Is Copywriting a Talent or a Skill? (And Can You Train for It?)
Brand naming, copywriting, and other 'creative' writing jobs often seem like magic. But is it really talent—or something you can build?
Introduction
Copywriting, Naming & the Mysterious “Creative Talent”
There’s this idea that some people are “naturally creative.” They sit down, and boom: the perfect brand name. A killer headline. A product slogan that sounds like it came from a Nike ad.
But here’s the truth: Most great copywriters are not magic people. They’re trained ones.
Yes, a certain mindset helps. But naming and writing is not just about raw genius — it’s about practice, tools, and knowing how to “hunt” ideas.
🎓 Is It Talent or Training?
Let’s break it down:
- Talent = You have a natural feel for rhythm, metaphor, or storytelling. Your brain likes patterns.
- Training = You study headlines. You write 50 bad names before finding a decent one. You know how to test.
Some of the best copywriters in history (David Ogilvy, Bill Bernbach, Eugene Schwartz) were nerds about structure and psychology. They didn’t just “feel” it — they built systems to repeatedly write great work.
📚 How to Train for Creative Writing
It’s not about writing poems under the moonlight. It’s about daily mental pushups.
Try this:
- Read 100 taglines in your industry. Rewrite them better.
- Write 50 headlines for one product — then delete them.
- Steal structure, not words. (E.g. “Got Milk?” becomes “Got Quiet?” for noise-canceling headphones.)
- Build your own swipe file — collect great ads, words, names, turns of phrase.
Creativity comes from input x action — if you don’t feed the machine, it doesn’t spit out anything good.
💡 Does Volume = Quality?
Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, no.
- Writing 1,000 things makes you faster.
- But editing 10 things deeply makes you sharper.
The best writers do both. Quantity gives you raw material. Quality comes from judgment and restraint. You can’t polish a blank page.
Think of it like a kitchen: you can’t cook a dish without ingredients. But too many ingredients can ruin it, too.
🌀 The Mysterious Part: Imagination
Here’s where talent might live: that weird leap where your brain combines “astronaut” and “espresso” and you write “Rocket Fuel for Your Day”.
It’s not logic. It’s a vibe. It’s humor, insight, absurdity — something no machine can quite fake.
But even that can be nudged. Try:
- Word lists
- Obscure metaphors
- Random constraints (e.g. no letter “E”)
- Mashups
- Real conversations with weird humans
That “infinite fantasy” you mentioned? It grows with practice too. Just in strange ways.
Summary
Naming and copywriting might look like talent — but behind every catchy brand name or smart slogan is usually a sweaty, well-read person who wrote 37 garbage versions first.
“Yes, talent helps. But tools, volume, curiosity, and relentless editing are how the real work gets done. Want to be a better writer? Write more. Steal better. Think wider. And be weirder.”
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