I went to Disney World in April. Just for the afternoon.
It was part of an event called Eat Play Launch, hosted by Chrys Clay and Angie Colee. We ate great food, worked in sprints to get offers ready to launch, and we played, at Disney World.
Chrys and Angie are HUGE Disney fans, so the weekend was sprinkled with insider knowledge of Walt and the world he created.
One fun fact Chrys shared with me as we walked into Animal Kingdom was about the Tree of Life, a big ass sculptured tree you see as you walk in.
The idea was to represent the diversity and interconnectedness of all living things on earth. It took hundreds of skilled craftsmen and artists to work together to create the intricate details of the tree’s trunk and branches.
The trunk was made by pouring concrete around a giant metal frame. Now, when you consider that most concrete has a workable time of around 30 minutes to two hours before it begins to set, artists didn’t have very long to carve over 300 animals and realistic trunk patterns!
Pretty amazing, right?
But I’d lay a lotta money that they didn’t just walk up to carve a blue whale.
I bet hundreds of hours were clocked before anyone got close to working on the actual tree. Probably more.
Like, sketches. And drawings. And mock-ups. And practise carving sessions.
I bet that on the day the concrete was poured, no one was hoping it would turn out okay. I bet everyone was pretty damned certain it was going to be amazing.
And you know this is just like your writing, right?
Firstly, I bet you don’t need all the time you think you need. Like the artists who carved the Tree of Life, you can absolutely do amazing things in less time.
Secondly, preparation is the secret to delivering outstanding work fast, whether you’re carving a tree or writing copy. And that means setting up and using systems.
This idea of systemising your writing process is something I teach in The Copywriting Inkubator. The 12-week program lays a rock-solid foundation with the writing skills you use every day, but you also learn how to organise your workflow to be more efficient and harness your creativity.
Because just rocking up and hoping for the best is for amateurs.
You can get on the waitlist for news about The Inkubator here.
Let’s consider your writing process.
On a scale of 1 to 5, how structured is your writing?
(1 being a total free spirit on each and every project, 5 is having a repeatable process you rely on each time.)
Leave a comment and let me know.
