It took 19 phone calls to find three big-agency creative directors who had both a great young writer on staff and were willing to name names. Whenever a CD did have a hot new copywriter, he or she would refuse to provide a name for fear that the person would be talent-napped by another agency.

Nevertheless, I unearthed three hot young copywriters: Clifton Simmons of Campbell-Ewald Communications Inc.; Jim Scott Polsinelli from OgilvyOne; and BrannBlau's Rob Kriauciunas. Here they are, along with their advice to those who'd like to follow in their footsteps, if not provide a little competition.

A scholarship student at Detroit's Wayne State University, Clifton Simmons had internships at DMB&B (now D'Arcy Worldwide) and Ross Roy. The experience led Simmons to switch his interest from journalism to advertising. When he couldn't find an ad agency job after graduation, Simmons joined a PR firm.

In 1995 he found a copywriting job for an ad agency in Southfield, MI, and in 1997 moved to the ad department of a discount stockbroker.

Six months later, Simmons landed a job with Warren, MI's Campbell-Ewald, where he is now the senior writer on the Chevrolet account. He also develops promotional tours and programs for vehicle launches and such Chevy-sponsored events as Lilith Fair, Essence Music Festival and the 2002 Winter Olympics. He's already garnered a fistful of awards, including a Mobius and a Caples.

Simmons feels perseverance is the key to becoming a hot young copywriter.

“You have to believe in yourself. I put together a portfolio for an imaginary advertising campaign and then called different people and said, “Please give me some advice on how to make my portfolio better.” That puts them at ease and makes them easier to talk to, he says.

Film lured Jim Scott Polsinelli to Los Angeles, but he wound up a movie usher, a hotel clerk and a weekend pitchman for an electric back massager.

Then Polsinelli noticed a couple of billboards and decided advertising was “where it was at.” He went back to school for an MBA from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

Showing his ad portfolio to a professor got him a recommendation for a four-month internship in a Washington public relations firm, which then hired him full-time.

Four years later, on a shuttle flight to New York, he ran into a friend who suggested Polsinelli talk to Bruce Lee at OgilvyOne. Polsinelli did, and he's now a senior writer on accounts such as Streamline.com, Phillips Electronics, and the National Institute of Mental Health.

“Keep a good sense of humor, be thick skinned and wear steel-tipped boots to stop doors from closing in your face,” Polsinelli suggests to aspiring copywriters. He adds, “Find new ways to say things, keep coming up with ideas and most of all, keep your perspective.”

Rob Kriauciunas worked his way through the Ancell School of Business at Western Connecticut State University by bartending, doing odd market research jobs and audio production at the college radio station. After graduation, freelance assignments in market research, video, project development and any kind of writing for small Connecticut agencies were topped off by a year in New York with a marketing communication/video production company and a large ad agency.

In 1993, Kriauciunas supported a start-up microbrewery with more freelance assignments. When the promised financing for the brewery fell through in 1998, Rob closed it and went to work for a large agency in Connecticut.

In May 1999 he joined Wilton, CT's BrannBlau and is now senior copywriter on the IBM account.

His recommendation to those who want to follow him into the writing life: “Get exposed to different areas of business and different kinds of people, [not] just to the creative side of advertising. When you listen to the different ways people talk and find out what they're going through, it gives you more footing on a strategic plane. Doing focus group and store audit research lets you check clients' vs. competitors' marketing ideas in real life settings. The more different experiences you have the better you can get into someone else's mindset. Marketing support and industrial design (with a sideline in bartending) teaches you a lot.”

Andi Emerson is president of the John Caples International Awards and heads Emerson Marketing Agency Inc. in New York.