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- 🍴But you gotta put in (copy)work, work, work
🍴But you gotta put in (copy)work, work, work
Is Fifth Harmony stuck in your head now?
Maria Marchewka
March 19, 2025
400 words ⬇️
Have you ever read a sentence and thought, "Wow. I wish I wrote that."
I do that… a lot.
People are so creative!
A few months ago, on an episode of My First Million (one of my favorite podcasts), Sam Parr talked about "copy work."
If you're unfamiliar with it, Google's AI overview describes it as "a writing exercise where you practice by hand-copying passages from existing texts, often used to improve handwriting, spelling, and language skills or to learn from the style and structure of good writing."
It's a pretty sterile description, but you get the picture.
How To Do It
Copywork is when you find content you admire, get a piece of paper, grab a pen, and handwrite it.
It helps you get into the rhythm of another person's writing by embracing their style, tone, and voice.
Find something you enjoyed reading, then copy it by hand.
It doesn't have to be related to your industry or business. It just has to be something you find interesting and inspiring.
Why I Like It
Writer's block buster.
This exercise is beneficial when you can't find your voice in your writing.
Writer's block is an absolute nightmare. This is like a dynamite stick that blasts through it.
Writing fitness.
Writing is a muscle you have to exercise and strengthen every day.
They say the best writers are readers. They're copiers, too.
Copywork immerses you in the other person's writing so you can absorb their structure and style.
Comfort zone crusher.
As writers, we get stuck in our ways. We have a routine, and it's hard for us to push ourselves beyond those boundaries.
Copywork is the nudge to get you out of your comfort zone and write in styles that feel almost foreign to you.
Sam used to do this for an hour a day, which he dubbed "Copy Hour."
He'd sit at his desk and copy famous sales sheets and other literary works.
An hour is a bit much for me, so I plan to spend 5 - 10 minutes daily doing copywork.
Your Turn
I'd love for you to do this exercise with me this week. Just give it five minutes a day.
I might start with some of my favorite parts of Amor Towels’ A Gentleman in Moscow.
How about you? What are you going to copy?
Before You Go
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