creativity tips – Page 2 – Speculative fiction and art from Thea Dee

Anti-Creative Myth #2: “I don’t have enough time.”

Creative work often seems to demand large chunks of time… so what can you do if you only have short ones?

This is a big one.
I face off with this one daily.
It goes like this:

You’re at a break in your day and you think, “What should I do next?”

Immediately, images or ideas flash through your mind (if you haven’t suppressed them to oblivion already so many times that they’ve given up). You start to daydream about that project: the drawing, the story, the song. You briefly consider sitting down to sketch, write or strum.

And then you think, “Nah, I can’t do that. There isn’t enough time to make any real progress. No doubt that I’d just get rolling and something would interrupt me: the phone would ring, my parents would want me to do chores, it would be time to go to work…” whatever.

Or maybe you’re staring at a 10-minute window, and you figure you can’t really do anything with 10 minutes.

Yes and no

Yes, it’s true that creativity benefits from large blocks of time. Anything over 2 hours is absolutely lovely.

However, there are still things you can do with smaller chunks of time to achieve your artistic goals.

You can get other tasks done so you are free later to create
You can teach your creative muscles to work in smaller units of time

But beware! The first one can be a hidden trap! If all you do with your free time is other things, then you may fall into the trap of not using the larger blocks for creating.

You see, at that point you’ve got a habit of choosing other things. And when the 2 hours are available, your procrastinatory habit is likely to kick in and you’ll decide to watch a movie or clean your room. Especially if other anti-creative thought processes are running free in your brain. Basically, the more you succumb to the temptation to not create, the easier it is to continue doing so. (Coming soon: Anti-creative myth #3: why start now? The trouble with inertia)

Do the math

Okay, so I really don’t like math. But sometimes numbers can be so convincing. Consider this:

If you procrastinate for a week on, for instance, writing your story, then 7 days have gone by without any progress. This may seem like no big deal. But if you do it long enough, you find a month or a year has slipped away, and the story is unwritten.

On the other hand, if you write for 10 minutes a day, you may finish a page in a week. Or if you’re fast, you might have 5 pages (after all, once you start writing, it often happens that you keep writing for longer than you thought you would). And if you kept it up all year, you’d have anywhere from 52 pages to 260 pages (52*5) at the end of the year.

A whole lot better than nothing. Zip. Zero.

Imagine that!

Assignment: train your brain

Practice being creative (in the creative art of your choice) in short increments.

10 minutes.
15 minutes.
20 minutes.

Try different times. Start with the short ones. Get creative about it: find ways to do it while waiting in line at the store, while on a drive (as long as you’re not driving!), any time you have even a 2-minute window.

Don’t quit!

It may not be easy at first. You may only create utter garbage that you never show anyone.

But I can guarantee that if you keep at it, what you create (even with these tiny bits of time) will improve. And after a while, you’ll find it just as easy to create something wonderful in 10 minutes as it is to do it in 2 hours.

The something wonderful might be smaller or shorter than the 2-hour version, but it will be wonderful nonetheless. That’s why well-known artists do all those cool little sketches at cons — they’re so well-practiced that they can dash off something cool in just a minute or two.

Send me a link to something wonderful you created in a short time!

(By the way, I wrote this entry in several of those short units of time… I started by only writing the title in 15 seconds because I had the idea but had to do something else first… Then I came back and wrote about half… And then I came back and finished it… I’ll probably come back and review/edit it the same way before posting it… Living proof that it can be done!)

Anti-Creative Myth #1: “The reality never measures up to the dream.”

Disappointment can be a powerful deterrent, and fear of disappointment is just as bad

Sometimes our own experience is the worst enemy of our art. It’s not a great secret or mystery: a couple of bad experiences and most humans will steer clear of whatever they didn’t like.

Disappointment.
Failure.
Criticism.

How many times have you procrastinated on a long-dreamed-of creative project (a story, a painting, whatever) because you just knew that it wouldn’t live up to the glowing apparition treasured in your imagination’s eye? How many times have you started an enthusiastic description of your dream idea, only to find you don’t have the right words to stop those puzzled or doubtful looks that, like an arrow, pierce your fragile inspiration beyond repair?

And so you conclude that the idea wouldn’t fly anyway, even if you tried.

Perhaps your entire life has been one long, intermittent, exercise in such procrastination. No? Maybe that’s just me.

But no more! That time of my life is over! I’ve crossed the line from wanna be to I am.

Along the way, I smashed this lifelong anti-creative wall. All to pieces.

Believe

Nobody in this world can create what you see in your imagination like you would.

You are unique.

