148: Dan Nelken on copywriting confidence, creatively winging it and not giving a forklift

This week, we got into a thumb-war-to-the-death with our inner critic in order to lure over legendary copywriter, speaker, coach, author and all-round good Canada goose egg Dan Nelken.The alphabetical genius behind the bestselling Self Help Guide for Copywriters, and his 5-star online course ‘Writing Under Pressure’, Dan has made it his mission to rescue writers and brands all over the world from the malign influence of the dreaded inner critic – a character that Dan describes, with characteristic politeness, as a ‘ding dong’.The true Canadian king of creativity (shut your face Reynolds) Dan chats to CTA about the importance of creating stuff that’s just for you, the long-game of any creative career, how to gain and maintain creative confidence, and of course his own grapplings with an inner critic he calls Alan./////Follow Dan on LinkedIn Visit Dan’s site Jerry Seinfeld's interview with Tim Ferriss, the interview every creative should watch/////Timestamps(02:05) - Quick Fire Questions(04:05) - Dan's Early Jobs (04:53) - From Forklift Truck Driver to Copywriter (06:45) - Finding His Path into Copywriting (08:36) - First Copywriting Gig at Cosset and Breaking through with McDonald's (12:02) - Value of Getting Lost (13:21) - The inspiration behind “Writing Under Pressure”(17:59) - Creating a Course On Writing Headlines (21:03) - Response to the Book(22:40) - Maintaining Creative Confidence(24:09) - Confronting Your Inner Critic(26:07) - Structure in Creativity (29:07) - Creativity Closer to Math(s) than Magic(31:04) - Importance of Structure in Creativity (32:39) - Most Creatives Hate Brainstorming (36:57) - Naming Alan, the Inner Critic(39:21) - The Joy of Creating for Yourself (42:46) - Impact of Creating on Social Media (43:40) - Audience Questions(48:20) - Four Pertinent Posers/////Dan's book recommendations are:  A Self-Help Guide for Copywriters by Dan Nelken Hey Whipple, Squeeze This  by Luke SullivanMind Management, Not Time Management by David Kadavy /////