Words, accents, and chameleons...

I have a speaking voice.?

I also have a writing voice.?

The former has a soft, Scottish accent, with memories of Glasgow, and vague undertones of London.

The latter has no accent, but has been hammered into shape over 30 years of writing fiction and ad copy.?

I know the former is distinctive and, for better or worse, unique.?

I'm told the latter has now reached the point where it's also distinctive and unique.?

For better or worse.?

I remember someone telling me, more than a few years ago, that they could tell if I'd written a piece of body copy just by reading the first couple of lines.?

"I heard your voice in the words," they said.?

At the time, I didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.?

Truth be told, I still don't.?

I've known (or known of) some very good copywriters, some outstanding ones, and a few bloody brilliant ones.?

Most of them were chameleons.?

Their words could take on a new feel and shape with every new client they wrote for.?

Their copy was convincing. Enjoyable. Sometimes unforgettable.?

But they themselves were almost invisible.??

Their own writing voice was cleverly masked. It was never allowed to take centre stage over the voice of the client, or the product.?

I remember someone saying that whatever role John Wayne played, whether it was alongside Glen Campbell in True Grit, alongside Sean Connery in The Longest Day, or alongside Chuck Heston in The Greatest Story Ever Told...he always played John Wayne.?

Even when he was playing Genghis Khan. Unfortunately.

It put me in mind of that person telling me they could always recognise my copy.?

I've come to the belief that I'm possibly more a John Wayne (only without the accent, or the walk, or the drawl, or the saddle sores)...and less a chameleon.?

Or maybe a Sean Connery. With the accent (but not the looks, nor the height, nor the money, nor the fame, nor the gravitas, nor the chutzpah, nor the hairpiece).?

He played himself in all his films, too. No matter what his role was.?

Whether he was Bond, Indy's father, or The Man Who Would Be King.?

With fiction, there's something reassuring, even beneficial, about having a recognisable writing voice. Ask any fanbase of Stephen King...or Terry Pratchett...or Kathy Reichs...or Lee Child...or Bill Shakespeare...or a thousand other authors.

With advertising, I'm not so sure.

I've never been a betting man.

But if I were, my money would be on the chameleon...

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You've just read an extract from one of my books of urban essays...Ad Hoc.?

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