Grappling the Thunderhead

How to pursue inspiration like your life depends on it.

They say it’s a millennial thing. A product of graduating into the post-2008 job market. Whatever, all I know is I’ve done it. 

I’ve monetized my hobby, and now it’s my job. 

You may not know this (because I don’t talk about it in this space), but from 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday, I’m a professional conversion copywriter. I write words that even non-readers read: 

• Descriptions on product packaging and web pages 

• Product descriptions on Amazon pages 

• Snarky captions on social ads

• Brand taglines

I saw a tweet that read, “Hey, do you guys know where I can get a shirt and then 2 emails every day for the rest of my life?”

Yeah. I’m the one that writes all those emails. 

Conversion copywriting is a very specific kind of writing centered entirely around getting the reader to do something. This might be making a purchase, subscribing to an email list, or sending a referral link to a friend.

Doesn’t really matter what the action is. As long as I can make a reader move, I’ve done my job. And, at the risk of sounding arrogant, I’ve gotten pretty good at it. 

One of my clients shared this graph tracking their total sales three months before using my writing. The last data point (far right) tracks total sales made the first day they put my words in front of potential customers. 

Copywriting is a lot of psychology, buckets of empathy, and even more creativity. I can get very nerdy about it, but I won’t right now because it’s after 5pm.

And after 5pm, I switch hats and become an aspiring WRITER writer: working on my first manuscript, growing my reader base through substack/social media, and cultivating ideas for new book projects. 

This means that for 10, 12, even 13 hours a day, I’m writing. 

And “waiting for inspiration to strike” is not an option for me. I simply don’t have the time, and the stakes are too high. So I’ve had to learn how to grapple the thunderhead that is inspiration. 

But what does that look like?

In The Storm’s Path

In her book, I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet,

Shauna Niequist

says it’s the responsibility of creative people to actively put themselves “in the path of inspiration.”

“It’s my job as a writer to live in such a way that every time I sit down to write, I’m inspired, not in the moment necessarily, but in my life, as a way of life. What this means is that it’s my job, literally, to go to art galleries and read poetry and go for walks and spend time with interesting people. It’s part of my work to read widely and learn new things and be curious and ask questions and wonder and doodle and dream, because living inspired is a requirement for rich creative work.” 

Literally, it’s part of the job to live an enriched, inspired life. So block off the time you need to do your little walks and keep making those Pinterest boards. Curate hyper-specific Spotify playlists that put you in the zone.

Because it’s part of your job.

It’s A Numbers Game

Something is going to grease your gears and get your brain moving, so devour as much as you can. It’s math: the more you sift, the higher your chances of finding those little gold nuggets of inspiration. And oh, how lucky are we to live in the age of the Internet, when nearly all human knowledge is at our fingertips.

This will be a little specific to your unique field. Because I’m a word nerd who believes that good writing starts with good reading, I read as much as I can:

• I subscribe to an obscene amount of email newsletters.

• I also subscribe to a ton of Substack creators.

• I read 40+ books a year across all genres.

SOMETHING out there is going to light you up. Grab your prospector’s pan and go find it.

Calvinball Kills

Image courtesy of picpak.net

When I was about 11, I discovered my dad’s Bill Watterson collection and was obsessed for a long time. Which is to say a few weeks —a month, tops—but that’s a long time for an 11-year-old.

In the Watterson world, Calvinball is a game (invented by Calvin) with no rules except those made up on the spot, as it benefits you at the moment. Many creatives I know think a game with no rules sounds dreamy. But here’s the thing: when you remove rules, you remove the objective.

It’s tempting as a young creative to believe that the constraints put on you are the things inhibiting your inspiration and that you’d be better off without them.

No required word counts. No timelines or deadlines. No structure. Just creating on your own time, according to your own whims, and changing them whenever you feel like it.

A seasoned creative knows that constraints actually play a critical role in inspiration. Learn to delight in constraints because, in Marcus Aurelius's words, “What stands in the way becomes the way.”

Genius As A Buffer

I’m lucky enough to have heard

Elizabeth Gilbert

’s TED Talk about your elusive creative genius very early in my professional life. It forever altered my work and the way I view my work.

It’s woo-woo, but I believe that I have a genius. I do. She’s elusive and flirty and flighty. At random (often inconvenient) times, she whispers little ideas, snatches of phrases, and comparisons into my ear, and I had to create a system to capture them before they dissolve like a snowflake on a mitten.

It’s not fancy. It’s a huge document, shoddily organized, filled with ideas that I drop in as they come to me. Over the years, I’ve gotten better about including notes and occasionally purging ideas when it’s clear that they aren’t going to germinate.

And if they don’t, that’s not on me. My genius should’ve been a little clearer.

The idea that I have a genius provides a buffer between me and my work that wards off burnout and keeps me grounded.

Inspiration As A Way Of Life

Every occupation, hobby, and passion project has its hurdles. If you’re a creative person hustling in a creative space, staying inspired is going to be one of yours.

But with a little intentionality, you can choose to live in a way that consistently refills your well.

I'm curious about your inspiration tips, tricks, and hacks. Drop them below and help out a fellow creative.