If you want to be more creative, more often, this quote from Stephen King is a great starting point:
“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work!”
Don’t wait for creativity to appear… command it to appear. Decide that it’s time to create and then get to work.
If you wait for the perfect time, you will seldom create anything.
Photo: Custom USB
If you want to improve the quality and quantity of your creative output, I may be able to save you a huge amount of time and money.
When we study the most creative minds in history, we find that they have one thing in common, which is indisputable. Einstein, Socrates, Shakespeare, Da Vinci, Beethoven… none of them used the technology, which people today think of as essential to the creative process.
The most successful project I ever launched was a marketing blog. I got the idea for it in 2008, after a long walk in Sherwood Forest. I bought a pencil from one of the gift shops and started scribbling my ideas down on the back of a discarded flyer. It was a series of bullet points, which were the core ideas that allowed me to produce a unique type of blog.
The blog went on to become one of the world’s most popular marketing sites, even though it was conceived on the back of a scrap of paper. It’s not about the tools.
I’m a huge fan of technology, both new and old. My studio contains a few Mac’s, lots of pens and pencils, stacks of recycled paper and a shelf full of notebooks I have written in over the years. The thing is, these tools are not the source of creativity. They are simply things I use, to get an idea out of my head or published. It’s not about the tools.
In short: We are never one amazing app or gadget away from becoming a creative powerhouse. The tool we need to sharpen, feed and nurture, is our mind!
Here is a superb audio presentation by the BBC, covering Dylan Thomas in New York. It was a very different setting for the Welsh genius.
Listen to the sounds of Thomas’ New York and hear the great poet himself, read from Under Milk Wood, in this 4 and a half minute piece.
Thanks to the BBC for making this available for resharing.
For more information on Dylan Thomas, his life and his work, check out the official Dylan Thomas website.
The very best art doesn’t follow the latest trends. It isn’t diluted, by having the fashion of the day injected into it, to gain wider acceptance. It stands the test of time.
If you want your art to lose relevance quickly, follow the current fashion.
If you want your art to carry on making a difference, don’t follow anything. Lead!
I’ve visited the room where Dylan Thomas did much of his writing and also the tiny shed where Roald Dahl wrote. Something that struck me about these amazing writers, was how extremely typical their surroundings were.
Nothing fancy. Just a space to create, where they could think and work.
Often, we get caught up in the mechanics of creativity. What software to work with… which type of computer to use.
I think to a lesser or greater degree, these are stalling tactics. Find the mix that feels right for you, then create.
The rest is largely unimportant.
Never let the fear of criticism hold you back from creating your art. Today, I want to share an example with you, which makes this point beautifully.
In 1969, the year The Beatles split, Jim Morrison was asked about the future of music. Here’s an amazing, direct quote from his answer:
“[...] it might rely heavily on electronics, tapes, I can kind of envision maybe one person with a lot of machines, tapes, and electronics set up, singing or speaking and using machines.”
You can watch the short video that quote is taken from, here.
At the time, Morrison’s prediction of what we now call electro music and rap, whilst his counterparts were playing Woodstock with flowers in their hair, was laughed at.
The idea of using machines, rather than musical instruments, was too much for the masses to handle. It seemed like the foolish ramblings of a man with a well known drug problem.
Of course, it wasn’t.
Years after his death, Morrison’s prediction happened. He was duly elevated to the status of musical visionary.
The price for thinking differently, is that you set yourself apart from the masses. By proactively embracing your creativity, you will see the world differently. Your art may be hard for others to understand or ahead of its time. When that happens, the masses are likely to laugh at you or criticise you.
As Einstein said: “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds”.
A great way to deal with this, is to use fear as your compass. Every great artist has encountered ridicule. If your work is not being attacked in some way, you’re probably playing it safe… not making a difference. It’s a sign you need to embrace the edges.
To quote another visionary: “Stay young. Stay foolish” — Steve Jobs.
When was the last time you showed your appreciation, to an artist whose work you enjoy?
The reason I ask you this, is that artists rely heavily on the feedback they receive. Whether that feedback is in sales of their work, tickets to their performance or messages of encouragement, feedback is what shows them who values their work.
I remember talking to a guy once, who almost quit writing his blog because he got so little feedback from it. I took a look at his work and was extremely impressed. I asked him if he had any analytics software plugged into his blog, to count how many visitors or readers he attracted. He said that he didn’t. So, I installed an analytics package and told him I would go through the results with him in a week.
When we analysed the activity on his blog, it was clear that hundreds of visitors were connecting with his work every day. Quite an achievement for a pretty niche blog.
Without that feedback, the writer was about to quit. As much as he enjoyed writing, there seemed little point blogging if no one was interested. He now has several thousand daily readers and a professional publishing contract.
All art is based on human connections — between the artist and those who connect with their work. If you want your favourite artists to carry on creating, you have an obligation. Your obligation is to feedback to them, either through financially supporting their work, telling your friends about them or by letting the artist know you value their work.
In short: If you value an artist, give them a hug!
I visited a website earlier. It told me nothing about what the website owners stood for or who they were.
It was pointless.
No connection.
A waste of my time and their money.
The site greeted me, with a stock photo of a group of beautiful, trendy people. None of whom have any connection with the company, who bought their image.
If you are going to use images of people on your website or blog, show us who you are or who your customers are. Use some creativity. Don’t just paste a group of models on your site, as if they were part of your team.
Otherwise, we may wonder what else you are lying to us about.
How fully do you embrace your artistic freedom? That’s a really important question, maybe one of the most important questions, facing anyone who wants to do meaningful work.
I listened to Moby in an interview recently. He was explaining that when he started out in music, he wanted to be able to do everything himself. He wanted full artistic freedom.
I really enjoy Moby’s music and find his approach to his art inspirational. I also absolutely get why artistic freedom matters so much to him.
What I didn’t realise until hearing Moby’s interview, was that he and I are the same age. When Moby started his music career and I started my business, we took different paths. However, we were both creative professionals in an era before the Internet.
It wasn’t until a decade later, that digital publishing and self distribution arrived. It changed everything. Forever. Back then, if you were a creative professional and you wanted to reach thousands of people with your work, you needed Radio stations, TV stations and newspapers to cover you. You needed to be selected by someone.
You needed permission… not to produce your work, but for it to be put in front of a large audience.
Thankfully, you don’t need permission today. It’s down to you. Just you. You can get your work out there by yourself and if it’s good enough and you’re both smart and you persist, you can make it. You can get your; video, music, designs, dance routine, poetry — whatever, published to an unlimited potential audience.
Back when you needed permission, if you wanted lots of visibility, it really helped if you fit into whatever the fashion of the moment was.
Today, the exact opposite is true.
Today, the more you embrace your full artistic freedom and do your own thing, the more likely you are to get noticed. Those who appreciate your art will immediately resonate with it. Moreover, because you have a global audience, you can be as niche as you like and still have no trouble finding your audience.
Rather than embrace this artistic freedom, most artists are still trying to be just like (whoever). The problem with that approach is that it fails on every level. It leaves them unfulfilled and unknown.
The challenge right now is that the thing that feels risky is actually the safest thing you can do and the thing that feels safe, is the sure path to nowhere.
Allow you, the real you, to do your best work — not your best version of what you think the marketplace wants. Steal like an artist. Then get your work out there.