Word up.
For those of you who don’t labor at the keyboard, here’s an awful truth: we writers secretly believe that anything other than words is extraneous. Photography, infographics, doodles: they’re “just a lot of stupid, stupid signs,” as R.E.M. once declared.
Okay, so maybe that’s a stretch. I dig doodles as much as the next nudnik. But for writers at work, bells and whistles — such as those that pass as the functionality of word processing applications like, uh, “Word” — serve mostly as distractions from the task at hand. And that is to string letters into words, and words into sentences. Unlike the computer, the manual typewriter poses no such risks to our craft.
Thankfully, someone in the iPadosphere gets this. A company called Information Architects has come up with a $5.00 iPad app called “Writer,” which presents a type-only interface for easily re-routed writers searching for the perfect paragraph.
I’ll let them explain, however briefly:
Writer has no graphical settings or formatting features. It avoids all distracting glitz in the user interface and puts all the beauty in the shape of the text. It uses an interactive logic that helps you concentrate, find your orientation and express yourself.
Now, if only we had an iPad at the CopyChow office, we could explore the “Writer” app. Meantime, we’ll just keep the blinders on.
Sharpening # 2.0 pencils.
Slave to the algorithm.
For those of us who labor in the vineyards of financial services advertising, algorithms are an all-too-familiar animal. Simply put, algorithms are defined as “an effective method for solving a problem expressed as a finite series of instructions.” They can be as basic as a four-step flow chart, or as mind-numblingly complex as the proprietary stuff of hedge funds, annuities, and other sophisticated financial instruments.
Trainspotters of the high-tech world understand algorithms to be the lifeblood of world-beaters like Google and other Internet entities where really smart people rule the roost.
But enough of that. Turns out that algorithms are everywhere, including as a way to drive copywriting. Yep, copywriting. Apparently, some clever folk have cooked up an algorithm that mines the entire internet for topical trends that can, in turn, be used as inspiration.
To be sure, this tool is most appropriate for editorial types looking to tap into the latest currents. If you’re a freelance journo, here’s a way to find your next story line.
But beyond that, is it possible that copywriters can use this device as a way of finding fresh angles for headline writing, or as a way to tap into the vernacular of a conversation occurring on the interwebs?
I’d be willing to wager yes.
Read more: Algorithms: The Cure for Copywriter’s Block. (via search engine journal)
Let’s light this rocket.
Thanks for stopping by copy chow. Our mission, if we choose to take it, is to throw some much-needed light on the world of great copywriting. Because after all, if there’s one group of people who need more attention, it’s advertising types.
First, though, an homage to machinery — and a simple plea to replace the defective, slow moving computer I’m forced to use at my gig. Described as a new and groundbreaking innovation in the field of obsolescence, the USB Typewriter may be my salvation — although it remains to be seen how the guys who share my workspace would feel about it.
Fuck ‘em.