Even if you find others doing something similar, or find five books on the shelf with the same storyline, it doesn’t matter. No two people will write the exact same story the exact same way. Creative writing classes prove it: you can give 20 people the same assignment, and you’ll get 20 totally different things. And if you enjoy what you create, then I can guarantee that there’s someone else out there in the world who will enjoy it, too.

Regardless of your experience, if your dream idea is vivid and captivating and beautiful, then it is worthy of pursuit. It doesn’t matter if everyone you know mocks your idea any time you mention it. They don’t have to believe in your dream. Not a single person in this world needs to believe in it before it is created — except you.

And you mustn’t entertain a single doubt.
Not even one.

When doubts come calling, tell them nobody’s home! If you’ve already opened the door to them and they’re eating chips on your couch out of your own bowl, then it’s time to kick ’em out.

Just say no to doubt.
You gotta believe.
If you don’t, no one else will.

Commit

You don’t have to make a big deal about it (although that sometimes helps). But you do need to make a decision.

And stick with it.

“Maybe someday” doesn’t work.
“Definitely someday” is a step in the right direction.
“Absolutely today” is what makes it happen.

Baby steps really work

“What about Bob” was right. Baby steps help.

I’m a very visual person. Seeing reminders all over my house makes a huge difference for me. Make the decision that you’re going to do the project, and then paper the walls with sticky notes about it. Break it down into baby steps and do one at a time.

“Do sketches”
“Find the melody”
“Print out reference photos”
“Write a scene, any scene”

Trust your audience

When faced with the doom-and-gloom, despair-inducing thought that I could never create something as glorious as what’s in my mind, I must remember an essential truth of artistic endeavor:

The creative process doesn’t end when I complete my part. The audience provides the finishing touches.

Every person who reads a book creates a different movie in their heads — all from the same words. Each person who views a work of art brings their own interpretation and preferences to the viewing experience. A song rings true to others who are on the same wavelength, often reminding them of the past or capturing a present moment forever to be remembered with that song.

Never underestimate the imaginations of those who will see, hear or otherwise enjoy your art. They are your partners in the creative process. Their brains finish what you begin.

But how do I find my audience?

Come on! You’re reading this blog, aren’t you? So you already know one easy way to publish yourself.

I’ve seen people who rarely go beyond pencil sketches create successful web comics that never got “inked” or “colored” in the traditional comic book sense. And now they’re published in book form and in my local library! The craziest styles of art get published; there’s nothing too messy, too cutesy, too stylized, too angled, too dark or too uncomfortably real. And these days, even stuff that traditional publishers don’t believe in can gain a huge audience via the wonders of the world-wide web. Yay for dub-dub-dub!

So trust me! There’s a home for whatever you create. And there’s an audience out there who will appreciate what you do. Somewhere. (Just don’t think too much about that part yet. First focus on getting it done.)

Nike says: just do it

The ancient wisdom is still true: Anything is possible for those who believe.

So stop procrastinating. Don’t believe the lie. What you create may not measure up to what’s in your imagination at first. But if you keep trying, keep practicing, keep pushing the envelope and never give up: it will.

Anything is possible.
If you believe.
So, just do it.

And when you’ve done it, tell me about it. Show me. I wanna know!

Out of the Chrysalis, Into the Fire (A-CM index)

Don’t let these insidious myths block your creative success! (an index)

Have you ever noticed? When the hero finally decides that he’s going to pursue the quest, it is just the beginning. The beginning of the fight. The beginning of his struggle.

That’s how it has been for me.

>Come on, of course I’m the hero in my own life’s story. Aren’t you?<

Just because I made the decision to commit to my dreams, the doubts and fears didn’t stop bombarding my mind. In fact, they doubled up!

But, now that I’ve decided, I’ve committed, nothing can stop me. The doubts and fears hit me like mosquitoes throwing themselves on a bug zapper.

Dddzzzzzzztt!
There goes another one.
Mmm… Smells a little acrid.
Like roasted mosquito wings.

Ha!

You’ll find that the fight is just beginning when you take your leap of faith.

Sometimes the fight seems to intensify.
As if something in the universe doesn’t want you to succeed.

Ha!
Just remember the smell of mosquito wings.

The anti-creative myths

There is an unending series of thoughts that will resist your decision to follow your creative dreams. Don’t you believe them.

To help expose the lies, I’m starting a series on the “anti-creative myths” — those ideas that pop up and try to become our pet excuses for not creating what fires our imaginations.

This series is not in order of importance or frequency or anything other than “as I think of it”. Please join the conversation by commenting — what anti-creative thoughts tend to stop your creative efforts cold? How do you combat your worst anti-creative thoughts?

This post will serve as an index for the series. Enjoy! And may these myths fall ineffective before our collective defenses, exposed now as the lies they are!

The Metamorphosis From Wanna Be to “I am Artist, Hear Me Roar!”

