To get anywhere, you need a goal.

When you are young, goals can be very precise ” ‘i want to be a race car driver in nascar”.

As you get older and see more of the world, your goals tend to broaden: ‘i want to be a race car driver”.

And then go even broader: “i want to work with race cars”…and finally, ‘i want to work with cars’.

The last one is a cup half full/half empty situation.  Some people would see it as a loss (no longer heading to nascar) and others as a gain (you have so much more opportunity to find your true self with a wide net).

The same is true when it comes to radio commercial scripting and production.   When you have an idea in your head for a client…it sounds and feels a certain way.  The proper way of course – (like the nascar dream).

Then when you see it in script form, you realize that there are barriers to your idea, timing, length, word restrictions, all things that whittle down the idea.

After you get through all that,  your idea is finally on the page and although it’s not as good as the one in your head, it’s still pretty good (you are still a race car driver) and it looks like a winner.

Now, comes the production.  You of course had a voice in mind, and are there for the session to make sure it goes exactly like you planned on the script.  Of course, the voice over artist says things a bit differently than you do, or the cadence that is natural for them doesn’t quite match the initial feeling of the script.  So you change it up a bit to match the talents strengths, and the parts that didn’t change, sound different from how you voiced it in your head…but it’s still a great spot.

Then it’s off to production, where the music choices just don’t have the perfect beat, the bass line, or feel you were looking for, but they open your mind to adding a sound effect that perfectly compliments the script addition you made for the voice talent earlier.

The spot you have created is an A-1 commercial, ready to air and garner results for your client.  This is the part where you realize your nascar dream, turned into a real goal of working with cars.

Instead of being disappointed that it’s not the same sound as inside your head, you realize that nothing stays the same from birth…including people…i certainly don’t look the same as i did when i was a baby, and to expect your creative idea to be exactly the same as in your head as when it is finally finished, is to put unrealistic expectations on your baby/idea.

Going into the process knowing your idea will grow and change will help you realize your goal.  The goal is to be a success, whether it’s to work with cars, a baby, or your script.

Know that being in the world changes things, and usually for the better.   Because it’s only in the real world, that results can happen.

Broaden your expectations for your creations…you can’t get results from a dream.