Painting Copy: A Way To Tap Into Creative Content

For me, writing on a fresh piece of paper is like painting down thoughts. Equipped with a blank sheet, a writer can enter an open format that doesn’t hinder creative thought or limit execution like a program that forces linear production does. While Microsoft Word is great at word processing and structure, it emphasizes consistency over creativity. The rules for layout are buttoned down and there’s little room for negotiating them.

With a pen and paper, however, the brain can move from A to G to Z and back to C as the page supports every zig and zag and backtrack thrown at it.

When I’m synthesizing information and putting down ideas (either during a client meeting or while doing research), I can do an unrestricted info dump on the page, merging separate thoughts scribbled in separate locations with a flourish of the pen and a quickly sketched arrow. Presto. The idea takes shape and my mind immediately cements the connection better.

I can circle a word and write two better ones above it as I work to hone the exact “feel” I’m starting to sense with the narrative. I can then scratch those words out again as I further crystalize the thought and land on an even better word. If a new angle on a previous idea suddenly reveals itself, I can jot down a thought bubble next to the relevant line of text, going up the margin if needed.

Just like a business owner wants their business to be responsive to changing demands so nothing gets left on the table, I want my tools to respond to my rapidly forming thoughts. And the pen and paper do just that.

This is all an act of what I like to call “painting copy.” Layering and building as a painter might with their oils, putting dashes and strokes where and when I see fit as the concept starts to take form. At first glance to anyone else though, it may look like a Jackson Pollack done with letters instead of lines.

But inside the seeming mess—and the page is a mess, believe me—the client’s story takes shape in those scattered lines of text.

In a tech-filled world where pen and paper seem almost anachronistic, there’s value to this process that goes beyond being a “quirky creative.” Research shows that writing by hand hacks into brain areas that are inaccessible when you merely punch letters on a keyboard. An Indiana University-based study found that writing by hand releases creativity not easily accessed in other ways. MRIs have shown neural activity in brain regions similar to what you’d see with brain activity during meditation. And meditation has been a big go-to for countless business visionaries for its ability to generate creativity.

So, if you need a creative boost but can’t carve out the time to meditate? At least make sure you’ve got your Bic and spiral notebook.

Written by: Rebecca Collins