If you were to ask me about my experience as a copy writer, I would first want to tell you about my experience as an editor. (This sentence already makes me think of the children’s book “If You Give A Moose A Muffin” because of the inherent way that no one thing in life seems to exist on its own; everything is linked together.) And if you were to ask me about my experience as an editor, I would want to begin by sharing how I ended up teaching sailing at Annapolis Sailing School.
I feel extremely fortunate to have had my passions repeatedly syncing up with my skills. I grew up sailing, first on Lake Erie and then on Chesapeake Bay. When I realized that I also loved to travel, the perfect combination of these two passions was to take sailing lessons in different parts of the world with some of the most incredible people I have ever met through ActionQuest. During those formative high school years when I participated in these sailing programs I was faced with numerous personal challenges and opportunities for self-growth. I had to get to know complete strangers, try (and fail) at new things, discover the joys and complications of traveling alone as well as with a group, and really became acquainted with the things I enjoyed, valued, and wanted to share with others.
Building Experience
So when it was time to get a job to help pay college expenses, I could think of nothing I would rather do than teach sailing during the summer. Annapolis Sailing School seemed the obvious choice at the time for no other reason than it’s where my parents learned to sail and was near the marina where we kept our Newport 30 sailboat. With no previous experience teaching sailing in addition to having spent minimal time sailing dinghies, I secured a job as an instructor and focused mainly on teaching for the children’s program, Kidship. Not that the Sailing School didn’t care about the experience level of their instructors, but they recognized anyone could learn to sail. The patience, professionalism, ability to work with a variety of age groups and personalities, the understanding of the “safety, fun, and learning” concept applied to all Kidship courses, the excitement required to teach children to sail—in short, character was much more important than skill.
And so summer after summer I returned to Annapolis Sailing School, took on more leadership and responsibilities, contributed to new course curriculum, taught a range of classes for both kids and adults, and developed a profound loyalty for the company and its mission statement. Sure, that first summer I capsized a few times, but I quickly developed dinghy handling skills.
Finding And Creating Opportunity
This was surely the pattern I would follow—learning by doing. When I decided to get a “real job” it was important to me that it combine my skills (writing, researching, communications) and my passions (boating, meeting new people, travel). Having set my heart on working for a boating magazine, I walked into every office in the Annapolis area I could find and after a brief introduction of myself to PassageMaker Magazine, I landed an interview. With no previous publishing experience and no real knowledge of the trawler niche that the magazine focuses on, I was hired as editorial assistant.
There was no manual, no training guide, no person who I was replacing to shadow, not even a job description. Albeit at times stressful, confusing, and frustrating, this “trial by fire” method of coming in to a new position was effective. I learned fast, sponged up all the information I could from my co-workers who quickly became like family, developed processes and organization for the things I was doing, and was able to master my role to the point of a promotion.
You’re still wondering about my experience with copy writing? The act of copy writing, putting words on paper (or a screen, rather) is something that anyone can do. Like my Sailing School experience where anyone can learn to sail, so can anyone learn to write copy. But it is much more the passion, understanding, subject matter expertise, client and audience awareness, appropriate delivery and context of the content, and dedication to the creation of the copy that matters.
Passion Counts
When I became managing editor of PassageMaker Magazine it was my developed skills of organization, process management, industry and consumer awareness that allowed me to really delve into this new role. I was able to create and maintain relationships, fine tune my subject matter expertise, get to know what the industry and the readers needed and wanted from the magazine and deliver that content. Intertwined with it all was ongoing communication at an in-depth and personal level. Spending time with readers, talking about their boats and cruises, going aboard our advertiser’s vessels, and reviewing product manufacturer’s equipment, was essential to creating the best and most relevant content.
So it is my strong ability to learn by doing, to be passionate about what I’m working on, my belief in remaining true to the mission statement of a product, and communicating clearly and accurately to an audience that gives me experience to be a copy writer.
And it helps that I like to write.
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