Copywriting Lessons from Poets, Playwrights and Novelists

What does Samuel Beckett have to do with cat litter? Or Carl Jung with selling trucks? For some of the sharpest copywriters working today, the answer is: everything.

Good copy doesn’t just sound nice – it moves people. It nudges them closer to a product, a service, or a belief. And to do that, copywriters often lean on more than strategy or brand guidelines. They draw from the deep well of literature. From the lyricism of Mary Oliver to the wry observations of Kurt Vonnegut, from the narrative architecture of ‘The Sixth Sense’ to the pulse of Tupac – storytelling, in all its forms, shapes how we sell and connect.

LBB’s April Summers spoke with some of advertising’s most thoughtful wordsmiths to find out which literary figures influence their writing and what craft lessons they carry into the commercial realm. The answers? Thoughtful, personal, and often surprising.

Rebecca Vicino, copywriter at H/L Agency

Although not a traditional literary figure, Carl Jung was such a prolific writer and radical influence on theory that he’s the first person who comes to mind when I think about my approach to copywriting. His insights on how images and words work together to tap into deep-seated emotions are incredibly relevant to ad work. In ‘Man and His Symbols’, Jung explores how storytelling transcends individual experience through archetypal symbols that tap into something deeply embedded in the human psyche. A single word or phrase can trigger an entire network of associations, stirring people unconsciously.

Jung also emphasised metaphor as a tool for understanding the world. He argued that through mythology and folklore, we can encode profound truths about the human condition. Effective copywriting works similarly to evoke meaning beyond the literal. You can give someone a great financial incentive to buy a truck – or you can craft a story that puts them in the driver’s seat to experience what it feels like to be behind the wheel of that truck. The latter taps into something more visceral than a price tag. Autonomy. Freedom. A longing for escape. Great copy finds a way to connect to those deeper layers.

I also rely heavily on the musicality of language. I always read everything out loud. Cadence, flow – these elements matter, whether it's a 30-second script or a three-word headline. If something feels off when spoken, it's probably off on the page. Good writing should have a natural rhythm, a pulse that carries the reader forward without friction. I learned that from reading and studying writers like Christine Schutt, Deborah Eisenberg, Raymond Carver, and Joan Didion.

I make it a point to step away. To recharge. At the rate we’re consuming content these days, it’s easy to become too internal-facing. For me, the most important part of every day is sitting down at a dinner table, breaking bread with people I love. Listening. Taking in different perspectives. Getting out of my own head. That’s not always the direct way into a project, but I believe the best work comes from that source of human connection. Copy that is commercially viable and copy that is emotionally resonant aren’t separate. They go hand in hand. No matter what emotion you’re trying to capture, the goal is always the same: to connect. And that’s exactly what great literature does: it reaches beyond the page, and beyond time, to make us feel something real.

Words capture the imagination. They hold power. They shape the way we perceive ourselves and the world around us. They’re not just vehicles for entertainment or information, they represent perspectives, ideologies, entire worldviews. That’s worth exploring as a writer. Are we persuaded by words? Why are we persuaded – and how? These are questions that reveal a multicultural world, a spectrum of different viewpoints.

Words allow us to see beyond ourselves. Remember that! As writers, we have a responsibility to uphold the importance of language, to protect its stature in a time that prioritises speed over depth. Literature has always been a cornerstone of culture. Without it, we lose that reverence for words and storytelling. We lose ourselves. 

Lisa Lewis, playwright and senior creative director, head of copy and design, AKA NYC

Depending on the brand or campaign, I might draw from the efficiency and punch of Aaron Sorkin or the lyricism of Zadie Smith. Advertising often leans on brevity, but there’s a real place for anthemic language, too. Levi’s ‘Go Forth’ campaign pulled from Whitman and Bukowski. Nike’s ‘Dream Crazier’ and Adidas’ ‘The Roads We Create’ use powerful monologues to create emotional stakes and cultural resonance.

Nike’s recent ‘So Win’ is another great example of merging both approaches – short, simple statements that build into a moving, unforgettable call to action. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is that clarity doesn’t mean oversimplifying. Great writing illuminates core feelings, and advertising copy has that potential, too. The key is to be as precise and rigorous in the language as a poem or play might be.

