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Up close and personal
CHRIS HEAD
Copywriter
How long have you been writing for?
If you don’t count those childhood stories of space adventures with talking monkeys, then it would be when I started working on school and then college newspapers. I then started to study journalism at college and managed to get stories in local papers. So I’d say at least 13 years.
What made you want to be a copywriter?
Because I thought it would be more fulfilling than straightforward journalism. Rather than report on one subject for one audience, a copywriter’s audience changes with each job, as does the tone of voice, the vocabulary and the way in which you articulate. I can’t think of a better way of developing your skills and broadening your knowledge.
What was your first full-time employment?
Bar work and summers spent as a bingo caller aside, the first time that I really worked for a living was at my dad’s structural engineering firm. When I wasn’t sitting at a drawing board designing pieces of steel handrail or staircases, I was out on huge building sites across the country fitting the finished items. Although it was really hard work there was also a real sense of achievement.
What is the most bizarre piece of copy you’ve had to write?
On my first day in a new job I had to write a review of a hotel for inclusion in a magazine that was going to press that afternoon. What made it bizarre was that the hotel was in Labuan, (12 hours ahead) there was no press pack, no one in the office had visited it and as the company had forgotten about my arrival, I didn’t have the use of a PC or internet access to do any research. All we had to go on was a picture postcard and its name and of course this was my only chance to make a first impression. That was fun.
What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
I guess the answer should be that I don’t have time to do anything else as Stratton Craig keep me so busy, but I like the cinema, buying music and going to concerts as well as spending time in Paris where my girlfriend lives.
What do you enjoy most about writing?
The overwhelming sense of relief when you’re finished.
Click here to find out more about Chris and other members of the Stratton Craig team
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