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John: What did you look at, Scott? Scott: Just a little bit of the elements of
style. John: You guys got the newer one? The older
oneís great for just the idea that when you realize how much American writing has relied
on that book, and how far we have strayed from it in the recent couple of generations.
I love Jack Kerouak and the beat writers, but the disservice they did was the same thing
that Picasso did to art. Just real briefly, and this is relevant to
writingÖPicasso came out around the time of photography, when photography started getting
big, and what happened was, art before then had been a real craftsmanís job, and there
was a lot of realism going on. The Victorian age was very realistic. Photography kind of
put a dent in that. Those skills of being realistic as possible as a painter no longer
became valuable, because of photography. That is certainly what Picasso used. He was a very
accomplished artist, but he went off in another direction using, not the excuse, but the impetus
of photography taking care of realism for him to go off in another direction. Plus there
was all this other stuff going on at that time.
And thatís great. That kind of revolution is great. Thatís what the beats were doing
in the ë50ís with writing and things like that. The problem is in the following generation
in art. People started with Picassoís art as a base, thinking that they didnít have
to know anything about how to paint, anything about the craftsmanship.
There is a very famous quote that I had written above my desk for a very long time when I
started in my career as a freelancer. And that quote isÖîFirst, be a craftsman. Youíve
got plenty of time to be a genius later.î And what that refers to is learn the craft.
And thatís where Elements of Style comes back in. Because the painter that started
with the idea that ìI donít have to learn the craft, because all I have to do is paint
like Picasso and Iím going to be a great artist, too.î Those people are stymiedÖtheyíre
stuck in aÖand, of course, the art world rewarded people for that for a very long period
of time. For me, a lot of the latter half of the 20th
century, the art really went downhill in a lot of ways. I collect art. I collect local
art, and I like people with craft. Thatís what I look for first, is that sense of craft.
If itís ceramics, itís understanding the process, of the kiln and that. And thatís
very different from those who essentially never get better than they were as a sophomore
in art school, you know, when they are just throwing stuff together and think everything
they are going to do is fine. So, when you get into this advertising and marketing, when
you get into this writing, itís kind of a shock to a lot of people when you say ìyouíve
got to learn to write. There are some basics to writing that have been time-tested, and
thatís where Elements of Style comes in. Itís a little dated, yes, but it is only
dated in that it was written a long time ago, in the 20ís. It influenced people like Steinbeck,
who knew how to write concisely, succinctly, and paid attention to the writing. A lot of
writing that is out there, a lot of stuff that you find in newspapersÖjust pick up
a newspaper and count the number of ìthatîs in a story. Itís obvious that people are
now teaching people how to write, and the teachers donít know how to write. The corruption
is endemic and, as all marketers know, this is your ìinî. This is great news for anyone
who knows what everyone else doesnít know. Because now you can now become that clear,
concise writer. It can actually be a USP within your market, for you to be the one guy who
can clearly say what everyone else is mumbling about.
So, thatís why this is so important. Thatís why you guys intuitively knew to follow a
writerÖmeÖa lot of you have been dealing with Dan Kennedy, Gary Halbert, and other
guys like that. Thereís a reason why top writers tend to start talking about this stuff.
Obviously, we are so passionate about it. There is a reason for it. Communication is
the basis for society. Without it, the world is one big Tower of Babel.
So, itís very important to not turn your nose up about it. How many people had a bad
experience with English in school? Their brain curdled at the thought of conjugation and
things like that. I didÖI hated English. So, it was a revelation for me when I made
the connection between concise writing, communication, and how that would affect being a marketer
and especially a copywriter. Any questions about that? OKÖ