25: A copywriter walks into a bar

This week's newsletter is almost late and I'm sorry about that. I've been booking as many copywriting jobs as I can to make some money before Christmas, and it's meant that instead of working on my book or the articles I want to finish before the end of the year, I've been writing about teeth whitening and lingual braces and the best places to shop on Northumberland Street.Being a copywriter is something I didn't know I was until I'd been doing it for about five years. I went into marketing pretty much immediately after graduating (as it turns out, the inverted pyramid really is the ideal way to write marketing copy.) I remember seeing a joke on Twitter and realising that I wasn't a writer at all; I hadn't written anything I'd cared about in years. I was actually a copywriter, and I wasn't enjoying it either. "An SEO copywriter walks into a bar, the best bar in town, a bar near me..." It was like seeing a penny at the bottom of a dark, algae-thick pool. It was a decent job, and I was doing a version of the thing I wanted to do, but I was lying to myself if I said it was fulfilling my dreams. Every now and again I rely on copywriting to dig me out of financial holes. Writers don't say thing like this in the hope you'll find their poverty compelling. At least I hope they don't -- I certainly don't. Being paid to write is hard. There are a lot of writers. There isn't a lot of money to pay for their words. When you do get money for your words, they become something else, and you have to work even harder for them to feel as smooth and weighty in people's hands. So by flipping that shiny little coin over to its grubby, riverbottom side, I can find work I'm not proud of but that pays the bills. And I wanted to share this thought because it's easy to think everyone is doing better than you. Stop. Everyone is working through something just as much as you are. Everyone is reaching for something they want.Other Stuff

• First up, something insanely geeky and therefore amazing. Lars Marius Garshol shares from his Twitter account this week: "An Italian guy was so fascinated by the Stjørdal, Norway malt kilns he decided to make his own. Excellent video, with extra photos/footage from Jørund Geving in Stjørdal"

• A very thoughtful and well-researched look at Liverpool's changing restaurant scene from Alice Burns for Liverpool Guild Student Media. 

• This great piece by Ed Yong about how he actively began fixing gender imbalances within his stories was sent to me by David Sun Lee. It's something I think about and discuss with people a lot,k but I know I can still do more -- not just with gender imbalance but by promoting minority voices more in my work across the board. This is me promising to so. As David said when he sent it, "It's on all of us!" 

• Andrew Dickens interviewed Jeremy Corbyn for Penguin about books, reading and how vital our libraries are (and how he will save them) and it is wonderful.

• Art of the Score interviewed Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (Bad Seeds, not that one) about the jusic they've made for film.

• Something unfamiliar and bizarre in its mundanity, so obviously I really enjoyed getting into it -- "Big Calculator: How Texas Instruments Monopolized Math Class".

• Mel C -- the best Spice Girl -- frankly discussing her life with Laura Snapes, one of the best music journalists in the world right now. 

• We expect beauty from Pellicle and the standards keep rising. This by Hugh Thomas on the Faversham Hop Festival is, frankly, amazing, and Grace Helmer's illustrations are just as evocative and beautiful and heartstrings-tugging.

• Jay Raynor's review of Live Seafood on Ashton Rd, Manchester. It's a good one.

• Jeff Alworth went to Brewery De La Senne and Yvan de Baets spoke to him about yeast as though it was the darling love of his life. Because it is, of course.

• Hat tip to Evan Rail: This piece on Tokyo denim in the NYT had me totally enthralled.

• This really was interesting, I know I say that about everything, but it really, really is worth a read. Especially if you love language, numbers or both. (I only like language.) "Why You Might Be Counting In The Wrong Language" by Aanand Jagatia.

My Stuff

• I'm really, really proud of this piece I've written on local beer and lower league football giving communities a combined sense of identity. It's also called Home Turf, which I love because I like the word "turf". 

• Amphora. What are they? Why are they? I spoke to a few experts because I was genuinely interested, and then I wrote about it. Which is how I wish all my articles went.

• I've got two articles in the Pellicle in-tray at the mo. Expect one to be published in the near future. As I said before, they're raising standards all the time over there. No pressure. No pressure at all.

A section from Grace Helmer's illustrations for

Hugh Thomas' Faversham Hop Festival piece-- originally published in Pellicle Magazine