I’ve published almost 700 articles, interviews, courses, and series about copywriting and creativity around the internet.
I’ve also led copywriting at several tech companies — including G2 dot com — and before I worked in-house, I spent years as an agency copywriter, creating countless campaigns.
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This is what my experience has taught me about creativity, having ideas, and shipping work consistently:
1/ Creativity = connectivity:
New things are born when you put old things together.
“Creation” is abstract.
“Connection” is concrete.
To be creative is to connect disparate ideas or concepts in a compelling way. You cannot make something out of nothing.
2/ Being creative ≠ being original:
In any craft, any discipline, you can’t innovate until you’ve learned the fundamentals.
This is why all artists spend their formative years producing derivative works. Emulating others is the only way to find yourself.
3/ Expertise is overrated:
Designer Mike Monteiro said, “The secret to being good at anything is to approach it like a curious idiot rather than a know-it-all genius.”
As soon as you think you know everything about a subject, learning stops, ideas become stale, and you regress.
4/ The most personal is the most creative:
We all share the human condition. This is why your own hardships, your own joys, your own moments, however trivial or typical, are compelling.
So when you’re lost for ideas, share yourself — and people will relate, and connect.
5/ Time gives you permission to complicate things:
Parkinson’s Law tells us “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”
It works because the closer your deadline, the fewer opportunities you’ll have to doubt your ideas and, ultimately, complicate your work.
6/ You don’t need to have great ideas if you can hear great ideas:
There is no shame in using the client’s own words to write an advertisement.
One of the great copywriters of all time, Eugene Schwartz, did this constantly, blatantly, and unapologetically. You should, too.
7/ You must record your ideas as soon as they come to you:
We forget our lives almost as quickly as we live them. So don’t think you’ll recall a good idea days, hours, or even minutes after it comes to you. You probably won’t — and then it’s too late.
Write it down immediately.
8/ Your brain is making connections 24 hours a day:
Incubation is when your brain subconsciously processes information, connecting random dots.
An epiphany or a “lightbulb moment” is simply a very good subconscious connection.
Let your mind wander and you’ll have more.
9/ Open-minded people are the most creative people:
Since creativity is just combining old things in new ways, the more experiences you have, the more material you’ll have to connect.
The more you expose yourself to the world, the more unique and compelling your ideas will be.
Oh, and there’s one more:
I presented this list (in more detail) last week to The Marketing Meetup community. And when I rewatched the video, I cringed at my delivery, my cadence, my interjections, the “ums” and “uhs” and stumbles:
It was unwatchable to me.
So I turned it off and went for a walk and did my best to forget it. But my phone wouldn’t let me: there were so many messages from folks who were genuinely glad they tuned in, and learned from my experience. I was surprised and overwhelmed by the response.
And it just goes to show:
When you create something new, it’s not your job to judge it.
“When I see my work I take for granted what other people value in it,” said Martha Graham, the famed dancer and choreographer. “I see only its ineptitude, inorganic flaws, and crudities. I am not pleased or satisfied.”
Ah, but again:
When you create something new, it’s not your job to judge it. Your responsibility is to present it, let it go, and move on to the next thing.
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