Creative Pep Talk cover image

Creative Pep Talk

424 - Afraid Your Art is White Noise? Make People Feel with These 5 Tools

Oct 18, 2023
Angus Fletcher, author of Wonderworks: Literary invention and the science of stories, discusses how to create emotional impact in creative work by revealing truths, creating tension, and using obstacles. He also explores the power of horror and suspense in art and the importance of focusing on the means rather than the end.
40:52

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • Identify the specific feeling you want to produce in your audience and reverse-engineer the steps needed to achieve it by studying techniques used by artists who excel in creating that feeling.
  • Embrace strategic creativity by setting clear goals, having a clear vision of the endpoint you want to reach, and focusing on the creative journey rather than solely fixating on the end result.

Deep dives

Creating a Tower of Feelings

To make your creative work stand out and evoke a strong response, it is essential to identify the specific feeling or emotion you want to produce in your audience. By understanding your desired emotional impact, you can reverse-engineer the steps needed to achieve it. Look for inspiration from other artists who excel in creating that feeling, and analyze their techniques. This could involve observational comedy, where you point out the ridiculous aspects of human behavior, or incorporating novel comparisons and analogies to surprise and delight your audience. Additionally, you can use storytelling techniques such as having characters learn a truth that the audience already knows, or creating suspense and intrigue by showing the audience something that the characters are unaware of. By highlighting the feeling you want to produce, understanding the mechanics behind it, and exploring different creative tactics, you can make your work resonate and avoid becoming white noise.

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