Creativity for Creativity’s Sake?

You want to get nuts? Let’s get nuts!

Apr 26, 2024

Look at my B00ls

My B00ls is amazing

Give it a lick

It tastes just like raisins

If this didn’t get an eyebrow raise out of you… it’s actually a good thing. You can check it out here, and hate me later.

See, people have many definitions for creativity. For me, creativity is akin to craziness: taking a deep plunge into the unknown. Sometimes you come out of the void looking ridiculous. Sometimes you find gold.

And sometimes you’re Tim Burton. But the key is to keep on diving in, undeterred and unashamed.

Mr. Burton and Michael Keaton

If you’re not accustomed to the cinematographic triumph that is Batman (1989) I could sum it up for you in one scene: Let’s get nuts!

That scene is kinda the epitome of the whole movie: pure, blissful, unadulterated craziness. At least on the part of Burton and Keaton. For Nicholson, I assume it was just another day on set.

Nowadays, few people bear to watch a full screening of that movie. It seems silly and weird. But back then?

CREATIVITY CENTRAL, folks!

That’s why it became a household name and turned Burton into the director to work with. That’s what creativity is, really. The courage to be a little bit ahead of the curve and hope (and really take a massive risk) that the rest of the world will eventually catch up with you.

If they will, you’re a genius and a success. If they don’t… you’re a moron. But if you simply refuse to try — you’re just unfulfilled potential.

I got the photo off the internet, here (actually a GIF).

My process

You know, I’ve always been very honest with you, even if it massively bit me in the ass a couple of times. But it’s all fine if, at the end of the day, you really like my stuff, or you really hate me. Win-win.

Today, you have the awesome chance of witnessing a walkthrough of my process. This is how I write B00ls:

I have a backlog of about 50 ideas to choose from, seemingly unrelated. I even wake up during the night and write them down. Trust me, it ain’t funny, especially for my partner.

I find a common thread, or I just come up with a new concept, and I scratch all the 50 ideas above.

I create a structure for the newsletter, just like I’m doing now. This is exactly what it looks like:

Introduction - Tim Burton and Michael Keaton
My process - even my newsletters start as
Ideas have an expiry date - sadly
Lekas post on “Art”
Do we really always have an audience?
Some takes on creativity (john cleese, why intelligent men stay single, Rick Rubin, Oscar wilde guy on ChatGPT
The way my clients ask me to write for them
Some weird takes on creativity from the industry - Anca dunavete message, Luka Kozina - my comment on client feedback)
Your weird reward - sometimes you get to do some weird shit in the pursuit of creativity
Going forward.
30 minutes feedback and info about number 14 and 15
I need your input
The three ways

And then… I start writing, and it evolves into this lunacy I quaintly try to pass off as a newsletter.

What you need to understand is that my newsletters rarely resemble my initial thoughts. They start as something, and then they evolve into something entirely different. If you saw the first notes and then the finished work, you might not even realize they are the same thing.

And that’s because I let them breathe. I let the writing evolve from ideation to creation. It’s like giving birth, but not really. I don’t want to offend any birth givers.

Only one problem: ideas have an expiry date – sadly

This is the only conundrum I haven’t found a solution for. How to keep ideas fresh?

– I mentioned that backlog worth of 50 ideas not as a bragging point, but as an explanation of why I rarely repurpose or steal (My bad, we call it “inspiration” now) from other creators.

You know what I mean? You get a wonderful insight, and you don’t write it down in detail. But you feel a passion burning for that idea. Putting it in words would just take away from its greatness. You’d battle the whole world for your idea. You know it’s gonna rock the world of anybody who reads it.

A week goes by, and you come back to it. And it’s as stale as yesterday’s pizza you forgot to put away. Can you still write about it with the same aplomb?

I can’t.

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS write ideas in full when you get them. Yes, even if that means waking up your partner in the middle of the night.

Sorry, hun ;*.

What are we doing here, folks?

If you’re not following the wonderfully, still unemployed Mister Lekas, you’re missing out.

