Quoth the Raven "Nevermore"

Finding your unique expression as a writer is difficult and often misunderstood. I use humor in my copy because it's a fantastic way to tell people to keep reading and it's OK for them to let their guard down. And it's just my style.

I also write with a paranormal bent when working on a piece of fiction. Just a different perspective on reality can be a great way to deal with your own demons.

But here's the rub: Not many clients appreciate either of these styles. The use of stories and reaching people with fantastical words aren't selling right now. WHY?

Millennials, Am I Right?

Simple: People forty and younger grew up in a culture of computers, video games, cell phones - instant gratification. No need to pretend anymore. Everything at their fingertips.

Instead of making rifles out of wood and pretending to be in the army on a secret mission, or God forbid, "playing house," kids popped in a video game and rode out the simulation. Better graphics, sure. Lots of characters to play. Better missions and houses. But better for them?

There is a problem for talented writers who become copywriters. The need to keep the writing at a 3rd-6th grade reading level. Any higher and the majority of people can't comprehend. That's appalling! Adults in a first-world country reading at a 3rd-6th grade level? What went wrong?

We did, actually. I'm talking about my generation. The rocking generation. Generation-X, baby!!! The kids who were hell-bent on sex, drugs, and rock and roll. We didn't want to waste our valuable drinking time on raising a kid. So video games saved our butts. We gave our kids the gift of no quality time spent.

And they loved it!

Now, don't get me wrong. There were good parents who did their best to raise their kids, often single parents at that. I don't want to disparage my generation, but truth is truth. Until a revisionist changes it to suit a new, cooler theory.

So, these kids grew up to be fantastic at IT and other computer engineering skills. They have uncanny hand-eye coordination. They are able to keep up with the latest information trends and know where they and their family members are at all times. Multi-tasking is their jam!

So they're incredibly talented and sophisticated people. They don't fall for political nonsense. They check things out before buying into groupthink. Smart and talented but lacking a human quality - the awareness of "the other." No real empathy toward others. No thought given to how whatever they're doing affects someone else. Instant "self" gratification.

The Death of a Language

I think Poe would feel that this world had long-since passed him by. Freud might say that these kids are now the adults having kids while still being the kids on the inside they were when they were kids. Or something like that. Freud! Whatcha gonna do?

And these kids-inside-adults began to drift away from other people and form tight groups of friends on social media instead. Much safer in cyberspace than knocking on a friend's door and asking their mom if they can come out and play. And less need for physical activity of any kind: ever see "Wall-E?"

The internet was and is a world-changer.

-Taylor E. Scott

Language, like dealing with other people, began to transform. The language made easy. English Light. How? By making everything into short abbreviations: OMG, LOL, LMAO, etc. And short, pithy sentences. Nothing longer than four or five words. You hear that, Shakespeare?

So this lack of personal physical contact coupled with the shortening of words into a miniature language all its own began killing the written word. Just a few letters or words to make a point. No stories. No humor. Just the facts, ma'am.

Sort of like the kind of small words a 3rd-6th grader could read.

Shifting Focus

And these kids, who grew up with the gaming systems and their parents out rockin', now have kids of their own. Somehow. But with little interpersonal skills themselves, what would they impart to their kids? The answer is easy: kids who are now young adults often with the inability to look a fellow human being in the eye for more than a second or two. And a complete dependence on electronic guidance for everyday life.

Can you imagine the horror they must feel when they leave the house and realize they forgot their cell phone? GAAAAAAAHHHH!!! Get out of their way, they'll kill us all to go back and get it. Just like a junkie needing a hit.

While we're uber-focused on opioids in this country, maybe we should start to look around at the world we've created. People are addicted to every conceivable thing!

Don't believe me? Drive by a Dunkin' or Starbucks at 7 am; watch your teenager 'lose it' when they are forced to go more than an hour without peering into a cell phone screen, awaiting their next command prompt; or watch the chaos that ensues when the internet goes out in your house. Addictions? We've got plenty without pharmaceutical concoctions.

Get Off My Lawn

OK, enough Millennial-bashing. They may lack interpersonal skills, but they're whizzes at electronic thingamajiggies. They are dismantling the concept of humanness, but they're addicted to the very things that were originally their creations.

Wait! My generation is not above reproach. More consumed with rocking-out and making money, we ignored our kids and were more than happy when electronics kept them occupied and out of our long hair. Or big hair.

So let he who is without sin cast the first stone, right? This isn't meant as a trashing of Millennials, but they make up the majority of the people copywriters are trying to reach. And these are people with an attention-span about the size of a gnat's ass. Give or take.

It's not that they won't read through your blog from headline to conclusion before deciding to click and head to that landing page. It's that they CAN'T. They are trained to scan quickly and move on to the next article or site. So, as a copywriter, you have to grab them quickly and not expect them to make it to the end of your piece of self-gratification.

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