Great Creative: The Work Behind The Work

Conversations about what it takes to make cool stuff.

Every time I see a catchy billboard, a funny commercial, or a great album cover, I picture the room where the idea was pitched. There are people in their work clothes sitting around a table, one person at the front of the room standing by the whiteboard. Suddenly, someone says the best, most creative idea. The room is silent at first, but then the person by the whiteboard—presumably the team leader—starts slow clapping. “You’re going to go far, kid,” they say, as the rest of the team starts to clap as well.

A classic cliché image of the Big Business World. And for the most part, I really believed that coming up with a good idea was an instant flash of brilliance. You and I know that is, of course, wrong.

Because truly, pitching is so much more than someone blurting out the right idea. And yes, I’m sure that has happened in the history of the world! I can’t possibly know every time someone has just said the right idea out of nowhere. But what I do know is that most creative is the result of hours upon hours of work—pulling audience research, writing creative briefs, brainstorms, script reviews, rewriting, editing, editing some more, design explorations, finding trends, dealing with imposter syndrome, finally making a deck… Blurting out a good idea in a pitch meeting is really just the result of everything you already know, more than catching lightning in a bottle.

One thing I’ve heard comedians say—especially those with a background in improv—is that fans often assume they improv a lot on their scripted shows. Improv happens for sure, but they’re still working from scripts. Abbi Jacobson, co-creator of Broad City, recently commented on this while appearing on the podcast Good Hang with Amy Poehler. Sometimes folks assume they improvised the whole show, but in her words, “they worked really hard.”

And so my point is: great creative often seems like a stroke of genius because you enjoy it so much and it flows so seamlessly—but as that other classic cliché goes, you’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg, not all the hard work it took to get there.

So this is Great Creative, my newsletter about what it takes to make good stuff—the hard work, and putting it out there. I’ve been interviewing creative executives and picking their brains about their various areas of expertise like pitching, marketing podcasts, writing a book, and more to come. I’m a big curious nerd who loves dissecting YouTube videos to figure out what makes them work, just like I enjoyed dissecting books, essays, and poems in school. YouTube and books are basically the same! I love research and figuring out how that fits into the creative. But most of all, I love the people who make it.

My goal with this newsletter is to share what I learn and help others make great creative, too—sharing my access to some cool people, their knowledge, and making it digestible for everyone. I hope you find it useful.

I love research. I love figuring out how structure supports creativity.
But more than anything, I love the people who make this stuff.

I hope you’ll join me in learning about some Great Creative—and get inspired to make your own.