Creativity - practically speaking.

My technique is to have several things on the go. That way if I'm not enthusiastic about one of them I will be about another.

Having a shit job is a good way of generating enthusiasm and ideas, it's then just a question of disciplining yourself to get on with them. This can be especially hard if you are knackered after said shit job.

I thought of four, hope they might help!

Do it everyday
I'd say definitely be regular in your chosen field, i.e. do a little bit every day, otherwise - like writing essays or something - it's very hard to come back to and re-remember the headspace. Practise doesn't make perfect but makes you feel like you're dedicated, which is a big one I think, alot of it is just fooling yourself into believing that you can do something - gaining self-belief (or self-delusion!) - and doing it regularly is a good behavioural exercise that avoids all of the 'I'm not good enough to do this' headspaces.

Don't fight it, feel it
And likewise don't force it; there's alot of pressure to 'do something' and I know I spent alot of years really trying to do stuff which actually maybe, looking back, I found hard because I maybe wasn't meant to do it. If it's hard work then don't, y'know? I think being creative is about having fun, regardless of how you do it. It's the finding out what you like doing that takes the time.

Be generous
Oh, and things are never finished, it's when you choose to stop them. Practise putting stuff out there - I did a zine for a while and that really worked for me - ultimately the 'creative arts' are about other people experiencing your work as well as you doing it. I know loads of people who do great stuff but they never put it out cos they don't think it's finished yet, that one's a trap made by Satan, and will fuck you up. Ultimately, in the big scheme of things, nothing matters, the world is ending so you may as well let people see what you do.

Get heartbroken
And having your heart absolutely rendered and smashed to smithereens is good for creativity, same with bereavement; I wouldn't really recommend them, but they work *sobs*.

all good points above, but this one seems to be missing:

relax while you do it and enjoy yourself.

HAVE FUN.

.after how ever much conceptualizing and planning is required, just make make make and the results of your mind asking "what if?" will speak for themselves.

and then can figure out how to get paid for it and maybe replace the nine five...

i know how you feel, im doing a pretty dreary job at the minute after spending a few months working at a really cool events agency. ive just moved to london and have debts spiralling so had to take a better paid temping job. I was really depressed for a while it felt like all the things i defined myself by (music, vids, putting on raves) had gone out the window and its especially bad as a few mates of mine have started to get really successful and i feel a bit left behind. Im now starting to crawl out of a hole and did a really well received gig last week and doing visuals at a party this weekend (Beyond the rave london crew, fri night russian bar!). Now starting to get myself together and have some interviews with agencies coming up so its pretty much 90% hard work and 10% hassling people which pays off.

I think with music production especially its really important to have a community of people to bounce ideas off and gig with, collaberations will always throw out loads of ideas. find someone local with a good taste in music you can trust and start something regular. im still recycling bits live of sessions i did 3 years with a mate (who im now ignoring because of his talent and success)

big up the artist way!

I started the artist way thing back in March and still do the morning pages - whatever people may say about it, they have made me improve my drawing ability beyond what I thought I was capable of. I've now enrolled into a drawing course to take it further. So it has brought real results for me.

Anyway, if you're like me and your main creative stumbling block is the fear that what you'll make will be shit and worhtless, thereby killing your whole enthusiasm for everything - then just go ahead and make shit. Chances are, a real idea will emerge that you can't help exploring and you'll have the enthusiasm to run with it. If it doesn't pan out well, who cares, you've exercised your brain and have something material to show for it. And plus it was shit to begin with anyway right?

john eden said:

Having a shit job is a good way of generating enthusiasm and ideas, it's then just a question of disciplining yourself to get on with them.

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orwell was a staunch advocate of this.

in one of his essays on being a writer he advises that you should actually go out of your way to get yourself a shit, boring, monotonous job so that your innate creative potential is just aching to escape. that way you'll have passed one of the main stumbling blocks, motivation to actually produce something. Also the shit job wont absorb any of your creativity, so maybe what you produce by yourself/after huors will be better.

Failing the shit job route (which kind of resonates with the whole heartbreak thing) maybe have no job at all and completely dedicate yourself to what you want to do. works especially well if you're taking a course or studying or something.


i cant agree more with mistersloane. show your work and seek criticism, and not just from people you think will tell you nice things. i cant think of the amount of times that ive come away from crits and things feeling angry or dejected from the things people were saying, but that made me much more determined to push myself further and make my work better. criticism is absolutely invaluable, show people work in progress, and just discuss ideas in general, though i find that most people i know (barring the philosophical types) dont really seem to care too much. find people that do, and talk to them

also, compulsively notice things, go see other peoples work, students, established artists, nobody's - its totally inspiring to see what other people have done before you, and although people can brush you off with "oh thats been done a thousand times already" recognise that you can bring your own interpretation to things.

just a few tips i can think of at the moment

oh and never discount an idea. an idea is an idea, its worth exploring it, or at least writing it down/recording it (this is something i wish i could do more religiously) because one day they might be gone. are you to assume that you are always going to be creative? i dont know, but in any case its a nice thing to look back on.

oh, another one, you can find inspiration in absolutely anything - your mind can be like a buggs bunny hopping like mad from one place/idea to the next, stay fluid and keep the intensity.

ultimately you will only produce good work if you are personally enthusiastic about it, no one can ever be enthusiastic for you, or lead you on the path to creating something wonderful - it comes from within and i think you need to seriously think about what your interested in, not just follow what everyone else it doing


hope that helps

Pestario said:

big up the artist way!

Anyway, if you're like me and your main creative stumbling block is the fear that what you'll make will be shit and worhtless, thereby killing your whole enthusiasm for everything - then just go ahead and make shit. Chances are, a real idea will emerge that you can't help exploring and you'll have the enthusiasm to run with it. If it doesn't pan out well, who cares, you've exercised your brain and have something material to show for it. And plus it was shit to begin with anyway right?

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^^ Brilliant, sums it up for me without all the psychobabble.

baboon2004 said:

Wise words, again. To be honest, there's some levels of shit I'm never going to plumb, however hard I try, so at least I have some level of security.

Glad the Artist's Way is working for you - did you do all the weekly exercises, or jsut the bare bones? And how was your drawing ability beforehand, out of interest?

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I did every exercise that only involved thinking and writing things down. I didn't do any of the more out there ones like going out to collect rocks and things.

My drawing ability was always a little bit above average but mostly because I spent hours doodling all over my books in high school and uni. But now I have the discipline to focus on creating whole 'pieces' and I've surprised myself with what I could do if I made the effort. I'm not at professional level or anything but I think I could get close if I keep it up.

Since becoming a freelance designer I find I have no time left to actually work on my own projects, and it is getting a bit depressing. The current plan is to team up with some friends and work together on some projects. I'm hoping the external pressure from others will force me to set time aside to do something.

i feel often it's about making mistakes and coincidences isn't it? i do this game with a friend sometime's where we write down a sentence, fold the paper and have the other person write the next sentence. there's no way to know what the other person wrote, more than sometimes there are some really good consecutive sentences or even some fantastical narrative. it's a lot of fun to do, i wonder if there are more games like this? sometimes i'm in ableton and i copy paste a rhythm or a melody in a random track and it makes for great surprises. when i'm drawing i usually start with something intuitive; lines, circles, shapes, until i can see something in it and work that out.

sometimes i feel like who is the real creative? is it me, or is it just these random accidents (which of course you can stimulate)? it's something i had to think about reading about burroughs cut-up technique.