My Days As A White Collar Girl

With the publication of White Collar Girl, my third adult historical novel, I have to take a moment to reflect on how I got here. Looking back I can honestly say that my previous career as an advertising copywriter served as a great training ground for becoming a published author.

Advertising taught me three important lessons that would serve me well as a novelist: 1.) How to accept and deal with constructive criticism, 2.) How to market myself and my books and 3.) How to stay motivated.

From the time I was a young girl I knew I wanted to be a novelist but it seemed like a  faraway dream and dreaming certainly wasn’t going to pay the bills so I took a job in advertising. This was back in the 80s and that Mad Men mentality was still very much alive, complete with smoke-filled conference rooms and two-hour martini lunches.

I worked on everything from glamorous accounts like Coca-Cola to the stuff you line your cat box with.

As a copywriter I spent my days writing everything from TV and radio commercials to newspaper circulars. And here’s where I learned my first big lesson on constructive criticism: I can’t recall a single day when my copy didn’t undergo layers of scrutiny from the creative directors to the account team to the clients.

Criticism and revisions was part of the job. So when my agent and editor come to me with changes, I don’t crumble, I don’t feel discouraged. I know some authors who take it very personally but I learned through advertising to treat it like part of the creative process. I know that we all share the same goal of producing the best piece of writing we possibly can.

The key difference is that in advertising some changes are mandates whereas in publishing, there’s give and take. We all know that for the most part, fiction is subjective and I have the freedom to revise my manuscript in the ways that seems fit. Yet, I have to say that 90 percent of the editorial feedback I receive is spot on and for that I am extremely grateful.

Another important lesson I learned from my advertising years is an understanding of marketing. After 20 years in the business, marketing is in my blood and this has come in very handy in terms of promoting my books whether that’s putting together a comprehensive marketing plan or embracing social media which I know is a challenge for some authors.

I’ve used my marketing background to pull off some exciting promotions including hosting a gangster bus tour and speakeasy party for my novel, Dollface and producing a cable TV commercial for What The Lady Wants. White Collar Girl has it’s own marketing plan as well. Without my advertising background I doubt I would have been able to do any of that.

But beyond that, the most important thing I gained from my job as a copywriter was finding the motivation to publish a novel. I knew that advertising was a young person’s business and while I was good at my job, I lacked the passion for the industry that would have won me awards and made me truly successful. As the years rolled by I became more and more disillusioned.

What I really wanted to do was write fiction and it was getting harder and harder to drag myself into the office everyday. I used that dissatisfaction as the fuel to get my second career going. So I began setting my alarm every day for 4 o’clock. I’d get up and try to write for three or four hours before going into the office.

I came home and ate dinner over my keyboard and guess what I was doing on the weekends and vacations? Yep, I was writing. It was a grueling schedule and I’m pleased to say that nowadays I have much more balance in my life than I did back then, but that was what I needed to do. The strategy paid off with one young adult novel, three historical novels with two more in the hopper.

I know what it means to go to a job every day that you don’t love and think, If only I could write full time. I get that and back in my advertising days I never thought I would see any connection between my day job and my dream. But in reality I needed one in order to effectively do the other. So I guess the moral of the story is that no matter how dissatisfied you might be with your current position, you can find a way to make it work for you and get you closer to your publishing dream. Write on.

 

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Renée Rosen is the bestselling author of WHAT THE LADY WANTS: A Novel of Marshall Field and the Gilded Age and DOLLFACE: A Novel of the Roaring Twenties as well as the young adult novel, EVERY CROOKED POT. Her latest novel, WHITE COLLAR GIRL, set in the 1950s against the backdrop of the Chicago Tribune will be published on November 3, 2015. She lives in Chicago and is currently at work on a new novel also coming from Penguin Random House in February 2017 on the Blues and Chess Records.

Renée has contributed to many magazines and newspapers, including Chicago Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, Complete Woman, DAME and Publisher’s Weekly. She lives in Chicago and is immensely grateful for the inspiration our city provides.

Find out more about Renee on her website  www.reneerosen.com

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Twitter: ReneeRosen1

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Category: Contemporary Women Writers, On Writing