John Mayer and Billie Eilish use the same technique to avoid writer's block. John explains it so beautifully below:
After, watch Billie explain it from another angle 🧵
After, watch Billie explain it from another angle 🧵
In short, they're constraining creative scope.
Billie calls it "perimeters."
They do this because the brain freezes when facing too large of a canvas. It doesn’t know which path to choose, and it worries each is wrong.
In other words: Instead of writing a movie...
Billie calls it "perimeters."
They do this because the brain freezes when facing too large of a canvas. It doesn’t know which path to choose, and it worries each is wrong.
In other words: Instead of writing a movie...
... write a spy movie.
Instead of writing a song, write a love song.
Constrain.
Only when the constrained version is decent do you optionally expand the scope into something bigger.
However, we have a problem. Constraints help avoid overwhelm, but not generate great ideas...
Instead of writing a song, write a love song.
Constrain.
Only when the constrained version is decent do you optionally expand the scope into something bigger.
However, we have a problem. Constraints help avoid overwhelm, but not generate great ideas...
So we pair constraint with another trick: juxtaposition.
That entails combining unrelated elements from different genres to see if they fit together into something spectacular.
If you’re writing a song, mix solos from different genres or samples from different eras.
Why?
That entails combining unrelated elements from different genres to see if they fit together into something spectacular.
If you’re writing a song, mix solos from different genres or samples from different eras.
Why?
When an unexpected combo satisfyingly fits together, the result is something people haven’t seen.
This makes audiences lean in because there's an unexpected contrast, and that throws off their pattern-matching and delights them.
Paul Simon uses juxtaposition below. How cool:
This makes audiences lean in because there's an unexpected contrast, and that throws off their pattern-matching and delights them.
Paul Simon uses juxtaposition below. How cool:
Juxtaposition taught me a lesson about being creative:
Don't recreate what you love.
Instead, create what you wish others would have made by now. That's where there's originality.
It's a critical distinction:
Don't recreate what you love.
Instead, create what you wish others would have made by now. That's where there's originality.
It's a critical distinction:
Recreating what you love is often a recipe for bland content. Consider how boring TV shows are because writers copy-paste characters and scenes they loved from childhood.
They create a patchwork of what came before.
This leaves viewers feeling unchallenged and jaded.
Instead:
They create a patchwork of what came before.
This leaves viewers feeling unchallenged and jaded.
Instead:
Pursue what you wish your genre would *finally attempt.*
Where could it go that you've never seen?
Here's a technique for thinking through this. Watch a film you love then stop halfway to ask:
“What’s the most mind-blowing second half that this film could have?”
Where could it go that you've never seen?
Here's a technique for thinking through this. Watch a film you love then stop halfway to ask:
“What’s the most mind-blowing second half that this film could have?”
The answer that most delights you will be what you haven't seen others do before.
That said, originality certainly isn't necessary!
I'd argue there’s another goal that's more important than originality:
Resonance.
That said, originality certainly isn't necessary!
I'd argue there’s another goal that's more important than originality:
Resonance.
Resonance is relatable storytelling that surfaces a truth about life.
For a moment, it takes over the viewer's mind and they're forced to grapple with it.
It's expressing an idea so honestly in today’s sensibilities that they fixate on it.
For a moment, it takes over the viewer's mind and they're forced to grapple with it.
It's expressing an idea so honestly in today’s sensibilities that they fixate on it.
Consider how films like Gladiator and The Shawshank Redemption tell clichéd stories as old as time.
But they've resonated more than most other films for decades.
Why?
Because high-resonance storytelling usually takes precedence over originality.
But they've resonated more than most other films for decades.
Why?
Because high-resonance storytelling usually takes precedence over originality.
After all, you’ll rarely change someone’s life by telling them something new.
But you can deeply affect them by saying something they know to be true—so well—that it compels them to finally confront it.
But you can deeply affect them by saying something they know to be true—so well—that it compels them to finally confront it.
This is what @waitbutwhy does with his longform writings. It's why I give him props on Twitter to an annoying extent (sorry). There's no other writer who folks bring up to me more in convo—because of the strength of his storytelling! They can't shake his ideas.
Recapping what's worked for me:
• Constrain creative scope to avoid overwhelm
• Juxtapose unrelated elements to spark novelty
• Novelty isn't just content. It's also novelty of presentation to create resonance
I go more in-depth on these topics here:
julian.com
• Constrain creative scope to avoid overwhelm
• Juxtapose unrelated elements to spark novelty
• Novelty isn't just content. It's also novelty of presentation to create resonance
I go more in-depth on these topics here:
julian.com
Recently, when I think of constraint, I think of @mattreevesLA's The Batman.
It could have been many things, but it stays unusually focused for a superhero film.
Did you notice that?
It could have been many things, but it stays unusually focused for a superhero film.
Did you notice that?
And, as for novelty of *presentation,* that's an idea I'll explore next time—but here's a teaser:
@MarcW's 500 Days of Summer.
I had never seen a "simple love story" so brilliantly presented to that point, and it's stuck with me for 14 years.
@MarcW's 500 Days of Summer.
I had never seen a "simple love story" so brilliantly presented to that point, and it's stuck with me for 14 years.
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