Many a great (read “idiot”) marketers would chastise me for what I’m about to do. Instead of copying and pasting his post here, like a good little boy, I’m going to link to it.

Yes, that will take you away from my Newsletter. That will lower the chances of you coming back to read the rest of my thoughts. But you know what?

I don’t care. I’d rather sacrifice the rest of my newsletter for you to read his take on Art.

If you’re into the whole numbers thing, Noah’s post was liked by over 1,320 people, had 294 comments and 65 reposts.

I guess that warrants a slight detour.

Do we really always have an audience?

Before going deep on some takes about dear old creativity, I need to talk about a writer’s biggest problem: who do I write for?

I’m a fan of writing for yourself first, because that’s how you get the rawness out. That’s how authenticity comes by… for me. For others… as I’ve learned, time and again, not so much.

They get a little bit obsessive about writing for an audience, and I get that. I get you want to satisfy the public. That you want to receive praise. A buck.

But… if you’re not doing it for yourself first and foremost, can you really talk about fulfilling work?

Maybe, maybe not.

Also, I’m not a fan of the saying that you are your own audience. I can’t be both on stage and in the first row, cheering myself on.

As such, when I write B00ls, I’m not thinking about the audience in the slightest. I’m just a Thespian, doing his thing. The fact that you guys and girls read my stuff is a bonus and validation that I’m doing something right.

It’s not that I don’t care about you, either.

It’s just a different way of looking at the world: I truly believe that by writing what I love most, I also provide the best writing possible for you. By serving me first, you get the best possible product.

That’s just how I see the world, you don’t have to agree.

Whenever you’re writing for yourself, chuck the audience out the window. They’ll come back if they like what you’re doing.

Whenever you write for someone else, in a copywriter, content writer, ghostwriter or whatever capacity, take the context and the audience into account.

But, as always, start with the childlike wonder of writing it for yourself first.

Some really cool takes on creativity

A lot of links and video material on my newsletter, and by now you should be accustomed to that. You’re welcome to skip them, but you’re missing out.

The John Cleese

Creativity needs to be practiced. It’s not about intelligence, but the facility of going into “creative mode”. The ability to… play. Enjoyment over practicality.

The Rick Rubin

Make stuff for yourself first. I know, not popular with most marketers and most writers because you think you’re special and weird and people won’t like what you like. But… what if you tried? What if you found “your people”? Would that be so horrible?

The Ethan Hawke

You don’t get to decide what’s good, so drop the pressure. I just write stuff. People will like it. They won’t like it. That’s alright by me. If they don’t like it, I can always find other people.

The Stephen Fry

I couldn’t help myself. The only concern I have about A.I. is that it will kill your creativity. Do you really want to take that chance in order to be faster, more productive? Efficient. You might be trading in your soul for a quick win, just saying.

And some really weird ones

Given the nature of my craft, I talk to a lot of writers. Most of them, I’m sad to report, see me as a being from another planet. They simply don’t understand where I’m coming from.

They can’t stomach the fact that… get this… you’ll have a weird look on your face when you read this, trust brah… I LOVE WRITING.

They only love writing about stuff that’s interesting to them. So, they separate personal writing and professional writing. I don’t. It’s like asking me to eat ice cream personally and professionally. As such, they call me a purist.

Look, I may not like all the topics I write about. Or the way I need to approach my readers. Or the fact that the language’s gotta be stiff.

But someone’s paying me to do what I love. My fingers caress the keyboard, ideas come out, my brain gets to cum, my literary balls get to be emptied, and I get paid for it.

Sign me the fuck up.

I mean… I’m already doing it :))).

I’m also very sneaky sometimes

But in the best of ways, trust me. Another writer was asking the LinkedIn community about their views on the first draft. Naturally, I chimed in:

I hope you can see how that benefits both the final client and me :D.

Why I work with some people, but not with others

The number one reason people tell me to stop blabbering about my take on creativity and writing for yourself is… not everybody can do it.

But I want to offer you a different perspective: not everyone wants to do it.

