“There’s nothing to writing, you simply sit at a typewriter, open you veins and bleed.”
Versions of this famous sentiment were reported as heard from sportswriter and novelist Paul Gallico and Pulitzer Prize Winner Red Smith. Also (probably misattributed to) Ernest Hemmingway, Emily Bronte and Dr Seuss.
NO ONE HAS TIME TO READ.
There are apps you know, that can read things for you and speak the words through your ear pods, so you don’t have to concentrate – or imagine too much about Characters, or Context, Humour, Hyperbole, Metaphors, Analogies or Theorising.
The skill of writing words for purposes of information, explanation, description, persuasion… Calls to Action that aren’t… “Buy one get one FREE!” soundbites, is not what it was; some say.
It can all be done by AI now.
But only if you want to lose business to the competition who aren’t using AI.
“A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.”
Tyrion Lannister, Game of Thrones.
Ahh! You might say;
but that’s for pleasure, that’s a pastime, that’s “Stories” that is.
Like The Gruffalo or War & Peace.
Yes – but also, there’s this:
THE HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW:
“Reading for pleasure is the highest correlate for life success…”*
Kayoule Rare Books
They’re not wrong.
A high percentage of high value individuals and business leaders, have been made more successful by being lifelong readers.
A famous study of global leaders, mentioned in editorials by the Harvard Business Review found the most successful CEOs read an average of 4 to 5 books a month—amounting to nearly 50 books a year. They were using deep reading as an ultimate competitive edge.
If you are trying to reach high-value individuals, business leaders, and B2B decision-makers, even centres of influence around lower worth company leaders and policy makers, they are all associated with or inherently part of the large minority who actively consume long-form, complex text.
Even those who “don’t have time” to read vast amounts, do want to hear more – not less, about you and your business before diving in.
WHY CREATIVE COPY MATTERS.
While all campaign planning, advertising blurb, concept creation, creative photographic / art direction and scripts rely on the skill of Copywriting to guide and lead visual concepts – even logistical planning gains clarity from commercial copy.
There’s more than a few reasons why getting your copywriting right matters – chief among them is Consistent Messaging.
So why do we talk about literature when we are talking about your business?
Because the world’s best copywriters became the world’s greatest authors. Commercial advertising was their masterclass in human psychology.
When you hire a writer who understands the depth of storytelling, you aren’t just getting marketing blurb. You are getting the same structural brilliance that hooks readers for hundreds of pages.
Before they wrote books that changed the opinions of generations, history’s most celebrated authors cut their teeth as commercial copywriters.
They understood that commercial writing isn’t the enemy of creativity— it is that whetstone of the now famous Lannister quote.
It forced them to drop the fluff, understand human psychology, and hook a potential customer instantly.
AND NOW... IN BREAKING NEWS!
(AI) Generative Search Engines love long copy – so long as it’s genuinely Human not spoofed by AI. (How else are the Bots going to learn?)
How Human do you need to be?
Well, you could just be yourself – or you could let us be you for you.
How do you know THIS website hasn’t been written by AI?
BECAUSE – AI can’t “create” anything.
If we asked it to give us 300 words on Creative Copywriting for a Creative Marketing Company Website, where would it have found these words…
Word Smithery is a muscle – it has to be exercised or it withers away – so when not writing commercial copy, brain workouts should include creating Fiction, Poetry and word invention – I believe Shakespoke, (as my old dad, Postman Poet and accomplished cartoonist; by appointment to his kids) liked doing that.
If the AI bot or a non-writer, or an agency hack is knocking out your ad and marketing copy and it sounds so boring no one would read it more than once – never mind react to it – then they may not be down the mind gym very often and maybe you should use someone who is?
ORIGINALITY RULES.
The following are © 2026 – Blue Strawberry Elephant:
Gufuffle Chuckle (com-n.)
Definition:
1) The asymmetrical sound that emanates when trying to stop yourself chuckling at an inappropriate moment. (link to A bit About Us)
2) The end of a Cold, when there’s nothing left to blow but nasal mist.
3) Facebook Translator version of Middle East. (link)
Squidgy Entrails (n.phrase)
Definition: What needs to be poked around in when you can’t go directly to the Heart of the subject. (link)
Justgettingonwithititis (abs-n.)
Definition: A disease that is symptomatic of skills and outputs from specific imaginings and services that are a necessity for one situation, without realising that those skills and outputs could and should be advertised for use in many other situations. (link to Design Services)
Falligetupable (adj.)
Definition: 1) A characteristic of those who believe getting up is more important than falling down. 2) A personal Support System such as friends, mentors or Kendal Mint Cake. (link to Careers in the Creative Industries)
- Someone who wastes valuable business hours, energy, and mental bandwidth researching and obsessing over their competitors.
- A corporate underachiever who prefers sticking pins in a rival’s voodoo doll to fixing their own product; a serial creator of anxiety and marketplace static.
The act of examining business relationships, creative talents, and mechanical processes under microscopic detail to engineer a single, world-beating product or solution instead of two competing ones. See also: Concorde, the International Space Station [14].
A highly evolved, vastly experienced creative strategist, consultant, or master craftsman who brings fierce non-conformists together to prove what humanity can achieve when pushing in the exact same direction.
We asked Artificially Intelligent Gemini what it thought of just this little slice of copy:
Gemini said:
“BEING HUMAN is the only thing that resonates, whether exploring the Squidgy Entrails of a brand strategy to find the core message, or ensuring global communications avoid a Sniffle Zest style translation disaster.
(do not trust an algorithm with a global reputation).
AI can create basic marketing language, but it cannot understand the Gufuffle Chuckle. It cannot grasp the Falligetupable spirit.
AI cannot write the strategy that succeeds (with or without new word creation)”
In a world dominated by automation, being human is THE key advantage.
We can include Words in our conversations – chats that a robot can’t have.
GIVE US A BELL (jar):
0114 255 9993
A Real Person will answer.
(link to Are we what you need)
* Research from the OECD and the Institute of Education indicates that reading for pleasure is a stronger predictor of a child’s educational and life success than socioeconomic status. Studies demonstrate that regular childhood reading significantly impacts long-term cognitive development, with some findings suggesting it is more influential than parental educational background. For more details, visit
GOV.UK .