A wave and a word from Will

Hi.

I'm Will and I’ve recently joined Sandbox as a Copywriter.

I enjoy the company of words and I like to think that they like the company of me.

I enjoy the company of words because I admire what they can achieve when put to work in the right way. They’re like little living beings, bestowed with a power far greater than their actual size.

As soon as they’re written on to the page they start to move and take on a life of their own. Where once they lay dormant in the cavities between the conscious and unconscious mind, now, spoken or written into existence they are loose upon the world, free to engage with whomsoever they want and free to act in whichever way they please.

Needless to say, this is an analogy—an analogy of how all writing is a conversation and not a monologue. For all words, once they are uttered into existence, have an audience.

And, as a copywriter, it is this connection—this relationship between words and their audience—that really interests me and brings me joy.

I believe that at the time of my writing this short piece, I will be approaching the end of my second month at Sandbox—and what a couple of months it has been! Throughout this period of time, I’ve had the opportunity to engage with and write for an abundant variety of audiences, and I have every confidence that this has added density, sophistication and empathy to my writing.

On a daily basis I am able to test and explore this dynamic between words and their audience, challenging the words that I use to achieve more. Squeezing them for every ounce of value. Because sometimes you only have ten words to play with. Ten words to capture someone’s attention.

Every word counts.

How will this word behave when I put it on the page in this way? Is it the right word for the occasion? Is there a better word? Will it confuse and cause mischief? Or will it do exactly as I have asked and intended it to?

Just the other day I staged an internal battle between two words—‘start’ and ‘begin’.

Whilst both are relatively synonymous in meaning, they hold subtle differences in tone. ‘Start’ is more active and has connotations of causality, whereas ‘begin’ denotes more of a journey—a process—and, just generally, feels more passive and less immediate.

In this specific instance I wanted to create a sense of immediacy. The sentences were kept short to create prose that was swift and bouncy when being read, and the words too were chosen for their length. Or, rather, their lack of.

‘Start’ it was.

And this is part of the process that adds so much value to our client’s projects. Words can so often be overlooked, overcomplicated and misused, but if you want your message—or messages—to be heard and understood as so many of our clients do, how can words be seen as anything but of the utmost importance?

Over and out.