Copywork is an effective and functional way for learning how to write. It has been used by many to learn the rules of writing.
Having trouble remembering and applying fundamental writing rules?
I’ve noticed, through many years of tutoring, that a lot of students can’t seem to remember and grasp certain grammar rules.
Students have a hard time memorizing how to spell or use things such as comparative or superlative adjectives and adverbs, and how to use commas correctly.
I had a high school student who had this problem, albeit English was her second language (she was in the regular Language Arts class, though).
In our first session, I had her do a writing test to see where her skill level was at. She did fine but she did commit a few little grammar mistakes.
I pointed them out to her and explained why they were incorrect. I also gave her worksheets so that she can practise the concepts.
A couple of weeks later, she asks me to proofread a homework assignment.
As I read through it, I noticed she made the same grammatical mistakes as she did in her initial skills test. I pointed them out to her and explained why they were wrong.
She said she understood my explanation, but I wasn’t convinced.
So I went online to find another method of teaching her these writing rules.
I came across an article talking about Copywork from the blog The Art of Manliness.
What is Copywork?
Copywork, I learned, is a method of writing practice. It helps students absorb writing rules via copying large amounts of good writing. Copywriters often use this method to improve their writing of advertisements as well.
This technique is good for teaching students how to apply (and use) grammar rules, how to spell, learning new vocabulary, and what good writing reads like.
It does this by getting students to imitate the “sounds” of well-written work, much like how kids learn to talk and speak.
For example, when I was a kid, I listened to a lot of rap music and interviews with my favourite rappers.
Because of this, I noticed that I started to speak more like the rappers that I listened to regularly.
I used a lot of slang and my sentence structures (when I spoke) had a similar cadence to them.
But when I got older, my speech changed because I didn’t listen to rappers talk as often; I started listening to more news broadcasters and podcasters speak.
This is the same effect that Copywork has. If you copy a certain type of writing for long enough (and do it consistently) you’ll start to imitate it.
But if you were to copy someone else’s work (or a different writing style), you’ll start to adopt that style.
And -I personally believe this- if you copy enough styles, you can combine them to create your own style.
How to Drill Copywork
So, here’s how you can start drilling Copywork:
Once a day, copy a good piece of writing that is about 300-500 words (100-250 words for younger students). But don’t only use one style of writing- try a variety of types and styles.
You can copy a short essay one day. Then the next day, you can copy a news article. Then, the next, you can copy a page from a novel, and so on.
By doing this, you will be absorbing and imitating a lot of different types of writing and sentence usages, allowing you to create a style bank for you to use to shape your own style.
It’ll also help you recognize grammar mistakes, such as modifiers, so that you’ll be able to prevent them in your writing.
Oh, and don’t forget to read the article or story before copying it.
Additionally, every once in a while, you have to experiment with your writing. You can do this by writing a blog post or journal, for instance.
But remember to follow the FBR writing method as you do, or else perfectionism may get in your way and you won’t do this exercise.
Conclusion
Copywork is a great way to learn and practice the elements and rules of writing.
If you have problems improving your writing, give this method a try.
Who knows, it may lead you to be the new Ernest Hemingway.