There's No Crying in Advertising

As a copywriter and creative director for a small New York ad agency, people often ask me what I do when I get writer's block. I tell them, "I'm not allowed to get writer's block." Of course, that doesn't mean that I never get it; it just means I don't whine about it. Like every other shop in town these days, ours is lean and hardworking. Every minute is precious. Here are a few tips that have helped me meet deadlines and stay fresh over the years.Embrace your inner ADD. Work to keep yourself busy, excited and engaged by concentrating on different things. Keep your brain on the verge of overload and you'll eventually increase your work capacity and your sense of creativity. I once had a dance instructor (unfortunately, dancing wasn't for me, but that's another story) who, over the course of five one-hour classes, had us attempt to learn the foxtrot, swing and waltz. I suggested that perhaps we'd become more competent if we focused on just one dance. She said that in her experience the combination of learning several different dances at the same time helped people to progress in each dance more quickly. Start at the end. For me this means writing the body copy first. Traditionally, body copy is the last part of an ad to be completed. But if you're stuck, it can be the best place to start. If your ad doesn't, or won't, have body copy, pretend. By paying attention to the details of a product or brand and working to articulate your thoughts into simple, meaningful copy, you are laying the foundation for something great. Punch ugly. The next time you find yourself banging your head against a restrictive creative brief (or the tightly wound account person that wrote it), step back and attack the assignment with wild, looping punches. Forget about things like "recommended tone" or "mandatories," and sometimes you'll catch that big idea on the chin while it's not looking.Pretend like you are working. This actually accomplishes two important things: First, the boss will think you are indeed working (which is always good), and secondly, sometimes the act of pretending to work can actually cause work to happen. Self-fulfilling prophecies do occur in advertising. I once read that people who smile more are happier than those who don't. Coincidence? I think not.Visit a record store. Of course, they now sell mostly CDs and they're getting harder to find, but the small independent shops are still out there -- and they are filled with creativity. In addition to being turned on to some new music, you'll find yourself inspired by thousands of album covers, each one created by someone passionate about the music it contains. Blame everybody besides yourself. "Why does everything have to be so hard anyway?" says my art director and creative partner, Jason Rogers, on an almost daily basis. For a business that is supposedly creative, advertising agencies have more people running around telling us what to do than any other profession I can think of. So blame the process, vent, scream, tell somebody off -- then get back to work.Enter your product or brand into a sex contest. When I first started working with Jerry Della Femina in 1994, our agency held an annual (and strictly voluntary) sex contest. Everyone got to vote for whom they'd most like to sleep with in the company, and the winners were announced at the holiday party. As you can imagine, it was quite the honor. Prior to the voting, everyone in the agency would create ads and place them all over the walls, begging for your vote. Remarkably, not a single case of writer's block was ever documented during the campaigning. The next time you find yourself stumped for ideas, imagine your brand vying for votes in a sex contest. What attributes make it more attractive, more vivacious, more appealing on a primal level than anything else out there?Don't be afraid to wallpaper the room. There's no such thing as having too many great ideas. I can't tell you how many times I've seen work killed by a group of agency people who have decided, "There's just too much stuff." Give me a break and give the client some credit. Regardless of how brilliant you think you are, clients rarely need you to "focus them." If the work is good, take it to the meeting.Love your work. You are getting paid to do a job that many others would die to have. Advertising is a great profession. We get to write off our cable bills, spend hours on YouTube, and occasionally, if we work hard, see our beloved ideas produced and on display for the whole world to see. Say it with me, "I love my work." Whatever agency department you happen to work in, the ability to stare an empty page in the face and win (no matter what kind of day you're having) is tantamount to your success. I'm far from ever becoming an ad icon, but you're welcome to use the above tricks as if they're your own -- they've worked well for me. Michael "Mac" McLaurin is a creative director at Della Femina, Rothschild, Jeary and Partners in New York. He can be reached at mac@macmclaurin.com.

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There's No Crying in Advertising

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