People often ask artists (yes, art directors and copywriters are artists) where they get their ideas. We don’t really know. “Inspired” literally means “God-breathed” – and maybe there is a clue there. But inspiration is only the beginning of genius; it must be molded and twisted and smacked around before it is truly great. So here are four ways to turn that idea into art – with examples by some of the writers who inspire me.
1. Be a poet, not a pop star
A lot of my brain food was cooked up by the classic rockers (and other musicians) of the 60s and 70s, who weren’t just lyricists – they were (and are) poets.
Literally, in the case of the Moody Blues; the drummer, Graeme Edge, wrote several poems, which keyboardist Mike Pinder recited on the albums:
Pinprick holes in a colorless sky
Let insipid figures of light pass by
The mighty light of ten thousand suns
Challenges infinity, and is soon gone
Morning Glory from Days of Future Passed
Pink Floyd was another British rock group whose albums told entire stories:
So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again.
The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older,
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.
Time from Dark Side of the Moon
Or the American folk duo Simon and Garfunkel. Honestly, I don’t understand half of Paul Simon’s stuff (“there’s something about you that really reminds me of money”?), but it’s awesome:
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
Beneath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence
The Sounds of Silence from Sounds of Silence
Just to get some perspective, let’s compare this to something more modern.
Lady Gaga, named number one on Fast Company’s list of
100 Most Creative People, condescends to bless our ears with this little diddy:
I want your drama, the touch of your hand
I want your leather studded kiss in the sand
I want your love
Love, love, love, I want your love.
Bad Romance from The Fame Monster
I suppose the creative part is the phrase “leather studded kiss”. I get what she’s trying to say, but I think “studded leather kiss” would have been more accurate – you can’t stud a kiss with leather, but you can kiss someone who is wearing studded leather – except who wears leather to the beach? Sure, the song is catchy…but so is the flu.
It’s something like the difference between the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and a stick figure. Use words like you would use brush strokes – do more than paint an outline: infuse it with color and dimension. Ultimately – get creative.
2. B short.
It’s not about using fancy words, but about understanding that words are ideas you plant in the minds of your readers. It can be super short and still say everything you need it to (which is essential in copywriting).
In the 1920s, a few of Earnest Hemingway’s colleagues bet that he could not write a complete story in six words. Hemingway came back with this:
For sale: baby shoes, never used.
Needless to say, his friends lost the bet. Hemingway considered it his best work, and it’s also one of the saddest things I’ve ever read.
3. Get at it
from a
different
angle.
Sometimes it’s about learning how to look at something from a different angle. Douglas Adams, famous for his hilarious five-book trilogy, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, said this to describe a fleet of spaceships:
They hung in the air exactly the same way that bricks don’t.
And described the ease of achieving human flight:
The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.
4. Avoid clichés like the plague.
Sometimes it is simply about avoiding clichés, as Markus Zusak does so well in The Book Thief:
Upon her arrival, you could still see the bite marks of snow on her hands and the frosty blood on her fingers. Everything about her was undernourished. Wirelike shins. Coat hanger arms. She did not produce it easily, but when it came, she had a starving smile.
My favorite parts are “bite marks of snow” and “coat hanger arms”. Any other writer would have said, “the cold nipped her nose” and “bony arms”. This is a perfect example of “show, don’t tell”; he never even used the word “thin”.
What art, music, or literature inspires you? What tricks do you use to shape that inspiration?
