One of my all-time favorite writers to study is Chuck \u201cThe Legend\u201d Dixon.<\/p>\n
He was the co-creator of Bane from the Batman comics & movies. And he has also written stories for pretty much all the most well-known characters at both Marvel & DC & other major comicbook publishers \u2014 including The Punisher & Batman\u2026 GI Joe & Conan the Barbarian\u2026 Spawn, Green Arrow, The Lone Ranger, The Simpsons, SpongeBob Square Pants, and even Raggedy Ann & Andy. Not to mention dozens and dozens of other beloved and well-known characters over the past 30+ years of his career. He is also the only person who has ever been allowed to adapt \u201cThe Hobbit\u201d into a graphic novel, which the Tolkien estate did not allow lightly.<\/p>\n
One of the more powerful writing tips I learned from studying his stuff:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Slob Hero\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n The slob hero is the guy who is far from perfect, often kind of a slob (thus why Chuck calls them that), flawed, but still likable, who you can identify with because of his imperfections\u2026 and somehow gets the job done anyway, with all odds stacked against him.<\/p>\n Think almost any 80’s or 90’s Bruce Willis action movie.<\/p>\n (Die Hard, The Last Boy Scout, etc)<\/p>\n The slob hero is the epitome of being \u201cun-okay.\u201d<\/p>\n And un-okay is the epitome of high-level selling, even though a lot of marketers try to pretend to be perfect with their filtered selfies, perfect production value videos\/audios, and perfect spelling & grammar in their sales copy & emails.<\/p>\n But the slob hero?<\/p>\n Doesn\u2019t care about perfection.<\/p>\n Couldn\u2019t be perfect even if he tried.<\/p>\n And so, instead, leans into it, uses it to accomplish his goals, win the day.<\/p>\n This has, in many ways, been my email game for 21-years.<\/p>\n My copywriting game, too.<\/p>\n And if you are paying attention you\u2019ll see the exact same phenomenon playing out with many successful copywriters, email marketers, salesmen spanning all kinds of markets, niches, industries, and product & service categories.<\/p>\n Perfect is boring.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also a bald-face lie.<\/p>\n Nobody and nothing is \u201cperfect.\u201d<\/p>\n So to try to pretend to be perfect is the exact opposite of honesty, transparency, and, yes, authenticity \u2014 which people have somehow lost the ability to be, where there are literally courses, books, seminars, and trainings (yes, trainings \u2014 with an \u201cs\u201d \u2014 for the uptight boys & ghouls who get upset by a letter\u2026) teaching how to do it.<\/p>\n But you don\u2019t learn it.<\/p>\n You \u201care\u201d it.<\/p>\n Because unless you\u2019re God, you ain\u2019t perfect anyway.<\/p>\n Anyway, the slob hero phenomenon is embedded all throughout every single offer, book, course, teaching, brain fart, post, and even customer service reply I create.<\/p>\n And this is especially the case with my Email Players newsletter.<\/p>\n You can read more about that here:<\/p>\n