The Role of a Copywriter - Does It Ever Change?

The writer, whether it’s copy writing or creative writing, has been a role in society for countless generations now. Before Shakespeare was crafting his masterpieces, before the monks were writing bibles, and even before scribes were scripting the Magna Carta, there have been writers in the world.  

And in thousands of years, has the role really changed that much? Other jobs change over time, many are created new, whilst others disappear completely. But the role of the writer has largely been unchanged for centuries. 

Of course, the tools and instruments are most certainly different. The raw material has changed from writing on the stone walls of caves, to papyrus paper, to typewriters and now mobile phones and tablet PCs. Mediums have come and gone too, and you no longer get your hand covered in ink when writing something, but the role has pretty much not changed. 

For a copywriter that means writing the words other people won’t. Telling the stories other people can't. And creating copy that people want to read.

It’s about filling a need, and serving the requirements of your audience. Be that the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, British royalty or your neighbours who want to find a good plumber.

The way we devour words has changed, and you'll no doubt find people arguing that the public don't have as much time for reading copy anymore, or don't pay attention to words. But they're wrong. We’d be lost without words. Because they are everywhere we look, and subconsciously, we devour them consistently throughout the day - on products, in newspapers, on the sides of buses, and now, most often, on our phones. 

By the same token, thanks to these new tools and mediums, more and more people are writing themselves. The explosion of blogging is testament to that, but think also of the number of emails your write each day and the time you spend texting people. 

Almost everything is still writing based. And just because more people are able to do it, doesn’t mean the need for copywriters is any less. 

That’s because, whilst technology has revolutionised the ease of writing, it’s also amplified the mistakes made too. Bad writing gets much worse, when you can just bash out anything you want, trust a spell checker to do the important stuff, and then fire it across the world wide web to millions of people. 

Emails are a prime example of this. They are meant to be so quick and impromptu, communicating things simply and effectively, and yet, they are now so important for companies. They are are a place of business. A tool to win and lose clients. An electronic letter which could earn you thousands, or lose you millions. So much damage, both financial and personal has been done because of mis-written emails. 

So when you think the role of the copywriter is dead, or that it’s not important to have a copywriter, think again. We know the importance of words, and the power they have. And just think, we’ve been doing this, in one capacity of another, for centuries. We’re likely to be around for many more too.