Party Like a Copywriter fact: Writers always love to talk about writing. Or write about writing.

The great Lee Clow’s Beard Twitter stream aside, Advice to Writers on Twitter has been a great source of writing advice. Some of the bits I’ve enjoyed:

Always carry around a notebook. If you don’t write it down, it’s gone. STEWART O’NAN #amwriting #writing #writetip

— Jon Winokur (@AdviceToWriters) January 24, 2012

The first 8 drafts are terrible. MALCOLM GLADWELL #amwriting #writing #writetip

— Jon Winokur (@AdviceToWriters) January 19, 2012

Sometimes a flat-footed sentence is what serves, so you don’t get all writerly: “He opened the door.” There, it’s open. AMY HEMPEL

— Jon Winokur (@AdviceToWriters) January 18, 2012

Best advice I’ve ever received: Finish. PETER MAYLE #amwriting #writing #writetip

— Jon Winokur (@AdviceToWriters) January 12, 2012

If writing seems hard, it’s because it is hard. WILLIAM ZINSSER #writing

— Jon Winokur (@AdviceToWriters) January 7, 2012

Birds will fly. Fish will swim. Writers will write. That’s how it goes.

There are lots of different kinds of writing. This includes copywriting. Copywriters craft and draft content for websites, products, billboards. Copywriters should like writing. So they write.

You should write, too.

Any form. Any medium. It doesn’t matter what. It doesn’t matter where. Writing something gives you a moment to yourself and saves your thoughts for later.

Here are three ways to get started:

• Post on Twitter. Make your words short and sweet. Bonus points if they’re interesting and funny.
• Put pen on paper. Paper is still a happening thing. Get a notebook. Grab your favorite writing implement. Go for it.
• Try a prompt. Plinky has a few. Or, try The Daily Post for blog post topics.

Do you write every day? Tell us in the comments! (Also, that counts as writing if you’re looking for somewhere to start.)

The golden rule of modern word processing:

Use one space after a sentence.

No, really. Unless you’re using a typewriter (which, although awesome, is arguably not terribly modern), there’s no need to insert an extra space after a sentence. At all.

It was standard to use two spaces after a sentence with a typewriter because typewriter fonts aren’t proportional. Because the letters are all the same width, using two spaces makes the document easier to read. With proportional fonts, using two spaces after a sentence makes a large, lonely gap—so documents are more difficult to read. Sentences are social and like to be near each other. Don’t separate.

Copywriters know this, as they have generally spent hours of their lives deleting extra spaces. And it’s tedious, soul-destroying work that wears down the copywriter’s faith in humanity and delete key alike. Please, stop superfluous spacing and spare your copywriter this agony!

Two spaces after a sentence: not a party.
One space after a sentence: raging party.