We recently connected with Oliver Blakemore and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Oliver, thanks for joining us today. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry? Any stories or anecdotes that illustrate why this matters?

The ubiquitousness of writing doesn’t mean it’s easy. The brevity of excellent writing doesn’t mean it required less work. Corporate America doesn’t like paying for good writing. It is treated like, I don’t know, flour: you need it in there, but it isn’t like anyone cares how GOOD it is, so long as the cake turns out. Which, as any baker can tell you, is a wrong way of thinking about flour.

Good writing is deceptive, because you don’t notice it. Which is why it’s like good design–and why so many designers can also write (although most of them prefer outsourcing their writing too (another misunderstanding Corporate America likes: figuring that Graphic Designers, Web Designers, and Copywriters all have the same skill set (we do, but we don’t like it))). Good writing is supposed to be invisible. It doesn’t stand out, because it evokes its point as if that point sprang to existence in the reader’s head without any help from the writer. THAT is how good writing works. And since it isn’t a dramatic process, since it acts exactly like it doesn’t exist, Corporate America likes underpaying for it.

It takes hours to write that kind of stuff. Days! Days of editing and rewriting and iterating before we get to that level of ninja psychology. And all of that requires years of practice and education and study before we get to that point.

Good writing isn’t cheap.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I lie for a living.

People don’t respond to the truth, you see. They already know the truth, and the truth is not only boring; the truth is passe. People like hearing that tomorrow is full of hope and that they will be successful if they just try.

Which is about the most honest lie you can tell anyone, since it’s based on what they already believe. Beliefs cause reality. I’m in the business of encouraging beliefs.

I’ve been a storyteller for my whole life. By day, I’m a content writer, because I need to keep the lights on, and it takes a long time for the public to come around to a new novelist (are the cool kids into this guy? That’s what the public wants to know before committing to a new book).

I apply all my techniques of storytelling to my content writing. Techniques of holding attention, manipulating emotions, and retaining loyalty. These are the same requirements of a good marketing strategy, and if you do some searches on the subject then you’ll see a lot of stuff out there about the importance of storytelling in your marketing. I bring twenty years of storytelling experience to my clients, storytelling experience with a quick and dirty understanding of content marketing mechanics patched onto the outside for getting on with. I’ve noticed that a lot of the people I work with are quite brave and a little ahead of the curve in their marketing decisions. They make quite clever use of the stories I write for them, I’m proud to say.

I’m involved in a group that creates workshops for small business owners who would like to learn this stuff. I run workshops on how to use narrative and storytelling in your marketing. I was asked to do this by a long-term client–she runs a digital marketing company. She said I have a unique take on this content writing thing. Sure, man, I don’t know. I only know what’s in my head. Don’t know how anyone else does stuff.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Yeah. My why’s imagination. I want people to think more. Think different thoughts. Think strange thoughts. Chase curiosity and solve puzzles. If I hear someone say, “I never thought about it that way,” one every week–and usually I do–then I know I’m not wasting my life too badly.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Sitting still, being quiet, drinking tea, and reading is all part of how I can do what I do. I’m on the clock when I’m taking a walk and listening to music. And those podcasts you listen to when you’re wasting time: yeah, those are part of my research.

Basically, unlike other job titles, writer is an identity. For some people, anyway. It is for me. There are not tidy lines between “work” and “not work.” I never clock out. So if It looks like I charged you a lot for typing a couple hundred words, and if you asked for it an hour ago and I got it to you already, that’s because the hour I spent typing does not reflect the time and energy I have already spent on the writing.

I’m not writing only when I’m writing. I don’t take breaks. My breaks are part of my work.

Writing is exhausting. It’s like being haunted by yourself. Which is also exhilarating. So I keep doing it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.oliverblakemore.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oliversidewaves/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OliverSideways
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliver-blakemore/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/olivershiny
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHREi3xzAAm0-PxLq1NtwWg

Image Credits
Took all the images myself. I is a writer, and that isn’t a very visually dynamical industry.