Jordan Miller

In writing, artistic expression means nothing without technical precision. The most beautiful, moving, engaging sentence in the world is worthless if it's grammatically incorrect and full of typos. For a writer, proper grammar, syntax, and spelling should be second nature, so there are no impediments to creativity. Yes, proofreaders exist, but a writer needs to know their craft from the ground up.

I love adopting older dogs. You don't get as many years together, but the time you do have is so precious.

I started writing short stories in first grade. In middle school it was poetry, and by high school I was the editor of the literary magazine. At my graduation I won the school prize for creative writing, and in college I earned a scholarship for excellence in journalism. I just never thought I was going to be anything other than a writer. It's the only thing that has come to me completely naturally. I love to communicate with people, and to make them feel a certain way through my writing — whether that's laughter or tears — it's a very human connection.

My biggest influence in advertising has been Jeff Goodby. Goodby, Silverstein & Partners is the only agency I've worked for that felt like a real writers' shop. Jeff's ability to take two words and make them into a whole campaign is just incredible — that's where I learned to not just be a writer, but a copywriter. Outside of advertising, I really admire comic writer Jeff Lemire, who is incredibly prolific and can write beautiful and engaging stories in any genre.

For some time, my focus was on making cool TV and radio spots, traveling and going on shoots, writing the best headlines, and coming up with imaginative campaigns. I loved it. So when I was hired by my current agency, I found it challenging to make the switch to what I thought to be mundane digital work (mainly site copy, content strategy, and CRM). What I have learned, though, is that the key to the industry today is to be able to translate your skills no matter what the medium — bloom where you're planted. Now I see an email as a conceptual opportunity to create an inbox experience. I want to help people understand complicated concepts. I want to have a big goal and work toward it, no matter where the words go.

Beyond the scope of the project, I want to know their motivation. Why does this project exist in the first place? What is the problem we're trying to solve? How can I help?

Part of my job as a creative-for-hire is to be able to write in any style. I've written videos for sports car enthusiasts, and I've answered questions for teenagers about tampons. I know a whole lot about how to make something sound Googley. I've written ads that make signing up for assisted living less scary and more exciting. None of this was written in my own personal style, except to say that I always try to convey as much as I can with as few words as possible.

Of course a writer is limited only by their imagination. But a professional writer in any industry has to learn to imagine the biggest ideas within a smaller box. There is strategy to adhere to, a brand style to follow, and budgets to consider. It's very frustrating to a client when they are working on a limited budget and the creative team comes back with ideas that need celebrities and $50,000 music. The key to being a great copywriter is to create the most you can that's on-brief and on-budget.

I love learning the ins and outs of — or helping develop — a brand voice. It's almost like being an actor; you're a different character with every project. I often try to get in the headspace of the intended audience by learning about what moves them (I went from knowing nothing about cars to being a daily reader of Jalopnik and a fan of Top Gear). I also listen to relevant music while I write for that brand. I have no problem switching back and forth between brands or sticking to just one. Currently I spend all day in the Google voice.