I have a question for you.
(it’s important)
Okay.
Here it is:

What makes your work memorable?
Really.
(What about it
sticks in people’s minds?)

In other words,
how is your work
different from anyone else’s?

(because you have to be different
to be remembered)

Writing Rule >>
Be Different.
(Be Uniquely Familiar.)

It doesn’t take much to be “uniquely familiar.”

You. Must. Have.
Something strong.
Something different.
Something emotional.

Create memorable scenes.
It’s not just a field. It’s a field with a huge oak in the center, with a twisted limb sticking out sideways and a black squirrel who thinks that it’s 100% his tree, and no one else’s…so stay away, dude, or you’ll get a chittering earful.

It’s not just a pillar. It’s a pillar made of shards of broken colored glass, rippling with thousands of bits of reflected light.

It’s not just a table. It’s a table that rises up in the center with a live tree, bringing shade to the young couple giggling together and touching the tips of their shoes underneath.

Create memorable characters.
It’s not just an old man. It’s an old man with braided hair to the side, wearing a single orange-colored glove, who speaks in broken sentences.

It’s not just a young girl. It’s a precocious know-it-all with a teeny little voice that never stops gabbing about her gum wrapper collection.

It’s not just a woman. It’s a tall, thin woman wearing a leopard-design bowler hat, with straw-like brown hair sticking straight out from underneath, stiff with thin-lipped concentration while poking her iPhone as if testing the chicken to see if it’s cooked.
(Okay, I didn’t make that one up. She’s sitting right there, across from me at this Starbucks. Really.)

So.
Artist
(of any kind)
Create memorable illustrations
with difference.
Create memorable photographs
with difference.
Create memorable musical notes
with difference.
Create memorable sculptures
with difference.
Create memorable characters & plot
with difference.

Difference doesn’t have to be big
(although the grandeur of BIG can be grand, indeed).
Just different.

(memorable = odd enough
to make your target audience
blink and think)

(and remember you)

Difference leaves a permanent cup ring
where your cup sat.

Be remembered.
*Thup