Issue 26

A particularly delicious bunch. Like that last sip of cereal milk.

Enjoy.

“A place belongs forever to whoever claims it hardest, remembers it most obsessively, wrenches it from itself, shapes it, renders it, loves it so radically that he remakes it in his own image.”

That’s Joan Didion, a writer whose sentences stick to your teeth like caramel.

She doesn’t just describe the world. She remakes it through memory, truth, and perspective. Every line packed with so much tension and emotion, I often find myself sitting with her words for a moment to truly absorb them. 

This is what we should mimic as copywriters. Not style or ideas. But a command of language that’s so sharp and sincere, readers can’t help themselves —they have to read the next line.

Reading great nonfiction teaches you to write with this kind of texture. With intent and tone. It reminds you to obsess over the details that make something feel real. To show, not tell. To have a perspective and own it.

Want to write better stories? Study how Joan Didion describes relationships.

Want to write stronger product descriptions? Study how Anthony Bourdain describes fresh garlic.

Want to resonate for more than a second? Study how Ocean Vuong describes a memory.

Because the best copy doesn’t just sell — it speaks a truth. And people feel that.

View the full ad archive on Are.na
Stay in touch on IG