When it comes to creating ideas, we hold ourselves back. That’s because inside each of us is an internal editor whose job is to forever polish our thoughts, so we sound smart and in control, and so that we fit into society. But what happens when we encounter problems where such conventional thinking fails us? How to get unstuck?
For Mark Levy, the answer is freewriting, a technique he’s used for years to solve all types of business problems, and generate ideas for books, articles and blog posts.
Freewriting is deceptively simple: Start writing as fast as you can, for as long as you can, about a subject you care deeply about, while ignoring the standard rules of grammar and spelling. Your internal editor won’t be able to keep up with your output, and will be temporarily shunted into the background. You’ll now be able to think more honestly and resourcefully than before, and will generate breakthrough ideas and solutions that you couldn’t have created any other way.
Levy shares six freewriting secrets designed to knock out your editor and let your genius run free. He also includes fifteen problem-solving and creativity-stimulating principles you can use if you need more firepower—seven of which are new to this edition—and stories of problems he and others have solved through freewriting.
Also new to this edition: an extensive section on how to refine your freewriting into something you can share with the world. Although Levy originally taught freewriting as a private brainstorming technique, over the years he and his clients have found that, with some tweaking, it’s a great way to generate content for books, articles, and other thought leadership pieces.
“I’ve been a fanboy of Accidental Genius and the genius of Mark Levy for five years now, and I couldn’t work without these ideas.”
—David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR
About the Author
Mark Levy is the founder of the marketing strategy firm Levy Innovation (www.levyinnovation.com). Mark has written for the New York Times, has authored or co-created five books, and has taught writing at Rutgers University. He is also a magic illusion designer—his work has been performed off-Broadway, in Las Vegas, and on all the major television networks.
Product Details
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers; Second Edition edition (August 9, 2010)
Mark Levy's website is http://www.levyinnovation.com .
Mark was born in Flushing, Queens in 1962, and lived in spitting distance of Shea Stadium. He was frightened of public school, loved playing baseball and football, ran home to watch ape films on the 4:30 Movie, listened to The Jam and The Buzzcocks, and read magic trick books.
At 18, he went to Queens College -- a school whose most notable scholar is Jerry Seinfeld. Mark enjoyed college, because he got to pick his own subjects. Instead of Math, he took a course in which he analyzed monster pictures. Not surprisingly, Mark received excellent grades, and graduated with a Magna Cum Laude writing degree in 1985.
Outside of college, no one cared that he could analyze monster pictures, so he became a bookstore clerk. That started his long affiliation with the book industry. He moved from retail to publishing, and from publishing to wholesaling.
Along the way, he was steadily promoted, and became a sales manager, a director of special projects, and helped his companies sell over one billion dollars worth of books. He was nominated three times for The Publishers Weekly Rep of the Year Award.
Why was Mark so successful at selling? One of his colleagues said it best (and she didn't mean it as a compliment): "When you think a particular book is important, you're messianic about it. You won't stop."
In 1997, Mark was having dinner with his friend David Pogue, author of Macs for Dummies, when David said it might be fun to work on a book together. Since Mark knew nothing about computers, they settled on writing a book about the only subject they had in common: magic. Both Mark and David were amateur magicians. They created Magic for Dummies, and Mark got the bug for bookwriting.
Mark's next effort was solo: Accidental Genius: Revolutionize Your Thinking Through Private Writing. Lots of luminaries loved it: Tom Peters, Ray Bradbury, Al Ries, Jay Conrad Levinson, and Ace Greenberg. Mark did a publicity stunt for the book, which did wonders for its sales. To date, it's been translated into six languages: Spanish, German, Korean, Chinese, Indonesian, and Japanese.
(Did you know that certain American phrases don't translate well into other languages? It's true. None of the translators could make sense of the phrase "Accidental Genius." The Spanish changed the book's title to "Writing and Creativity." The Germans called it "Genius Moments." But the Japanese version is Mark's favorite: "Everything Will Go Well As You Write And Think.")
Mark started writing for magazines and newspapers (including The New York Times). One such gig led to his next co-authored book. He was interviewing NBC-TV magician Mac King for an article about Las Vegas magic. During a break, Mac reached into his desk drawer, pulled out a dozen stapled sheets, and handed them to Mark. Those sheets were the beginnings of what would eventually become, Tricks With Your Head -- a book in which the human head is the central prop in each trick. Readers learn how to safely stab a fork in their eye, suck a French Fry up their nose, and read a person's mind with a drinking straw.
About this time, Mark started pursuing other business interests, particularly on the magic front. A New York City magician, Steve Cohen, met Mark, appreciated his business savvy, and hired him to do positioning work. The upshot of their association? Steve became "The Millionaires' Magician," began staring in his own off-Broadway show, Chamber Magic, and made Mark the show's Creative Director. Mark began to see life outside the book industry.
