Getting mad

I’ve been in a really great mood lately, but let me explain why it’s great to be in a rage when designing creative and writing content.

1. You work faster. Being happy means that you have time to smell the roses and enjoy what you’re working on. Being in a rage lets you fly through the project and only concentrate on the important details, completely missing the larger scope of the task
2. You say what you really mean. Everything is on the table and anything goes when you’re angry and ready to write. I also find that the words flow better because you’re firing on more cylinders. Feel free to include slang, personal attacks, and other forms of verbal abuse in the copy.
3. You develop hyperfocus on the task at hand and are able to block out all distractions that are preventing you from getting the work completed.
4. You don’t have to proofread or edit the work later on. If you were angry, you wouldn’t have made any msitakes. Besides, it shows a creative edginess. Reviewing work when you’re not in a bad mood is always a poor decision because you may find that the work has to be redone!

So here are some helpful tips to get really angry for when you have to write copy and mock up an ad or an email:

• Think about the last huge argument you had. What did you really wish you had said but forgot to?
• Think about the bureaucracy and mania of office politics that prevents you from getting noticed for your hard (read: rage-fuelled) work
• Think about that driver who cut you off then acted like it was your fault when you blasted your horn at them in frustration
• Think about the professor who antagonized students and contributed to a stifling learning environment – shout out to Prof. K!
• Think about how a coworker accidentally ate your sandwich even though it was labeled and said “Max’s Sandwich, HANDS OFF!”

So go ahead and get angry. Take it out on the client’s work. Everyone will be so impressed by the maturity with which you handled such a difficult situation. They’ll learn not to mess with you when they see that vein throbbing on your forehead and those fingers pounding away at the keys. They’ll understand that it’s not venting, it’s progress…