Taste Is the Last Competitive Advantage
I think we’ve been asking the wrong question about AI. The conversation has mostly centered around whether it can create, but the more interesting question is who decides what’s worth creating in the first place. We no longer live in a world where ideas are scarce. If anything, we’re drowning in them.
The Writers’ Room Playlist: Long Drives and Second Drafts
Creativity isn’t a straight line, and neither is life. Sometimes the best thing you can do is keep moving, stay curious, and trust that the next version of the story is still being written. Whether you’re taking the long way home, working through a stubborn draft, or simply giving yourself a little space to think,…
You’re Allowed to Evolve
When I was younger, I thought growth would feel obvious as it happened. I thought there would be clear milestones where you’d suddenly feel confident, established, and fully formed, especially creatively. Instead, most evolution feels gradual until one day it doesn’t. One day, you realize the space you’ve occupied for years suddenly feels too small,…
The Shift from Getting it Done to Getting it Right
Five years ago, if you brought me a project, I would have gotten it done. Even if the brief was messy, the direction was unclear, or the timeline was unrealistic, I’d figure it out. That’s what I was known for, and for a long time, that worked. However, getting it done and getting it right…
The Writers’ Room Playlist: Clean Slate Energy
There’s a specific kind of energy that comes with starting over—not the chaotic kind, not the “burn it all down” kind. This is quieter because you’re not guessing anymore. You’re choosing. This month’s playlist is for that version of a clean slate, complete with clearer thinking, sharper instincts, and less noise.
Things I Care More About Now Than I Did 10 Years Ago
Ten years ago, I thought being good meant being impressive. Not just competent or reliable, but good in the way that gets noticed. The kind of good that earns a nod in a meeting or makes someone pause and say, “That’s really smart.” The kind of good that might, if you’re lucky, get you on…
The Writers’ Room Playlist: Big Picture
There’s a moment in every creative process when you have to stop zooming in, rewriting the headline, and debating the CTA. And just zoom out.
Big-picture thinking is uncomfortable. It requires restraint. It asks better questions and forces you to see the whole architecture, not just the clever line, not just the campaign asset, not…
From the Archive: On Voice, Editing, and Trusting Your Instincts
Creative work is often measured by output, such as campaigns, launches, content, or messaging. But the most important work usually happens earlier. It happens in decisions about what deserves to be said, what needs to be simplified, and what should be protected from being overexplained or over-optimized. Across years of writing, strategy work, and brand…
The Writers’ Room Playlist: Late-Night Ideas
There’s a specific kind of creativity that only shows up late at night. It’s not polished or presentation-ready. Instead, it’s the sentence you’re not sure about yet or the idea that feels fragile but promising enough to keep going.
What’s Quietly Changing in Copywriting (and Why It Matters)
I’ve been in this industry long enough to know that most “trends” are just new labels for old ideas. What does change, however, are the deeper shifts that drive the way clients think, how audiences behave, and how work gets made. After nearly two decades of writing for brands across healthcare, tech, and consumer, here…
The Writers’ Room Playlist: Fresh Pages
Fresh Pages is a soundtrack for beginnings that don’t need to be perfect to be powerful. This January Writers’ Room playlist is built for the bravery of opening a blank document, letting ideas wander, and trusting that your voice will find its way back.
Branding Lessons from Holiday Ads
Every year, holiday ads show up with the same goal: create something people remember. Some succeed, but most don’t. The holidays are one of the rare moments when audiences lower their defenses, expecting sentiment and a healthy dose of nostalgia. They’re open to feeling something, but only if the story earns it. That makes December…
The Dreamer and the Disruptor
The song “Imagine” taught me the power of plainspoken truth. Lennon didn’t hide behind metaphors when he could aim directly for the heart. He wrote as if the emotional center of a message was the whole point, and not an afterthought. That instinct has followed me throughout my career and is the part of copywriting…
Why Copywriters Should Think Like Editors
Copywriters are storytellers, while editors are truth-hunters. Sometimes cleverness gets in the way of truth. Thinking like an editor shifts your default from: “Does this sound good?” to “Does this make sense?” Clever copy sparks attention, but clear copy earns trust. The best work does both, but clarity always wins.
Gratitude in the Creative Process: 17 Years, 17 Lessons
Seventeen years ago, I wrote my first real piece of copy. It was a series of radio commercials I wrote as a favor for a colleague and it led to my first agency job. I had no idea that one small line would lead to a career spent chasing clarity, connection, and that rare, shimmering…
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Sara Barton 