Published in 2014, John Hegarty‘s book Hegarty on Creativity: There Are No Rules discusses how to recognize and respect talent. And if you’re one of the few talented creatives, how to earn a living doing it. Continue reading “227. 16 Reasons Why Your Creative Ideas Might be Sh!t”
If you want to produce special work, it’s worth collaborating with special people.
Constantly chopping and changing your specialty will hinder your success.
Having the courage and determination to focus on one subject or area of expertise gives you the solid foundation that is absolutely necessary if you’re to come up with a truly great idea, one that will be key to your future success.
Too many creative people think they don’t need to specialize, that they can have lots of ideas in lots of different subjects all of which are going to be great.
Persuasion has a bad reputation because it’s associated with selling things to people, sometimes selling them things they don’t even want.
It can be easy to settle on something that feels right. Something that seems to make sense of all the confusion.
You’ll feel relief when you get to this point. You’ll think you’ve cracked it. You’ll feel good.
But then you have to take a step back from what feels really good and ask:
But is it great?
More often than not coming up with a great idea is a rollercoaster ride of thoughts with no logical progression;
ou lurch from the interesting to the absurd to the good back again to the absurd.
To create great work you should be making up your own beliefs as you go along, changing them one day to the next, always pushing against the boundaries of current thinking, trying to escape the confines of conventional wisdom.
Respect don’t revere.
Putting anyone on a pedestal is dangerous. It implies they’re better than everyone else; but they’re not.
We’re all stepping-stones for the next generation.
It’s no good having great ideas if you can’t sell them.
When it comes time to pitch, you’ll be amazed by how powerful your persuasion skills have become simply because you understand a little more about the field and what drives it.
In the end, everything is connected and the more connections you make the more interesting your work will become.
There is no doubt you get better when you surround yourself with great things and great people.
Without inspiration, our creativity dries up and we start repeating ourselves.
To be a successful creative person you have to be fascinated by the world and all its wonders, absurdities, failings, and mishaps.
Getting noticed is a prerequisite of any good idea.
Stay open to new ideas, new places, and new people will feed your creative soul.
Lack of inspiration may be just another way of saying lack of experience.
Of course, the danger is that your passion spills over into obsession and you become a bore.
Nobody wants to be one of those.
I work in advertising but I don’t live it.
Storytelling is the most powerful form of communication ever invented.
Through stories we learn, entertain, communicate, and socialize with each other.