What Bukowski, Hemingway, and Austen didn't tell you about copywriting

Usually, novelists and badass writers do not come to our mind when we think about copywriting. However, there is a lot to learn from them.

Copywriters are writers whose words and strategy lead people to take action, and that action can be buying a product, subscribing to a newsletter, or donating money.

I, Inês Cortez, the Copywriter at Onda, may not write books for a living, but I consider myself a writer too. And I want all my readers to engage with my work.

So, sounding like a novelist, let me tell you what no one has told you before.

Chapter 1 - The first time I read Bukowski

It was his diary in the last years of his life. Its name is “The Captain is out to lunch and the sailors have taken over the ship.”

I fell in love with his work through this book. I noticed his writing style is used in copywriting. For example, Bukowski started some sentences with "grammatically incorrect ‘brain triggers’", such as ‘and’, ‘these’, ‘that’ and ‘but’.

And what do I mean by this? We are told in school not to write like this. That this is not how we should do it. But it works. These words at the beginning of a sentence wake our brain up. (See what I did here?)

The essence of Bukowski’s work touches on complex matters of human nature. Nevertheless, he is easy to understand. Why? Because he writes clearly, straight to the point, leaving much room for the imagination, but no doubts about what he is saying.

Chapter 2 - To go or not to go Hemingway

Bukowski uses short sentences. He does not go full Hemingway on this. Neither should we, copywriters.

What do I mean by this?

The?Hemingway Editor?is a free tool we use to help us write copy that is easy to understand. With it, we see if the sentences are too long, the word count, style, and how educated our reader must be to understand us.

Hemingway is one of the best writers there ever was, but I dare to say that an ad or a website that reads like "The Old Man and the Sea" would not convert very well.

But both gentlemen have one thing in common: they were freaking honest. I knew how Bukowski or any of the characters by Hemingway felt. Clear messages are key.

Chapter 3 - Now I write about a female author

Jane Austen was a master of reading people and studying them.

Copywriters know how people make decisions. Austen knows what it means to be human as if she had an x-ray of our souls.

Her book "Pride and Prejudice"?was my companion last summer. She explored how we are driven by our emotions, and that triggered me. In sum, to me, this book shows that there are factors that motivate our decisions.

To write good copy, we need to go for empathy.

We need to study what is bothering our readers and how a product or a service brings value to them. We have to know who they are, how they behave, and, most importantly, why.

This is why user research and interviews can be so damn important.

Chapter 4 - A real-life example

For CTO Portugal, I wanted to say more than “this is the community for tech leaders in Portugal."

I wanted to touch on the value this community brings to its members. What binds them together, besides their leadership roles and love for technology?

And what was it?

After research, I discovered that many leaders struggled with loneliness. They feel they have important decisions to make, people who count on them, and no one to rely on.

So what did I do?

I wanted to communicate that this community was an answer to their loneliness because they could meet people with the same challenges and interests as them. They could ask for advice, share events, and meet new people there.

This is why the main message on their landing page is “Leadership is lonely but it doesn’t have to be.”

Once upon a time, someone said there is a lot to learn from classic writers about copywriting.

Why? Because they wildly and shamelessly explore what it means to be human and what captivates us.

Next time you read a classic author, enjoy the story — but pay attention to their writing. Learn from them, challenge your writing, and the importance of having a voice.