Write that book.
Start that movement.
Compose that music.
Design that look.
Make that move.
Develop that app.
Pen that poem.
Dance that dance.
Quit stalling. The clock is ticking. You may delay, but time will not.
Create… today!
What Moby can teach you about art and success
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.
Artistic freedom
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.
Today, you have full artistic freedom
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.
Just like…
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.
- It fails them, because they are not allowing their own stars to shine.
- It fails their audience, because they don’t get to enjoy the artist’s best work.
- It fails to make a meaningful impact, because it’s not their art.
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.
Embrace your artistic freedom
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.
Why your ideas are more valuable to you today, than ever before
Today, a great idea is worth more to you than at any time in recorded history.
Why? Because you no longer need lots of money or anyone’s permission, for your idea to become massively successful!
Thanks to the Internet, the financial cost of sharing an idea is close to zero. If your idea is useful enough it can spread and reach hundreds, thousands or millions of people. The key is to have an idea worth sharing, which a section of the population will want to know about and talk about.
You don’t need permission any more
Your idea can be a book, a product, a start-up business, a music track or anything else. Gone are the days when you needed a publisher, recording contract or a huge pre-launch advertising budget. Today, you just need to create a compelling idea. Previously, you needed an editor, producer or media owner etc, to believe in you and back you. Your idea needed their permission, in order to fly.
That barrier is not there any more.
You don’t need to be well-connected, when you have an idea that’s spreading like crazy. With that kind of momentum, you not only attract people who want to share your idea, you also attract the attention of people who want to get involved and give you their backing.
The rewards for developing your creative thinking skills have never been greater. Right now, there are hundreds of millions of people, eagerly waiting for you to give them something, which is worth sharing and talking about.
Make your product, service, company or blog etc, worth sharing and that’s exactly what people will do: Share it!
Average ideas inspire no one
The vast majority of your competitors don’t get it.
They waste their time with average ideas that people show little interest in. They want the short cut, the dummies guide, the trick. They wonder why few new people read their work, share their ideas or talk about them… and assume it must be some tactic they are missing. They remain blind to the fact that it’s their idea that’s broken.
This site is for people like you, who are smarter than that.
So, do great work. Tell your friends. Put it where people can see it. Make it easy to share. Then, watch what happens.
Creativity, touch and feel
I wrote recently about how tablets and mobile phones were far more than mere consumption devices. Today, I’d like to share an example of exactly what I mean.
One of the things I have always loved about writing on paper with a pen or pencil, is the tactile connection between the page and my hand. Writing via a keyboard has always felt like there was too much distance between me [my fingers], which were on the keyboard, and the page, which was on the screen of my computer.
Disconnected
It seemed somehow disconnected. This wasn’t much of an issue, until I needed to write something creative. Then, I’d always need to start by fleshing the ideas out on paper first. I’d only use my MacBook after the creative element of the composition was in place.
Then I decided to try something new
I decided to see how it felt, literally, writing with a tablet device, where my fingers connect directly with the screen. I immediately noticed that I felt closer to the words… not just in a literal sense, but closer mentally.
If you own a tablet device, give it a try. Whilst nothing is quite like using a nice pen or a freshly sharpened pencil, a large screen tablet device provides another tool for your creative arsenal. The creative experience is certainly different enough from using a traditional keyboard, for it to change your creative state.
That’s worth remembering, the next time you’re struggling for inspiration at your keyboard.
Don’t think about making art
“Don’t think about making art. Just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they’re deciding, make even more art.”
– Andy Warhol
Creativity: Do it now!
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!”
Be your own muse
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.
Audio: Dylan Thomas in New York
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.
Find your shipping recipe
An early morning, with a notebook and some coffee or green tea. That’s what does it for me. That’s the recipe to get my mind flowing with ideas and for those ideas to get shipped. In my case, shipped means written up for my readers. I get ideas all day, but I have found that early mornings work best for getting those ideas transformed from thoughts into things.
It doesn’t matter what works for you
What matters is that you find your recipe, to get the ideas flowing and shipped. Practice. Try things. Change the media from pen to pencil. From computer to tablet. From keyboard to paint. From guitar to sound sequencer.
It doesn’t matter, just so long as it works for you… so long as it gets the idea from your head into; the marketplace, the world, the community, the client’s hands or into the reader’s inbox. Steve Jobs was right, real artists ship. So, find your shipping recipe and get your art out there.
Stephen King on inspiration
“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”
— Stephen King.
Be human before being an artist
“The main thing is to be moved, to love, to hope, to tremble, to live. Be a man before being an artist!” — Auguste Rodin.