Dear Baby Creatives,
We’re all told early on that taking criticism gracefully is an essential skill in our industry. And we have to be able to take a beloved, inspired, objectively brilliant concept and set it aside, let it go, recognize that there are a dozen reasons that the most objectively brilliant concept ever pitched might not get selected. It’s going to happen a lot in your career. Just let it go.
But… like, how do you do that?
Of course, not every rejected concept is going to be hard to let go. Most of the time — seriously, don’t freak out about it, this is the majority of the time — when your concept is rejected, you’re going to shrug and think, “Eh, they’re stupid, but I guess it’s time to get to work on something else.” But when you’ve poured your heart into a concept (or copy, or design, or whatever), “just letting it go” is easier said than done. So here’s some advice on the doing part.
Share it with someone.
A brilliant concept deserves to be admired. It’s too good not to see daylight. So even if it’s not going to actually be produced, find someone else to appreciate your genius. Just… someone. Show it to A Person who’ll say, like, “Oh, my god, that’s brilliant. I love the [insert best part of it] here. I can’t believe they didn’t go for it.”
Or it can even be bigger than that, if your agency is game. At my old agency, we periodically held a Mausoleum of Brilliant Ideas, where we got together and ate pizza and showed off all the brilliant ideas that had been shot down by the client. It was a great time, because we’d all experienced the disappointment of watching a brilliant concept get shot down, and we could all appreciate a super-fun holiday campaign for a bookstore that could totally have fit a human-sized snow globe into the foyer if they truly did want to do something cool. Just as a totally hypothetical example.
Marie Kondo that sucker.
Well, Marie Kondo it to the extent that said method is applicable to this situation — basically, just the part where you throw stuff out.
Unfortunately, the problem here is that whatever brilliant creativity sparked joy in you has not sparked joy in your CD or client, and that’s why the concept is getting chucked as your joy-spark fizzles into darkness. But whether or not you want it to be set aside, the setting-aside process remains: Sit down with it the concept, take a minute to think about what it’s meant for your life, thank it for its service, say goodbye to it (like, literally tell it “goodbye”), and put it away.
Pin it to a bulletin board as a pleasant memory, move the files to an external hard drive, just make it a Thing That Is Done and call it done. But first, acknowledge the work and creativity you put into it, and the joy it brought you. And then… let it go.
Talk to your creative director.
I know pretty much every Dear Baby Creative post includes advice to “talk to your creative director,” but that’s because when you’re starting out, they’re a fantastic resource for learning more about and finding your place in the industry. Or if your CD isn’t accessible, talk to someone more senior in your department. Get more details about why your concept (copy, design, whatever) was rejected. It could be a simple “Yeah, the client doesn’t like to take chances. Sorry about that,” or a more detailed critique with specifics about why your objectively brilliant concept was, sorry, not actually all that great. It’s easier to let things go when you’re able to get a more objective view of, Huh, maybe that one’s not actually worth getting het up about after all.
And a final tip: Put a hair tie or something around your wrist and snap it every time you start to feel resentful or grudgy. You’re going to have about a thousand more of these throughout your career, and if you start with the resentment now, you’re just going to end up the official Office Pain in the Ass to Work With (OPAWW), and nobody wants to be the OPAWW.
Anyway, I’m sorry to hear about your concept. I’m sure it was awesome. Don’t forget to show it to your adoring fans before tucking it away forever. Then move on, because the brilliant concept you just put away left room for an even brillianter concept all ready to come out.
XOXO,
Caperton
Former baby copywriter, now wildly successful in the industry