Part 3: 12 things I’ve learned about content (in 12 years of running a content agency)

Content agency Crocstar is 12 years old and to celebrate I’m sharing 12 things I’ve learned about content. Some of these lessons are hard-won so please enjoy the reading of them.

This post focuses on the glorious yet painful act of writing. You know exactly what I mean.

It’s the third of four posts in the series, you can read part one here and part two here and the fourth and final post here.

7. Writing is rewriting.

If you’ve written anything then you know this to be true. Remember in days gone by when your computer would crash and you’d have to write your essay again? I should probably have two degrees by that logic. Did you notice that your second essay would be better? Concepts more polished, sentences less waffly? 

That’s not an accident. Writing something down for the first time is hard and you will stumble over how to phrase things. I read something once about this being hard because when you think, you don’t finish a sentence, but you’re forced to do exactly that when you commit the thought to paper. Rewriting means you reorganise that information and all those thoughts as well as tidying up any areas that are confusing. 

Over the last couple of years I’ve been doing screenwriting and comedy writing courses. It is HARD. And it absolutely confirms what I’ve always known – you will never get it right first time. Writing is ugly and it hurts. But do you know what? It doesn’t matter. No one will see that painful first draft – the content will never be as bad as it is at the start. The important thing is to carry on so you can get to the rewrite. 

Content creation is a process that takes time and drafts. Sometimes many, many drafts. It’s worth it. 

8. Not writing is writing.

Here’s one of my favourite things about writing. It’s not just the time putting it on the page that’s writing. Writing is also the time before, in between and afterwards. 

When you’re not actively writing but you’re in that headspace of creation, your brain is doing a lot of processing, sorting, filtering and language choosing. Most of the time it’s doing it without you having to think about it consciously. Go brain! 

When I’m writing something (for a client or myself) I plan in a lot of breaks. Time away is part of the creation process, not something to feel guilty about or pretend not to do.

On a weird side note, the less you have to write, the longer it’ll take. As this quote will confirm:

“I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”

It’s often attributed to Mark Twain but then again so is every pithy truism about writing. 

9. Reading is writing.

As does watching films, seeing art and listening to music. Seeing stories told in different ways shows you different ways of forming thoughts and expressing them.

Jo Thomson, Head of Design at Doubleday says in her post about inspiration: 

"For me, I have the same experience listening to music as when I read a book. All these colours, shapes and ideas start flying through my mind."

Artist Polly Morgan puts it wonderfully in this piece about how artists find creative inspiration:

"Don't restrict yourself to your own medium. It is just as possible to be inspired by a film-maker, fashion designer, writer or friend than another artist. Cross-pollination makes for an interesting outcome."

Go ahead: write, don’t write, watch films and read books. It’s all writing.

If you’ve enjoyed reading this post, the final one can be found here. And you can find part one here and part two here.