Strictly come writing

Some people go to the gym. I loathe gyms; I skate.

I've been learning ice-dance since I first went to college aged 18, so I started too old to be really good at it, to compete at top level, but I've been doing it long enough to be very competent. And I got thinking about the similarities between ice-dance and copywriting. A bit far-fetched, you might think, but stay with me on this one!

They're both about:

• balance: obvious in skating! In copywriting you have to balance the stories, the sales pitch, the testimonials, the product details: too much of any one element, and the text feels unbalanced or stodgy, and it won't work.


• accuracy: ice-dance is about neat footwork (forget what you may have seen in Dancing on Ice; dancers spend hours practising to get their feet to look as though they're about to tangle); copywriting is about accuracy of facts and details. And then there's the editing and re-writing: just like ice-dance, you have to be tough on yourself and get it absolutely right.


• technique: like any sport, skating has technical difficulties. Copywriting uses techniques that evolve over time and need to be learnt and practised just as hard and as often.


• stamina: I used to be on the ice at 5.30 am to train for 2 1/2 hours, do a day's work and be back at the rink at 10 pm for another hour, to avoid the public sessions. Depending on deadlines, copywriting can be just as tough.


• partnering: ice-dance is a contact sport; so is copywriting - no client, no need to write!


• fun: skating to me is the next best thing to flying, and I love writing - it's more fun than most things you can do sitting down...

Dance and copywriting both need a sense of rhythm.

For both you have to remain upright: stance or carriage is the main difference between an ice-dancer and a free-skater: a dancer is more upright and the body moves in a more controlled way. And if a copywriter's lying it will show in the copy and the copy won't fly.

They both involve a bit of fancy work - copy has to grab the attention and "surprise Broca" (Broca's area is the bit of your brain that deals with the mundane, the expected; it fills in the blanks. "In this day and ... ", "with the economy ... ...". When you surprise Broca, you shake the brain up: "with the economy breakdancing into recession"). In dance, I guess the equivalent would be the costumes and makeup and the lifts.

And with both of them, you never stop learning and improving, stretching your boundaries, trying new angles and novel moves, sweating the bad stuff out.

There, I knew I didn't need to go to the gym: I can write copy instead!