“We were taught how the pioneers went into the west. They opened their eyes and made up what things could be.”

Red means go

I suppose there’s a reason those words — courtesy of a W+K ad — hit my world this morning.  If you know what’s up in my life and the Hambrick Plan, you know that those words have special meaning.  And if you don’t, well, they apply to you and your plans more than you know.

The Short Version? Meet your plans; don’t wait for them to find you.  The Long Version follows.

A dialogue before work this morning wound its way around the spindle of writing — copywriting specifically.  I’ve managed to work in some copywriting in my present, decidedly non-copywriting position to some acclaim.  I shared that in the convo, saying that, “Sure, some point in the future, I’ll have more writing in a more front-and-center position job-wise.”

After arriving at work, my old agent from my freelancing days approached me about revisiting some evening/weekend proofreading for the ad agency JWT.  I used to proof for the agency before my current gig.  JWT is the place that basically introduced me to the possibility of copywriting for a living, thanks in large part to the advice and encouragement of the guy who’s behind this and this, and the guy who said something nice about my work  here.

Brilliant copywriting

I then chat with a friend who recently went from one copywriting contract to a perm gig, still with copywriter scribbled on her shingle at the new digs.  Whereas I, as an editor, was pining for the fjords of copywriting, she, as a copywriter, was already enjoying the view therefrom (is that a word?).  Ironically, before copywriting, she was an editor.  Hmm.  When she said that I should do what I’m drawn to, I responded, “I’m drawn to paying the bills.”

But then there, in that little quip, hid the truth: I’m drawn to make things happen with words.  I was making a joke, but it came naturally, without effort. And it made me smile.

And it encourages me to work on writing more.