The Writer’s Coin

Here are a couple articles that bring up an interesting way of generating ideas.

They both come down to the same thing: for every idea you’re ultimately trying to come up with, create a list that is 100 concepts long.

So you want to create a hip Netflix ad? Come up with 100 and then go back and pick one of them. How about an edgy ad for the only “Tequila” made in the USA? Again, 100 concepts before you pick one.

Why this masochism?

According to the site, the first 30 entries or so are simply to get all the crap out of your system. Some people call it pre-writing. The next 40 are where you start to stretch your creativity a bit, and the last 30 are “where the gems are.”

I don’t know about that breakdown—it seems kind of specific for something as fuzzy as creativity, but I think it’s a good point. When coming up with ads, I’m constantly telling myself to push myself further. Take an idea and run with it. Be more creative.

Sure, one way to do this is to just sit there and see what your mind comes up with. And then you hit upon the idea you like best, you get a little excited, and boom! You’re done. I haven’t put down 100 ideas for any concept yet, but I agree that coming up with that much quality will inevitably yield good results. It’s something I/we do already, kind of unconsciously and quickly in our minds.

Tags: Creativity, new ideas, original ads