Saying the earth is flat is probably less slanderous than accusing a creative person of having a process. Not having a process is a major part of our identity. We make every effort to stay five arm lengths away from that blasphemous word, process. (Creativity is a spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment, magical thing!) So when someone says creative people have processes, it shakes up our whole identity. (Sorry. Identities. Of course we’re all extremely unique and have our own identities. How dare I use the singular?)
But that’s exactly what Dan Nelken claims in this book - that we have processes (how dare he!?!?), we just can’t see them. And after reading his book, I agree with him. There is a method to the madness that is creativity. Dan shows us the very replicable (don’t flinch at the word, it’s only the process I’m saying we should replicate. God forbid we imitate another artist, right?) method he’s used as a copywriter in advertising to come up with world-class, award-winning ads.
Here are my minimalist notes from the book about Dan’s copywriting process:
You need to go through about a hundred headlines - a mix of decent, good, and bad - to arrive at a great one. How do you come up with a hundred headlines?
- Step one: Create at least twenty top-level buckets.
- Step two: Speed-write at least 5 ideas for each bucket.
- Step three: Voila! You have one hundred rough headline ideas.
- Step four: Edit, edit, edit. You’ll dig up the great one.
To create the top-level buckets, research the product, the competitors, and customers. Check the FAQ section and customer reviews.
To come up with ideas, even if you just ask the question “What is the benefit of the benefit?”, you’ll have a very successful career in advertising.
If you have a bug up your ass, you can go further. Ask, “What’s an unexpected/obvious/helpful/interesting/funny/convenient/comforting/amazing/wild/beautiful/exciting/weird benefit of the benefit?”
The book is packed with ad inspiration. There are 200+ examples of some of the best work in the industry. Dan also creates a taxonomy for the different types of ads, and even tells us which type works best in which situation. I highly recommend this book for all creatives, even if you aren’t into copywriting. Reading about the process here may help you learn to recognize one in your craft. Plus, it’s oddly satisfying to see creative ads and appreciate them.
The book is available on Amazon and other bookstores in physical and digital formats.
