汝果欲学诗，功夫在诗外

创意是对现有事物的全新组合（an idea is nothing more nor less than a new combination of old elements），创意是否出色取决于一个人对不同事物之间关系的观察、解读和呈现（the ability to make new combinations is heightened by an ability to see relationships）。

以上是创意的两大基本原则。在此基础上，创意可以遵循以下五个步骤：
1， 材料搜集（针对当前问题的具体材料以及日常积累的一般性知识）
the gathering of raw materials – both the materials of your immediate problem and the materials which from a constant enrichment of your store of general knowledge.
2， 材料分析（在脑海中反复的琢磨和推敲，可能会因没有灵感而痛苦沮丧）
the working ,over of these materials in your mind.
3， 束之高阁（让潜意识发挥作用）
the incubating stage, where you let something beside the conscious mind do the work of synthesis.
4， 创意产生（柳暗花明又一村）
the actual birth of the Idea – the "Eureka! I have it'' stage.
5， 完善创意（以便符合实际需求）
the final shaping and development of this idea to practical usefulness.


作者建议广告工作者多多学习社会科学：
I venture to suggest that, for the advertising man, one of the best ways to cultivate it is by study in the social sciences. A. book like Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class therefore becomes a better book about advertising than most books about advertising.


优秀创意人员的两大特点：好奇心、求知欲。
Every really good creative person in advertising whom I have ever known has always had two noticeable characteristics. First, there was no subject under the sun in which he could not easily get interested-from, say, Egyptian burial customs to Modern Art. Every facet of life had fascination for him. Second, he was an extensive browser in all sorts of fields of information. For it is with the advertising man as with the cow : browsing, no milk.

根据我个人经验，口译同理。丰富的知识和阅历是最宝贵的财富，同时，自律和坚持也很重要。