It starts with a conversation. Analysis. The client is the patient, the copywriter the psychiatrist, listening, nodding, watching, taking secret notes and judging judging judging.  

Then a huddle with colleagues, far from the prying eyes of the patient. A cacophony of diagnoses behind closed doors, with creative irreverence, blasphemy, Freudian outbursts, and a tacit understanding of what-happens-here-better-stay-here-you-bastards.

But then, a breakthrough. A perfect little idea.  

The idea grows up in scribbled notes and typed pages. It blink-blinks with the cursor. It learns tap in clickety-clacking keyboard strokes. It survives middle school—all thumbs and apologies—and goes stag to prom. It ships off to boot camp, dejected but filled with promise.

Designers push and pull it, make phone calls about its progress. More sharing, words and vectors and adjusting everything just so. Its parents visit, and leave impressed. The idea has its own life now. It’s comfortable in its skin.

Another conversation. The patient's back again, shoes dangling from the end of the couch. A knock knock knock. The psychiatrist smiles, beckons for the patient to answer the door. The idea is home.

Sometimes, behind the door, it's a soldier. Sometimes it's a puppy, a soul mate, or a mirror. Sometimes it's a confession, the very words the patient whispers to himself in the quietest moments of night.

Writing is a matter of understanding, translation, drama, and empathy. These are the skills of gifted communicators, who can perform abstract and difficult feats of explanation naturally, without effort or stress. (They’re also the skills of designers, who use other media to communicate.)

At the heart of great communication is care: a desire to make good things to affect people. Curiosity helps a lot too. Care begets the approach, and curiosity dictates the path and execution.

Writing is as much a journey as it is a destination. It's for adventurous spirits (who ironically sit at their desks in thought). If writers enjoy the process, their products become enjoyable. The writing develops the type of character that comes from weathering and redefinition. It develops a soul.

Image Credit: "Door Man" by clappstar is licensed by CC BY-NC 2.0