I live by the rhetorical rule of threes and the comedic callback. In TV and radio, rhythm is everything – whether the tone is elevated or conversational, you’ve got to hear the cadence. Writing for the ear means pacing your lines, punctuating them with the right music bed or visual cue, and knowing how to land a punch or punchline. Playwriting taught me that. Spending hours writing and rewriting dialogue sharpened my ear for tone, rhythm, and character. Copywriting, in turn, made me a better playwright, teaching me how to distill language down to its cleanest, most compelling form. I also love a smart tweak – taking a familiar idiom and giving it a slight twist can turn a cliché into a clever wink.

The most powerful statements are often the shortest and sometimes the riskiest, saying the thing no one else will say – and in advertising, you don’t have long to make an impact. I often write to instrumental music that matches the emotional tone I’m aiming for. If the copy still hits after the music’s gone, I know I’ve tapped into something real. The goal is to distill an idea down to its most universally resonant form – poignant, or triumphant, but not so broad it becomes bland. A line like ‘Welcome Home’ can be incredibly powerful in the right context, paired with the right brand and moment. It’s all about restraint, precision, and emotional truth.

Ira G, chief creative officer at Toaster INSEA

The simplest advice to anyone who wants to be a writer is – read! Your writing world and word universe opens up in such prolific ways when you discover that Oscar Wilde who died in 1900 was a master of headlines and turn of phrase. You like rabbit holes? Consider starting with Lisa Taddeo going to Chuck Palahnuik, Irvine Welsh and then their Gods, Brett Easton Ellis and Don Delilo. The gorgeous interplay of fact and fiction in their writing. The cadence and use of chorus in long form.

Read regional for insights – Nisha Susan used the charming Bangalore English before Reels got to it and gave us a new grammar (much like Salinger). Reductress is so subversive, irreverent and insightful – so much to use in advertising. Watch plays if you aren’t reading the text – consider the simplicity of Duncan Macmillan, the emotional depth of Manav Kaul, the fun in Gopal Dutt, the relevance of Premchand, Manto and Ismat Chugtai. Also, if you don’t want to bother reading screenplays, just put subtitles on and boom! Movies are now literature. Neeraj Vohra is one of my most favourite dialogue writers ever. And Kader Khan. Consider the perfection of Jaideep Sahni and Vijay Maurya. Never underestimate how much about humour and life there is to learn from Hindi films.

There’s also a world beyond Bollywood songs (as much as I am a fan) – folk songs will give you a new vocabulary, ghazals and nazms will make you see the world differently, and poetry will just make you a better person (if not writer). ‘If’ by Rudyard Kipling, ‘The Laughing Heart’ by Bukowski, Gulzar’s ‘Chhatt Pe Milte Hain’ – so many poems that made their way to ads. Did you know a famous Havell’s ad was inspired by a Premchand story? If the objective of copywriting is memorability and stickiness with extreme economy of words – rhyme, rhythm, word avalanches, alliteration, repetition, turn of phrase and humour are all your weapons. So be promiscuous, not judicious in your approach to literature. Like Michael Stipe says, be an equal opportunity lech. Consume and be consumed by everything – sluttily, voraciously and selfishly.

Stuart Groves, creative director, copy, at Panic Studio

Literary techniques like rhythm, subtext, and character development can make writing more compelling. I was always obsessed with lyricists as a kid. Lennon and McCartney, Paul Simon, Eminem, Tupac Shakur. Most bands just repackage the same love song in a hundred different ways, but people like Harry Chapin had realistic characters, dramatic tension, story arcs, and even dialogue. Whatever I’ve written since, I’ve always structured it like a song. Where’s the hook? What makes me think, feel, and nod my head? Would I write this on my arm or my bedroom door? How can I resolve the story, leave the audience on a cliffhanger or ask an interesting question that makes them want to read on?

You don’t write stories; you craft them. ‘The Sixth Sense’ is a great example. Once you get your killer idea (in this case, the twist), it’s all about the layering. You’ve got to keep rewriting the piece with the end in mind. Every draft adds another element, another Easter egg for a returning audience. Don’t worry about getting everything across in the first draft. It’s not possible, but you’d also be robbing yourself of the most rewarding part. The answer is always in the edit. Chuck everything on a page. Write too much. And then, like Michelangelo freeing David from the marble, you slowly start to sculpt and shape your masterpiece.

