Let’s get straight to the point, if I could write as powerfully and evocatively as Marcus, Charles or NP, I would be a much better planner than I am.
Their ability to write words you can feel never ceases to amaze me.
They need just a few lines to communicate a message that not only gives clarity to the reader, but enchants them as well.
I can’t do that.
At least not using the written word. [As this blog testifies]
And that’s quite a big handicap when your job is all about being able to communicate and inspire feelings, viewpoints and ideas to others.
Fortunately for me, I realised this quite early on in my career so whilst I still believe you have to write a creative brief [if only to put your thinking on record so that it isn’t badly post-rationalised at a later date] I rely on a bunch of other methods to ensure my colleagues ‘get’ what I want to say.
One of the things I do is collect expressions.
You see I absolutely believe how you say something is as important as what you say.
Of course you know that, but you’d be surprised how many creative briefs I’ve seen where the proposition is written so blandly, that no sense of energy or personality comes across whatsoever.
Mind you, I find it even more shocking when that very same brief also states the brand in question has a supposedly very strong and unique tone of voice!
[As an aside, if you have ever written 3 of the following 6 words on a creative brief under tone of voice: FUN / HUMAN / POSITIVE / CONFIDENT / FRIENDLY / CARING then hang your head in shame because that’s not a tone of voice, that’s just a list of random attributes that serves no purpose other than to fill the box on the brief. As another aside, the best way to deal with a creative brief is to treat it as your bitch … if you end up feeling it rules you, you’re buggered]
Anyway I digress …
Being able to use words to clearly convey a feeling or a mood or a personality that triggers other people’s imagination is a skill … a skill I don’t really have.
My particular problem – as the title of this post suggests – is that even when I think I have the right words, I can’t put them in the right order so what ends up being written isn’t what I actually want to say.
Call it proposition dyslexia.
So as I mentioned earlier, I collect expressions.
These expressions can come from anywhere … books, films, music, conversation … but what is common is that they all manage to represent an idea that takes you somewhere so you don’t so much hear the words, you feel them.
I’ve been collecting these since 1989.
Yep, since before most of you bastards were even born, I have written down words or expressions I’ve seen, heard or read in a little book and then written what category or brand I think it would be best for.
You’d think that after 21 years I’d have thousands … but you’d be wrong, I have maybe a couple of hundred.
To be fair, that might have more to do with the standards of books / films / music / conversations I have rather than anything else, but a couple of hundred is all I have.
The thing is, whilst I do end up using a fair few of them – even if it’s not for the client/category I had originally earmarked them for – their real value is in stimulating my mind during the ideation process, so even if I never end up using “Lessons For The Future” for the History Channel or “Knees Come First” for VA or “The First Draft Of History” for The Times newspaper or “Some Memories We Choose To Remember, Some We’re Not Allowed To Forget” for Drink Driving” … they may have value for another client in another category and when they do, I know the creative team will end up with a thought they can latch onto rather than having to listen to me flail away as I try and capture the words I want to express the idea I want.
In short, the most valuable lesson I have learnt in adland is not what I am good at, but what I am bad at which is why I would always advise you to take a long hard look at yourself because once you’ve done that, you can start finding ways to overcome it, either through practice or – as I choose – by cheating.