Sam Parr, who sold his newsletter The Hustle for $27 million, credited his writing success to the practice of sitting down with pen and paper, copying great writing verbatim.
What musicians and artists accept as fundamental training, writers often reject as beneath them. We expect to create masterpieces without first learning to play the scales.
My notebook now contains passages from writers I admire, each copied meticulously by hand. My fingers have traced their rhythms, felt their pacing, and absorbed their craft.
Your writing muscles grow strongest when trained on excellence.
What writers know but don’t talk about
Did you know that many great writers throughout history learned their craft by copying others? This simple practice has built writing skills for centuries, yet few people talk about it today.
Copywork might sound too basic or even strange at first. Yet this straightforward method can transform your writing more than any fancy course or writing app.
What is copywork?
Copywork is exactly what it sounds like. You find writing you admire, then copy it word for word by hand into your notebook.
That’s it.
No shortcuts, no tricks, just deliberate practice with pen and paper.
Why this works so well
Think about how we learn other creative skills:
Musicians start by playing songs others wrote. Artists begin by reproducing existing works. Yet somehow, writers are expected to create original content from day one.
This makes no sense.
When you copy great writing by hand, you:
Your hand forms a direct connection to your brain. The physical act of writing slows you down enough to notice details you’d miss when reading.
Real success from copywork
Sam Parr built a newsletter called The Hustle to 2 million subscribers and sold it to HubSpot for $27 million. His secret weapon? Copywork.
He credits this practice as the foundation of his writing success.
How to do copywork right
Follow these steps to get maximum benefit:
Make this a daily practice
Spend at least 10 minutes each day copying great writing, and you’ll see improvement faster than you expect.
Your brain will start to internalise what good writing feels like. You’ll develop an instinct for sentence structure, pacing and word choice.
Most importantly, you’ll learn to tell good writing from bad without having to analyse why.
Beyond copywork
While copywork builds your foundation, you still need to create and publish your own work.
Think of copywork as your practice sessions and publishing as your performances. Both are essential parts of the process.
Start today
This practice is simple enough that you can start right now. Find a piece of writing you admire, grab a notebook and pen, and begin copying.
Do this consistently and you’ll develop writing skills that stay with you forever.
The best part? You don’t need fancy tools or expensive courses. Just paper, a pen, and writing you admire.