How do You Scratch?
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008My blank screen. My blank pad of paper. Nothing drains my inspiration more than these two things. You see, the words that go on the screen and on the paper don’t come FROM the paper, they come from my head. And the ideas in my head can only get there from one place - the world around me.
As a copywriter who gets paid to write web content, ad copy, radio spots and more for my clients, I can’t write “blank screen” on my invoices and charge for that empty time.
Since inspiration rarely comes to me the moment I sit down to write, I have to search for the good ideas that will make a project more than just a mechanical arrangement of words and facts. The good news is that these ideas can be built up for future use, but at the same time, you can never have too many.
My solution is to read. Reading is simply the best defense against an empty head.
For every word I write, I read a thousand more.You know when you sit down in a doctor’s office and read a magazine only to find that someone has ripped out pages? I’m that guy*. People Magazine, Macleans, Newsweek, Time - just to name a few. I read them for both the articles and the ads. Anything to give me a fresh perspective.
Even beyond magazines, I read books about interpersonal relations, human dynamics, history books - you name it. Ok, not romance novels, but you get the idea. I take notes, tuck them away and then read them when I need inspiration.
Reading generates ideas because I’m filling my brain with ideas. My imagination then filters the ideas and re-purposes them into something useful. If I stop reading, I stop getting ideas. The girls at the library know me by name.
*For the record, I have never ripped a page out of a library book or magazine, and I have begun to use my camera phone as a way of recording good ideas.
