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Pretty Little Mistakes Try the book Purchase
Heather Afton Thornswood
Becoming a writer is a long and winding path riddled with economic pitfalls and serious cash
droughts. Almost every writer I know at one time or another has had to take other work to
augment their writing income (or lack thereof!) Ad work, radio spots, copywriting and
sometimes even ghostwriting can fill in the gaps. I was lucky enough to be a copywriter for
Marshall Fields Ad Executive, Heather Thornswood.
She's been a marketing executive for 16 years and has a lightening quick ability to create
and fine tune brands, just the way fiction writers create and fine-tune characters. She
basically brings products to life.
She's worked with companies like Coca-Cola, Loreal, Aveda,
Target, Marshall Fields, Macy's, Pink and Express.
She's in such high demand because she's so creative in the
way she assembles teams. When she initially brought me in
to write radio spots, I'm sure her higher-ups wondered what
the heck she was doing, because I was so "different' from
the other copywriters and creative sources. What I could
do though (according to her) was look at things from an
outsiders perspective and also use my comedy writing
and character building skills to bring something fresh
to the table.
She did this with a lot of writers, musicians and artists. She
would take "unusual" people and apply them in unusual ways
and come up with these brilliant, award-winning ad campaigns. I still don't understand how
she could orchestrate so many different creative elements. Imagine bringing together a
SoHo artist, a street musician and a poet...and injecting them into a corporate enviornment.
The results were fantastic.
So to everyone who writes me and asks for advice concerning making a living as a writer, I
always point to Heather, and tell them to get lucky and find someone on "the other side of
the fence" who is still connected to the arts. They can be your biggest supporter.
Becoming a writer is a long and winding path riddled with economic pitfalls and serious cash
droughts. Almost every writer I know at one time or another has had to take other work to
augment their writing income (or lack thereof!) Ad work, radio spots, copywriting and
sometimes even ghostwriting can fill in the gaps. I was lucky enough to be a copywriter for
Marshall Fields Ad Executive, Heather Thornswood.
She's been a marketing executive for 16 years and has a lightening quick ability to create
and fine tune brands, just the way fiction writers create and fine-tune characters. She
basically brings products to life.
She's worked with companies like Coca-Cola, Loreal, Aveda,
Target, Marshall Fields, Macy's, Pink and Express.
She's in such high demand because she's so creative in the
way she assembles teams. When she initially brought me in
to write radio spots, I'm sure her higher-ups wondered what
the heck she was doing, because I was so "different' from
the other copywriters and creative sources. What I could
do though (according to her) was look at things from an
outsiders perspective and also use my comedy writing
and character building skills to bring something fresh
to the table.
She did this with a lot of writers, musicians and artists. She
would take "unusual" people and apply them in unusual ways
and come up with these brilliant, award-winning ad campaigns. I still don't understand how
she could orchestrate so many different creative elements. Imagine bringing together a
SoHo artist, a street musician and a poet...and injecting them into a corporate enviornment.
The results were fantastic.
So to everyone who writes me and asks for advice concerning making a living as a writer, I
always point to Heather, and tell them to get lucky and find someone on "the other side of
the fence" who is still connected to the arts. They can be your biggest supporter.
