Creative Therapy

So-called "creatives"
sit in offices full of action figures and art books and are paid to
chew on pens and think. Sitting in the accounts department at my first
ad agency, staring at my daunting accumulation of invoices and
estimates to be dealt with, I realized how jealous I was of the
pen-chewers.

Procrastination,
envy, and impulse led me to google (is it capitalized it in its verb
form?) any information on how I could become Òa creativeÓ, or just
creative, which led me to blogger Hugh McLeodÕs cynical advice on just
how he thought I could do it.

Laid
out neatly on his often-ad/marketing-focused blog, The Gapingvoid, are
31 tips on being more creative- in advertising, in business, or
whateverÉ

Now
that I find myself in a position to benefit from some of his
suggestions, I looked him back up and chose some my favorites of his
morsels of wisdom to share hereÉ

• The idea doesn’t have to be big. It just has to change the world.
• Put the hours in.
• If your biz plan depends on you suddenly being "discovered" by some big shot, your plan will probably fail.
• You are responsible for your own experience.
• Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.
• Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity.
• The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props.
• Don’t try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.
• If you accept the pain, it cannot hurt you.
• Never compare your inside with somebody else’s outside.
• Dying young is overrated. (donÕt do drugs)
• The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not.
• The world is changing.
• Merit can be bought. Passion can’t.
• The choice of media is irrelevant.
• Selling out is harder than it looks.
• Nobody cares. Do it for yourself.
• DonÕt worry about finding inspiration. It comes eventually.
• Write from the heart.
• The best way to get approval is not to need it.
• The hardest part of being creative is getting used to it.

Hugh is well known for his cartoons on the backs of business cards. HereÕs one that goes with this great list.

Like
I said, you can find Hugh and a full list of his tips along with
detailed explanations and cartoons of each of these points at www.gapingvoid.com,
and you really ought to. Even if you arenÕt interested in being more
creative, heÕll make you feel better about pretty much anything youÕve ever felt
sort of bad about.

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