a lot of jargon in the IT, SaaS, and finance worlds, but those topics still come the least naturally to me. When things get really complex in Sanderson books (and they always, always do), the only way out for the reader is to hunker down and put in the work. Similarly, I love the gratification of being able to write from a place of knowledge after intently studying a client’s industry, audience, and voice. The reward comes from seeking understanding, getting your hands dirty, and seeing what comes of it.
Patience
So the reward is hard-fought. The good news is, I know that I have significant capacity to understand a sprawling narrative, whether it's about battles in a made-up universe or the intricacies of healthcare technology. Whenever I doubt my stamina, I remember that I’ve listened to over 200 hours of this series, with over 100 left to go. Instant gratification doesn’t exist in this fantasy world, and it’s not a common concept for copywriting either.
Sure, creating quippy ads or writing a fun Instagram caption is a great feeling, but even those metrics are only truly proven when they are let into the world to do their slow work.
Vision
The key to these concepts is found in worldbuilding. The magic of the Stormlight Archives is in the slow burn. Every scene hits a little harder than the last when you’ve spent days (or years??) of your life invested in the story told through the eyes of these characters.
I won’t try to fool anyone and say that the gratification from a successful landing page conversion is the same as a climactic scene in an epic fantasy…but the principle still applies. Whether you’re focused on character development or client success, worldbuilding takes a long-game attitude, an eye for future potential, and the ability to work today for tomorrow’s potential.
Next time your creative steam runs ragged, remember that copywriting is fantasy for our marketing and branding life. We get to craft the narrative, build knowledge for our audience like stepping stones, and watch our client’s faces light up when all the pieces fall into place.
A lover of poetry, nonfiction, and brand writing, Claire Barham spends her time copywriting at Marketwake. She cares most about uncovering and conveying the purpose her clients find in their own work, and avoiding corporate-speak as much as possible.
I spend a lot of time writing blogs, website content, and ad copy—and I also spend a lot of time listening to fantasy audiobooks.
The experience and practice of writing ad copy versus writing 1,000+ page books are about as far apart on the spectrum of “writing” as possible. But the fact remains that both are writing, whether it's waxing poetic for pages on end or creating the smartest, shortest form headlines possible.
I’d never connected high fantasy novels to copywriting (because honestly, why would I?) until recently, when I had the all-too-familiar experience of creative burnout in my work.
When the constant content ideation, research, and inventive thinking becomes too much, I tend to do the exact opposite—I recycle old tricks, lose my curiosity, and generally write along the path of least resistance.
In other words, burn out from the creative process actually means that I’m not using much of a creative process at all. I write. I get distracted. I try to focus. I grind out 200 words. I pause. Sip coffee. Reference some notes. I write 10 more words. And the uninspired pattern begins again.
I often justify this “just getting by” behavior when I’m working with a really complex B2B client because, “Of course I’m writing the same version of this sentence for the tenth time this week — what else does this tech company expect from me?”
But that’s where these fantasy books have been my spark of inspiration in recent months.
I’ve mostly been listening to Brandon Sanderson, an epic fantasy writer with a series called the Stormlight Archive. These books are sprawling thousand page monoliths, spanning worlds and timelines, tribes and magic systems, and nearly a dozen points of view in a given book.
I could spend all day listing out the ways these fantasy books are fundamentally different from any sort of copywriting and no one would argue with me. Instead, let's explore the ways these writing forms are connected.
Complexity
I’m good at understanding a lot of jargon in the IT, SaaS, and finance worlds, but those topics still come the least naturally to me. When things get really complex in Sanderson books (and they always, always do), the only way out for the reader is to hunker down and put in the work. Similarly, I love the gratification of being able to write from a place of knowledge after intently studying a client’s industry, audience, and voice. The reward comes from seeking understanding, getting your hands dirty, and seeing what comes of it.
Patience
So the reward is hard-fought. The good news is, I know that I have significant capacity to understand a sprawling narrative, whether it's about battles in a made-up universe or the intricacies of healthcare technology. Whenever I doubt my stamina, I remember that I’ve listened to over 200 hours of this series, with over 100 left to go. Instant gratification doesn’t exist in this fantasy world, and it’s not a common concept for copywriting either.
Sure, creating quippy ads or writing a fun Instagram caption is a great feeling, but even those metrics are only truly proven when they are let into the world to do their slow work.
Vision
The key to these concepts is found in worldbuilding. The magic of the Stormlight Archives is in the slow burn. Every scene hits a little harder than the last when you’ve spent days (or years??) of your life invested in the story told through the eyes of these characters.
I won’t try to fool anyone and say that the gratification from a successful landing page conversion is the same as a climactic scene in an epic fantasy…but the principle still applies. Whether you’re focused on character development or client success, worldbuilding takes a long-game attitude, an eye for future potential, and the ability to work today for tomorrow’s potential.
Next time your creative steam runs ragged, remember that copywriting is fantasy for our marketing and branding life. We get to craft the narrative, build knowledge for our audience like stepping stones, and watch our client’s faces light up when all the pieces fall into place.
A lover of poetry, nonfiction, and brand writing, Claire Barham spends her time copywriting at Marketwake. She cares most about uncovering and conveying the purpose her clients find in their own work, and avoiding corporate-speak as much as possible.
