About me
This section of a profile form always gave him pause. For, unlike a landing page or an article, there was lot of scope to be different here.
'Do something creative they say' he thought, 'they always say that'. Recognising the brand immediately for its relaxed and bright TOV, he was excited at the prospects of doing something creative. The only question was how much of a license the word 'creative' gave him.
Sat looking at the second page of his LinkedIn application his mind flashed back more years than he'd like to admit, so he kept 'this' sentence general.
Suffice to say, the 'young' Nathaneal wanted to be a writer. He was yet to discover copywriting, but had discovered books. He consumed them by the truckload and saw his future as an author (with a movie deal).
"I've got it!"
His eyes peered through the circular, tortoise-shell spectacles. (Spectacles he had begged his dad for, and promised to take care of, but proceeded to drop in the playground the first day he wore them).
The glasses should have been helping him see a homework assignment. Instead they were helping him pour out the contents of an imagination fuelled with Star Trek, Star Wars and Back to the Future.
Whilst working on his latest masterpiece (a story about a man with a tree growing inside of him) his unconscious mind served up another a unique idea. This was the one. He knew he had to run downstairs and announce his blue moon epiphany to the whole family immediately.
"I'm going to write a book that tells one story forwards and another one backwards" he announced triumphantly. His chest was puffed out and his eyebrows raised. He prepared to receive the inevitable sea of adulation.
He waited for their compliments, for them to applaud his genius. However, had the living room seating been arranged to form aisles, his family would have been rolling in them.
"That's impossible" spluttered an unbroken boy's voice from the floor. It was more of an indictment than constructive criticism. These two words were all that his younger brother, the first of four, could manage to squeeze out between waves of laughter.
While Nathaneal never did get the reversible novel to work, he did stick with writing fiction as a hobby. He picked up writing copy and content for a living somewhere along the way too.
The fun stuff, like product copy and slogans, were just the icing on the cake. Using words to interact with people in various ways throughout their days (and encouraging them to take action) became another passion.
But the key thing that stayed with him, from those (slightly scratched) tortoise-shell-framed days, was his childhood imagination. (And his willingness to announce its output to the room, no matter how crazy).
Even though it came always came second to what the customer thought and felt, imagination was the compass that pointed to the story in any piece of writing. Because, just like the 'young' Nathaneal, we all started out learning through stories -and still do today.
Skills
Advertising, Brain storming, Content, Creative Direction, Script Writing, Social Media, Writing