Joanna Young at Confident Writing asks a great question – what is authentic writing?
The more I thought about the question, the harder I found it to answer. Sometimes gut reactions are the best guide, and when I think of authentic writing, I immediately think of Bruce Springsteen. Take for example one of his best, Thunder Road–
Don’t run back inside, darling, you know just what I’m here for
So you’re scared and you’re thinking that maybe we ain’t that young anymore
Show a little faith, there’s magic in the night
You ain’t a beauty but, hey, you’re alright
Oh, and that’s alright with me
The Thunder Road lyrics get to me every time, no matter how often I hear them. Springsteen’s writing strikes me as so richly authentic because –
- It’s straight from the heart.
- It talks about something true and something real.
For me, authenticity comes down to sincerity and truth. I think you need both. Karl Marx was terribly sincere, but his understanding of human nature was terribly flawed. Nixon’s famous “Checkers” speech certainly rang true, but how sincere was it, really?
Bringing it down to sales and marketing writing, authentic material is difficult to spot, because most of us reflexively doubt a company’s sincerity and truthfulness. I know some copywriters who pride themselves in being able to write persuasively on any topic, no matter how revolting it may be to them personally. I know other copywriters who will walk away from a job in a heartbeat if it conflicts with their inner light.
For myself, I’ve passed on a few jobs because I wasn’t comfortable with the subject. Although it cost me some money, I can’t say I have any regrets. One borderline job I did take was for a company in the tanning salon industry. While it was a fine company with great people, I just didn’t buy the sales pitch for tanning, which was based to a large degree on health benefits. I did my best, and I think the client was satisfied, but I always had lingering doubts about my attempt to entice people into a tanning booth.
On the other hand, my client PrivacyBuilders has a business I believe in: helping consumers protect and control their personal information. I’m so energized over the project that I find myself coming up with ideas almost every day.
So what do you think? Does sincerity + truth = authentic writing? It’s a hard concept to get your arms around, that’s for sure, which is probably why Joanna is wisely spending an entire month on it!
I sense lawyers have similar problems with their clients!
Robyn, lawyers probably have most of their problems with everyone other than their clients – you know the saying, you never like a lawyer until you need one …
Brad, I think this post has got me thinking as much as my original question to you did!
I’m starting to think that authenticity is not an absolute value – it’s a different creature according to the context. Part of that (in the writing context) is down to reader expectations.
As customers or potential clients we have a certain set of expectations, assumptions, fears, hopes and they act as a filter between us and the words of the copywriter. We know there’s a job to be done to market and sell the product, and are not necessarily expecting the writer to be authentic, sincere or maybe even 100% truthful (“buyer beware”).
Perhaps the advent of social media and more conversational copy is changing this – most of us think of this as a good thing but is it easier for us to be duped by people who write in a conversational style, because our normal resistance filters go down? Hmm, not sure about that one…
Then there’s the lines in the sand for the writer – the jobs that you know you can’t or won’t do because it breaches something inside you in terms of your ethics and values.
And then there’s the stuff that’s more personal, that comes from a deeper place, more you, true to you and your life experience or view of the world. I think your Springsteen example captures that perfectly
When we write from that place I think (believe) the writing is different, the impact, the connection call it what you will, is also different. I also think (believe) you can’t fake it. We can learn how to write in a more human, open, personal style, to write with ‘authenticity’, but what comes out the other end will be uniquely ours… which is what makes it authentic. (Am I making sense here?)
The interesting question remains how much of that has a place in sales and marketing copy, what happens to trust and rapport if it’s done well – and vice versa what happens to trust and rapport if it’s abused.
Thanks for stirring my noodle on this one (as your previous commenter might say!)
Joanna
Joanna, you should have fun exploring all the aspects of authenticity this month – I’m looking forward to more conversation in September. What you say about authenticity being a shared experience between the writer and the reader raises all sorts of fascinating questions. How much do the writer’s motives really matter? If the reader discovers something true and real in the writing, is that enough? I do believe that people can be easily duped by conversational marketing. However, I don’t think it’s a new problem, just a more noticed one. Snake oil salesmen and direct mail advertisers have been using conversational techniques from the beginning – sometimes for good purposes, and sometimes not. The more sincere and personal the message seems, the more easily people are influenced. As writers, I think we need to be extra careful about how we apply conversational writing techniques.