Where are you now? Where do you want to be?

It’s either genetics or the intrinsic paradox of the creative personality.

In childhood, I loved to create. My dad always encouraged me. He’s an artist at heart.

But I was also driven to pursue straight a’s. My mother is utterly practical, pragmatic and highly logical. Her presence was a constant reminder to stay focused on “reality”. And yet I read books like breathing: constantly, as if my life depended on it. Escaping into worlds created by others, I quickly yearned to create such worlds of my own. I wrote stories that challenged my teacher’s preconceptions about what was possible: Indiana Jones goes to Narnia.

In my teen years, I used my intelligence and the opportunities my parents provided to graduate early and go to junior college at 16 years. To satisfy my mother’s practical demands, I worked during the summers. But when I finally decided on my major, somehow I chose art.

You’d think I was off to a great start on the creative life.

But then, after graduating with an A.A. degree at 18 years old, I figured it was time for the foolishness of youth to end. Time to get “a real job”. My mother’s practical voice drowned out the daydreamer voice of my dad. And I started working for a temp agency doing office work. I was a receptionist. A filing clerk. A data entry drone. A technical writer and illustrator. A software manual publisher. A software interface designer.

I became a writer/designer of online help manuals when hypertext started its world debut as the World-Wide Web in the early-mid 90’s. Just in time to enter into HTML and web design on the ground floor. Today, I have over a decade of professional web design experience.

But I haven’t finished my first graphic novel.
I haven’t done a single digital painting that I’m satisfied with.
I haven’t finished my first movie script.

The things that matter most to my creative heart were neglected. Not for lack of interest. Not for lack of time. Not for lack of talent, software or opportunity.

It wasn’t even the fault of my left-brain-dominant mother.

Mostly, it was out of fear.

The shifty, shady, insidious root of fear

I could fill a tome thicker than a bible with the excuses that have traveled through my gray cells over my lifetime so far. Excuses not to do my art.

I’m convinced that these excuses are not born within us, though we certainly give them homes. I believe there is a dark force in the world that desires to steal every good thing, to kill every wonderful creation, to destroy every destiny. That’s just what I believe.

Whatever the source, when we examine our reasons for not pursuing our art, it’s surprising how many excuses are rooted in fear.

Fear of rejection.
Fear of neglecting important things.
Fear of failure.

Oddly, fear of success.

What has changed?

I share this story to give a backdrop to my presence here in this part of net-space. Because of my professional design background, I have all the technical tools I need: software, hardware, speedy net access. My artistic skills are somewhat polished, and I can draw or illustrate electronically just about anything a client might need.

But I’m new to the manga and digital art world, where my heart truly lies. And so I speak with the voice of experience — yet with the humility of a newbie. (Probably a good policy to stick with, regardless of how “expert” one becomes in a field.)

You see, I made a decision a little while ago. A decision that has changed my life.

I chose to believe.
To believe that what I dream is what I’m created to do.
Who I’m created to be.

No longer an office drone.
No longer a doubting Thomas.
No longer a victim of circumstance.
A believer.
A creator.
A writer.

Every week now, I write. Something.
Every week now, I draw. Something.
Every week now, I overcome. Something.

I am artist. Hear me roar!

What about you?

So? What are you waiting for?

Have you taken the leap yet?
The leap of faith?

What have you dreamed all your life, but never dared to believe? Leave a comment and share! Let’s believe together for the fulfillment of our destinies!

I am a creative genius with decisions of grandeur – and you can be too

Yeah, okay, so why is this blog here? And what’s in it for YOU?

There are thousands of us out here: creative artists or writers with great dreams of making a living doing our art. And there are thousands of obstacles between us and our destinies, and probably millions of excuses that we’ve allowed to block our progress, in one way or another.

Well, NO MORE.

I’m here to say “I’M LIVING THE DREAM” and I believe you can, too. So stay tuned and sign up for my RSS feed to get regular shots in the arm from Dr. Thea, CgD. Everything from resources you can use (Photoshop brushes, links to great online freebies, etc) to practical tips on being more creative and achieving your dreams, one step at a time.

Tried and true

And listen, you’ve got my commitment that this isn’t empty, regurgitated theoretical advice I read in a book somewhere. I’m gonna tell it to you like it is for me every day. If I give you a tip, it’s gonna be ’cause I walked it out myself and proved it works.

chrome hill…, originally uploaded by tricky â„¢.

Ready for the ride? I am! If you’re on this creative journey, too, let’s link arms and travel it together for a while. Two heads are better than one, they say. When it comes to creativity, it’s absolutely true. Just imagine what we’ll have when there’s a hundred or thousand of us together? Sounds like heaven to me.

Let’s get started.