Last night I decided to end my week with a nice, long trail run on the west side of Portland.

See, we have this massive city park here that’s literally a giant forest.

And it’s called … wait for it …

Forest Park.

How original. Lol.

Despite the name, it’s my favorite place in the city to disconnect after a long day of writing.

I roll up a few times a week, throw on my running shoes, tune out and explore the forest trails for hours.

This is a running ritual of mine.

And it’s a very important part of my writing process — a creative exercise of sorts called “dissociated writing.”

But that’s not what this story is about.

I did walk away with at least 3 new story ideas for upcoming emails while I was on the trail …

But it was what happened on the way home that brings you today’s story.

On my way back, I barely missed the green light when I got stuck behind a shiny new Bentley.

Now … It’s very rare to see these cars. Especially in Portland.

Los Angeles? Sure.

Palm Springs? You bet (I once saw one double-parked in a handicap spot without a handicap placard there.)

And seeing as the MSRP for these vehicles start at $200,000 … it’s always interesting to see one in the wild.

So I’m sitting behind the Bentley, when the light finally turns green.

Normally, you’d expect a vehicle in front of you at a stop light to … I don’t know, DRIVE when the light turns green.

Well … that’s not what this Bentley driver did.

First, they didn’t move at all.

For like 30 seconds.

But here in Portland, it’s pretty common to have patience on the road. So I let it slide. Even though it was agonizing to just sit there and wait.

Finally, the Bentley pulls forward.

But the relief lasts only a second. Engine sputters. Bentley shuts off.

The driver starts it back up, drives forward again, and then immediately lurches the vehicle to the side, right as I’m navigating around it.

I slam on my brakes, and once I’ve assessed that the vehicle is likely not going anywhere soon, I begin to drive past it again.

The Bentley driver rolls down his window and starts screaming at me.

“WHAT THE BLEEPIN’ BLEEP ARE YOU DOING? CAN’T YOU SEE I’M BROKEN DOWN HERE? WHAT THE BLEEP IS WRONG WITH YOU?”

Hahaha.

This type of behavior is so erratic that it never fails to make me laugh.

But it’s also a great analog for copywriting.

See …

Mr. Angry Bentley Driver is a lot like newbie copywriters.

They buy nice, expensive courses.

They spend thousands and thousands on coaching and training calls and mastermind groups.

They have all the fancy “tools” they think they need to be a successful copywriter.

And yet, when it comes to fingers on a keyboard, they have no idea how or what to write.

So they push some half-assed piece of copy, run traffic to it expecting a huge payday, then whine and complain when it doesn’t convert.

The thing is, you can spend all the money in the world on the tools and training you think you need to be successful.

And having those things isn’t “bad.” Just like owning a Bentley isn’t “bad.”

But no matter how many courses you take, coaching calls you pay for, or masterminds you join, there’s one thing that will never fail to make you a better writer.

Writing every single day, and testing everything you write.

Copywriting is my favorite form of creative work for this exact reason.

You get to be creative AND test whether or not that creativity works.

And when you learn from those tests, you can improve your writing so it can bring you even more money.

But just like learning how to properly handle a $200,000 luxury vehicle, it takes time and practice to do it well.

If you want to learn how to write copy well yourself, I offer 20-minute copy critiques at an eye-watering price.

You can think of it as the “Bentley” of copywriting critiques.

Have at it here: www.stealthiscopy.com/buy.

David Patrick