When I’m hired to write copy, I don’t bang on about how great a company is. Nobody cares. But if we position ourselves as wise and friendly guides who will help our clients overcome an insufferable villain, their problem becomes an adventure. Suddenly, we’re not competing with everyone else because it was never about us in the first place.

Julia King, senior copywriter, Mythic

Mary Oliver puts it best: ‘Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.’ Great writers live in awe of the world, and then, they’re brave enough to share their unique perspectives. It’s a good exercise when crafting a brand voice, too. What does your brand pay attention to that others don’t? Now, what is their unique perspective? If it’s compelling, it likely won’t be validated by trends or the status quo. Challenge your clients to ‘tell about it’ anyway. 

In Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard finds beauty and theology in the overlooked aspects of the natural world. Unlike Dillard, brands are quick to tell stories that are picturesque, trendy and agreeable. I’ll always love how American Greetings could’ve embraced that notion, and moved forward with a spot that highlights what typically goes on a Mother’s Day card—all the flowers, warm feelings, and heartfelt poetry. Instead, the brand explored the overlooked, thankless aspects of motherhood through a simple job listing and interviews to create the timeless ad and viral video, ‘World's Toughest Job’.

Toby Barlow, founder and chief creative officer at Lafayette American

When a brief is in front of you, you’re looking at a very specific goal. Asking about influences at a time like that is like asking a Special Forces soldier, ‘Hey, champ, what great karate movies do you try to emulate when you’re out on a mission?’ You’re there to give the brand its own voice, not have it mimic another. So one has to be quite careful to not let any voice influence you more than the brief does.

But we are all thieves, accumulating pieces of everything we pay attention to, and to break through on an assignment we use everything in our subconscious satchel, maybe ignoring the ever-jovial P.G. Wodehouse to get to some fragments of dry clarity from Joan Didion or borrow from the wryness of Ian Frasier. Whatever the mission calls for. Most copywriters I know still adore Kurt Vonnegut but I think that’s not as a copywriting influence as much as it is as a fellow observer of the absurd industrial-human condition that created copywriters in the first place. Vonnegut was a masterful humourist - probably America’s best after Twain - and he was also an empathy engine. Empathy is the best copywriting tool there is.

In the end, the greatest influence on my work as a copywriter - the influence every single copywriter should clutch to their heart and light votive candles to - is Samuel Beckett. Irishman, Paris exile, acolyte of Joyce, chess player with Duchamp, Resistance courier during the war, chauffeur to a young Andre the Giant, elegant chain smoker, Nobel Prize winning author and a man who so disliked the telephone he only answered it between 1 and 2pm, Beckett famously wrote: “Every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness.”

Imani DeBose, junior copywriter, Saatchi & Saatchi

I was a poet long before I was a copywriter and poetry has helped me thrive as a copywriter.

Sometimes mind maps and nonstop scribbling aren’t enough to produce an amazing idea. When I find myself stuck, drawing a blank, staring at an intimidating sea of white before me, I try to write poetry about the topic of my work. I’ll read the brief and start to construct a haiku, a limerick, or a free verse poem about all the mandatories listed. These poems are never good, but they always get the words out onto a page in a way I wouldn't have thought of normally.

I love Maya Angelou, not only for her evocative messaging but for silk-like rhymes. Alliteration and rhyme lend themselves nicely to advertising. What is going to stick with the people? What is going to make your story more dynamic? Maybe it’s iambic pentameter that will do the job. While sometimes these ideas or lines don’t always make the cut, they keep the ball rolling, paving the way for some other ideas to bless the barren landscape that is a Google Docs page.

Spoken word poetry has also moulded me into an excellent presenter. After sharing my most vulnerable thoughts with strangers for over a decade, presenting internally and to clients becomes a lot less nerve-wracking. I find it fun to transform a story about selling cars at a summer sales event into a narrative with twists and turns. These techniques make the vignettes more colorful with written and spoken words.