How Great Copy is Like Good Home Brew

My brother-in-law is a brewing master. He crafts the kind of beer that you actually ask for when you visit him, not the swill that your buddy makes and that you politely choke down out of respect for his new (poisonous) passion. The guy knows his stuff. Recently, as we sat at a microbrewery enjoying a cold one, he tried to explain to me the brewing process.

At the end of a fairly complex lesson that involved everything from botany to chemistry to physics, he paused, looked me in the eye and asked, “But do you know what the most important ingredient is?” “Wwwwhat?” I asked, eager to be let in on what was clearly a craft secret. He took a long, dramatic pull on his IPA, gazed off into the distance, and said, “Time.” Ignoring my slightly dejected look, he explained, “It’s time. You’re just itchin’ to crack open that vessel and get a taste of your creation, but ya gotta be patient, dude. You can’t rush things.”

It occurred to me then that patience and “not rushing things” is important in copywriting, too. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve completed a writing project and declared it perfect, only to come back to it a day or two later to discover that perfection IT IS NOT. Of course, I then make the necessary edits to achieve actual perfection (!), but I’m still stunned at how differently a piece reads just 24 hours after I’ve finished it.

Psychologists would, no doubt, tell us that there are lots of reasons why we have such a high opinion of our work at the moment of completion. For me, I think it has to do with the euphoria you feel when you get to check a box on your To Do list. Those endorphins probably cloud my vision a bit. So, no matter how tight a deadline I’m under, I always find time to step away from a draft before coming back to it with a fresh perspective, making edits, and calling it complete. Ideally, that cooling off period is 24 hours or more. But even 24 minutes is better than nothing.

So, whatever it is you’re writing, if it’s important that it be clear, concise and error-free (and when isn’t that important?), be sure to follow my brother-in-law’s advice and, “Be patient, dude.” You’ll find your work is much better when it’s fully fermented.