Dan Nelken

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.

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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