works in progress

As someone who works on the creative side of advertising, I have always find it fascinating to see the creative process at work. How one begins work on something and how it evolves until one reaches the "final work". Sometimes the first draft ends up becoming the final version. Or sometimes it is just a small step in a huge process.

I am writing this because in the last few days I have been listening to The Beatles "Anthology" and to Cat Stevens "Teaser and the Firecat" deluxe CD. They both feature demo tapes of their popular songs. And I find it so interesting to see how a song changed from demo to final version. The lyrics that were changed, the different beat, how the singing and interpretation varied. Sometimes the demo tape has an immediacy that was lost in the final version. But, most of the time, the final version has something that makes one realize that it is "final". The first draft may have had some rawness that made it interesting, but one can see (and hear) so much more in the final version.

Which brings me to my profession and the fact that it seems that in my advertising career I have only had time to do first drafts. I have never been able to think about a project and be able to correct mistakes, to do the little things here and there that transform something into a special project. So I have never had a really great commercial. Just a bunch of OK ones and lots of "might have beens"

Maybe It's time to realize that I will never be able to do that in the advertising world and that I should look for that in some other creative area.