Not everyone wants to put on the big boy/girl pants and go out on a limb. Yes, following my philosophy is a major risk. But the results?

The result is finding people you resonate with.

And when that happens, work is not work. People you write for end up telling you that working together feels like looking into a mirror. They feel like “fish in water” — as in, extremely natural.

Collaborators give you this kind of direction:

EN: Write the articles in a way that you would enjoy reading, and make them useful.

Working with someone who understands that the BEST way to create relevant stuff is to create it first and foremost for yourself… well, that’s the kind of collaboration I want.

The only kind of collaboration I want.

When you create for yourself first, you serve others best.

It’s just a matter of courage

The thing that holds most people back is a lack of B00ls. That’s why I created this newsletter, right?

You too can write like me. Better yet, you can write like yourself.

There’s only one obstacle in your path: YOURSELF.

You need to be willing to act the fool in order to validate your ideas with an audience.

I can’t give you an example of writing, because I was always like this. I always had literary B00ls.

What I didn’t have is ACTING balls. Though I’m very passionate about acting, I’m stupidly afraid of looking like a fool. I guess this is the single most powerful block I used to face/still face.

You know where I’m going with this, right? :))

To get out of your own head, you gotta be willing to make a fool of yourself. To look weird and ridiculous.

THIS… I DID.

It’s buried somewhere in the depths of YouTube, but you gotta see it in order for me to make my point. Turn the volume down, prepare yourself to see me half naked (and 15 kilos lighter), with a semi-full head of hair, and making a damn fool of myself.

Knowing that I did THAT (↑) and it’s up on the internet forever, puts everything else in perspective and makes whatever I write, act or do with my life — table stakes.

Go, be an idiot, make a fool of yourself.

You will be FREE.

And, come to think of it… CREATIVE.

Going forward

This issue was very visual, I know. You’re still reeling from the above… But we’re going forward.

If you loved this issue, you might be interested in

Previously, on B00ls: Issue #12 - The Snowflake Client

To Offend or not Offend, that is the question…

Next time, join MadVlad as he takes on…

Issue #14: Jack of All Trades… and Other Stupid Marketing Bon Mots

It (always) pays to consider the rest of the saying

You can get access to the full archive here if you missed any other issue.

Reader feedback and a challenge

The jig’s up. The two weeks have passed, and my time is now worth money again. However, somebody wrote to me, and we had a pleasant chat about freelancing and writing.

He was very interested in how I go about business.

This opened my eyes about a new dimension I wasn’t exploring with you, my lovely readers.

So, for the next few episodes, I’m gonna take ideas from the audience. And YOU, get to feature in my B00ls.

Next episode, I’m talking about misunderstood marketing clichés and what makes them so wrong. If you want to respond to my challenge, I encourage you to write to me, and add your marketing/writing cliché to the list.

So far, we have this:

KISS
Write for a 5th grader
Short is good, long is bad
Quality versus quantity
Copy sells
Copy sells, content educates
My audience is everyone
Write for an audience, not for yourself
The riches in the niches

If you can think of any others that you want debated, I’m all ears. Well, bespectacled eyes mostly, but you get the gist.

In the meantime

If you liked my stuff, this is how we can work together:

I write for you. Check out the Experience section on my LinkedIn
I consult marketers and founders. I can show you how to feel comfortable being a fool… and then a winner
I consult writers. I can show you how to feel comfortable writing in your authentic voice. Yes, without getting half naked.

Are you a writer/marketer/founder who wants to learn how to be more creative?

Reply to this e-mail if you’re interested in the above.

Know somebody who’d also like that? Share my newsletter and point them in my direction. I’ll give you a beer if you’re ever in Bucharest.

Offer 1 is detailed up on LinkedIn.

Offers 2 and 3 are also detailed up on LinkedIn, but you can also find them here:

I’m still very open for consultancy services. Just reply to this e-mails if you’re interested.

Cheers

If this was the first, but also last time we meet: Thank you.

I write for myself, but you reading my writing gives it additional meaning. I literally could not resonate without you.

I just wish you could do it too. At least ONCE.

B00ls