Boosting creativity by closing all the ‘tabs’ open in your mind

Julia King, Senior Copywriter

Fun Facts:?

??: True to her ‘Bama roots, her Siberian Husky is named after quarterback Tua Tagovailoa?

??: Loves photography and stages self-portraits with her dog

??: Antique stores and thrift shops are her outlet for adult “I spy”

??? ♀?: Rumor has it, she can do a backflip

Have you ever caught yourself staring blankly at the blinking cursor on your screen, hopelessly waiting for words to appear on a crisp, new Word document? If you have, you’re in good company. For Mythic Senior Copywriter Julia King, this is the epitome of stuckness.?

While cranking out headlines and copy is second nature for Julia at this point, stuckness tends to creep in when she’s faced with concepting or coming up with a campaign platform. “I guess that's where the stakes are the highest, and so that's why I find myself a little bit more stuck,” she added.?

When Julia first started her career as a copywriter, those concepting assignments felt downright impossible. She even recalls thinking, Is my brain just not wired to be a copywriter? Is this just not for me? But since then, Julia quickly learned that no matter how long someone’s been in the advertising industry, getting stuck is more often than not just part of the process. She added that her best advice to young copywriters is to know that getting unstuck does get easier as they gain more experience and find a process that works for them.?

In those early days, Julia’s workhorse mentality kept her grinding for long hours, and sometimes that heads-down approach felt creatively taxing. Eventually, Julia said she realized there’s an element of the creative process where she might benefit from a side project or passion that could provide a brain break.?

“For me, that was weightlifting or doing a really hard CrossFit workout where I couldn’t think about work because I felt like I was dying,” Julia laughingly explained. “So I actually got into CrossFit because I needed something to pull me away from my computer at the end of the day.”?

CrossFit is unique in that there are specific class times, so unlike a commercial gym where she could set her workout schedule, this gave Julia a hard deadline to work toward each day. Plus, Julia found that because CrossFit classes typically last an hour, her mind was at ease knowing she could step away from her computer, dedicate a certain amount of time to her workout and pick up right where she left off.??

“I think there's things like exercise where you just get a kind of brain refresh,” she said. “It's just like closing all the tabs that you have open in your mind.”

When searching for creative inspiration or a push in the right direction while brainstorming about an industry she’s less familiar with, Julia said she also recently started turning to podcasts. Julia starts by scouring streaming platforms and using search terms related to what she’s working on. From there she usually ends up with a series of podcasts related to the topic or industry she’s writing about. Julia explained that podcasts provide unique insight into how everyday people out in the world talk about a subject.?

“You get this better understanding of the cultural conversation around different topics,” she said. “Podcasts have been a new medium that I didn't start out using and definitely didn't learn to use in school, but now, they’re super helpful.”

Julia laughingly admitted that this is likely an unconventional approach for a writer who most people would expect to always pull inspiration from text, but for her, auditory learning and exploration is just as exciting as cracking open a book. While Julia hates to admit it — and will assure you she is not as boring as she thinks this makes her sound — she frequently finds herself tuning into scientific or financial podcasts like Huberman Lab and TBOY (The Best One Yet).?

While many people may expect creatives to flock to podcasts that lean into storytelling or comedy, Julia theorizes that perhaps their minds crave an escape that can only be found in the black and white of some of these topics that may appear “dry” at a surface level.?

“Part of me wonders if people in our industry sometimes crave decisiveness and those very objective answers to things because we're always in such a subjective, creative space,” Julia added.

Whether she’s pumping iron to clear her mind or exploring the cultural context of her work through podcasts, Julia said she feels grateful that she even gets to experience the stuckness that plagues every writer. Afterall, she quipped, “I get to play with words for a living, and it's really fun!”

In a world where attention spans are limited, we're glad you stuck with it and made it to the end of this article because we certainly think it was worth the read. If you like what you saw and want to know how you can partner with a team that's brimming with creative ideas, reach out to our CMO, Taylor Bryant ([email protected]), and get a conversation with Mythic started today.