How 5 revisions by the composer of Madame Butterfly created an opera that resonates across generations (and why it matters to you)

How to become the best storytelling content creator you know

One of my clients suffers from perfectionism.
She has a whole document of content.

But she won’t hit publish.
She worries if her content is relevant.

Unfortunately this won’t help her draw in business.
There is nothing for a potential client to view and say, “Oh! I see myself in that story.”

Meanwhile,

She worries where her next client will come from
Her entrepreneurial dreams start to wither
She considers going back to a 9-5

I shared writer Julian Shapiro’s theory on creativity from 2021 with her

I’ve outlined it step by step in this carrousel

Visualize your creativity as a backed-up pipe of water.
Because your pipe only has one faucet, you gotta empty the wastewater first.
Let’s apply this to creativity
Once the bad ideas are emptied, strong ideas begin to arrive
Conclusion:
In every creative session, allot time for emptying the wastewater.

Did you know that the composer of Madame Butterly wrote it no less than 5 times? I’m seeing it this weekend at the Met and was researching it.

• When Puccini first premiered it in 1904 at the La Scala theater in Milan, it was a total disaster.

• He rewrote it and the second version was the one that premiered in the United States in 1906. First in D.C., then in New York.

• He wrote a third version which played at the Metropolitan Opera in 1907.

• He did a fourth and a fifth revision, which is the version performed today.

• It brings me to Pixar’s Rule #12:

Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself. To find your best ideas, you need to unclog all the junk first.