In February of 2002, Mark made the decision to leave books, and use his business, writing, and magic talents to make companies memorable. He started his positioning and branding firm, Levy Innovation. Even early on, Mark's marketing solutions were unconventional. An example? Says Mark:
"A famous e-book author phoned me and said, 'One of my old paperback books went out of print. I bought the final 2,000 copies for a buck a piece. How do I sell them?'
"I said, 'Selling them is a waste of time. Here's what you do. Take 1,800 copies, shred them, put them in a bathtub, sit in the tub so that just your head sticks out, have a photo taken, and put it on a news release that says, 'Author Takes A Bath In His Own Books.' Use the body of the release to talk about how you went from a near-destitute paperback author, to a six figure a year e-book author. That way, the white elephant of your paperbacks supports the profitable side of your business, e-books.
"'What do I do with the 200 copies I didn't shred?' he asked.
"They become valuable collectibles. Sell them at triple the cover price."
Mark's latest book, How to Persuade People Who Don't Want To Be Persuaded, was published by Wiley in June of 2004. He wrote it with legendary tradeshow pitchman, Joel Bauer. The book has been as high as #6 on BN.com and #71 on Amazon.
He has also contributed chapters to two other books:
The E-Code: 33 Internet Superstars Reveal 43 Ways to Make Money Online Almost Instantly - Using Only E-Mail!, by Joe Vitale and Jo Han Mok (Wiley, 2005)
Positively M.A.D.: Making a Difference in Your Organizations, Communities, & the World. Stories and Ideas From 50 of Today's Leading Experts, Edited by Bill Treasurer (Berrett-Koehler, 2004)
Recently, Mark returned to school; this time, as an instructor. He now teaches "Writing for Businesses and Professionals" at Rutgers University.
He lives in Clinton, New Jersey with his lovely wife, Stella; his Shiba Inus, Jofu and Bea; his cats,Tiger and Jinx; and Betsy the parakeet.
This review is from: Accidental Genius: Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight, and Content (Paperback)
In a typical year, I'll write one full-length book, a smaller ebook, about 100 blog posts and deliver about 50 talks all over the world.
People ask me all the time how I can be so prolific. "Where do all your ideas come from?" they ask.
The answer is simple: I put my internal editor on hold for first drafts. This allows me to crank stuff out very quickly. A technique called "Freewriting" that I learned from Mark Levy in his terrific "Accidental Genius" allows me to get ideas down very quickly without seeing if it is "good."
With Freewriting, I write and write and write for ten minutes or thirty minutes without caring about spelling or grammar. Then I look for nuggets of inspiration, which I edit to become blog posts. The better blog posts then become raw materials for books and stories in my speeches.
Accidental Genius is your guide to Freewriting. But it more than that. It is your guide to success.
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This review is from: Accidental Genius: Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight, and Content (Paperback)
I read the first edition of Accidental Genius several years ago, was moved by it, hired Mark Levy to help me with positioning, and have had the privilege of getting to know him. I don't say this about many people (in fact I don't think I've said it about anyone) but this guy is a genius. The more you read about him, the more you'll see how many people use the word "genius" to describe him. This is not a coincidence.
How did he become a "genius"? Well, I think he's naturally bright, but I also think it's because he practices what he preaches. He regularly uses the freewriting ideas he teaches in this book. These ideas help you to see what other people don't see, and see what you typically don't see. Freewriting is how Mark sees things differently, which is the heart of "genius".
Mark may be a genius, but his approach is completely simple, hands-on, creative, fun, and doable by anyone. Here's how it works...
When we set out to solve a problem, position ourselves or our businesses, come up with interesting new ideas, or anything else that determines a "solution" we face a problem: Our internal editor takes over. It wants to keep things status quo, safe, low-risk. We reproduce the same type of ideas and remain stuck in place. Of course this comes at a cost, which is that we prevent breakthroughs and neglect our own genius.
What we need to do is to quiet this internal editor, but we can't just say, "shhh!" Instead we need an approach that circumvents this editor and silences it. Freewriting is one such way to silence the editor and allow our inner genius to speak.
The method of writing in Accidental Genius has 6 basic tenets, such as "Try Easy," and "Go with the Thought," and numerous specific techniques such as "Open Up Words," and "Hold a Paper Conversation". If you've read the first edition, be sure to read this one as well, there's a lot of new stuff including how to create an inventory of ideas that you can use in social media or whenever you need them. Enjoy, and get ready for groundbreaking ideas to start flowing.
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This review is from: Accidental Genius: Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight, and Content (Paperback)
This book is filled with incredible insight for writers, entrepreneurs, thought leaders and marketers. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested how to break out of their rut of ideas and find new ways to position themselves.
Levy's insight on freewriting and how to incorporate it is fantastic. It has inspired me to keep a journal and re-evaluate all of my work processes. Chapter 4 titled, "Secret 4: Write the Way You Think" is invaluable. The process that Levy takes the reader through in Chapter 13: Getting A Hundred Ideas is Easier Than Getting One" is spot-on for marketers, writers and idea generators.
This book is a must read!
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