Hunting Creativity

Don’t just sit at your desk.

Get out into the world.
There are no blank pages staring back at you out in the wild.
The canvases out in the world are filled with inspiration and imagery.

Ideas come from the unexpected.
Ideas come from the mundane.

Do things that you find interesting.

Do things that you find unexpected.
Do things that you find mundane.

Wandering is the path.

Bring a pen.
Bring a notebook.
Bring a willingness to be a detective.
Leave the compass back home.

Take notes about everything.

Everything that is said.
Everything that the senses capture.
Everything that you think.
Everything that you feel.
Document it all.

Recognize what makes you uncomfortable in the work.

You can avoid it.
You can ignore it.
You can document it.
The uncomfortable is probably not the heart of what you’re trying to do.
The uncomfortable may be exactly what you’re searching for.

Look for a structure.

Dig for the outline.
Work that first draft.
Once there’s a structure, you build on that.
Then start on in with a firm end date in mind.

Put on the pressure.

The pressure becomes your driving force.
The pressure of the date.
The pressure to get it all out.
The pressure to get it all down.
The pressure that you put on the idea.
The pressure to get to the heart of the matter.
Pressure matters.

Pressure is good.

For some, working without a script gives you maximum creative freedom.
For some, working with a script gives you every detail for maximum creative freedom.

Work towards maximum creative freedom.

Creating is like dropping a fishing line into your brain.
Be comfortable with the calm and peace of you, the water, the boat and no fish in sight.
Be comfortable with the need to catch something before sunset or everybody starves.
The seas of your brain are bountiful.

Don’t be interested in conventional stories.

Structure for a story is good.
Conventional stories are everywhere.

Work in a constant cloud of doubt and anxiety.

That’s how most creative people live.
That’s how most creative people love.
That’s how most creative work comes out.
That’s how most creative people find the heart.
That’s how most creative people suffer.
That’s how most creative people create.
It’s not always healthy.

Mind your health.

Speak to someone.
Ask for help.

Get back to it.

How can the story grab the audience from the beginning?
If it’s interesting to you, it works.
If it’s interesting to the audience, it makes them question.
If it’s interesting to the audience, it gives them closure.
Make the story grapple with something new.
Make the story grapple with those questions.
Let it all roll around together on the mat.

Be true to your craft without pretension.

Be an idealistic realist.
Be someone who pushes the envelope of imagination.
Be someone who creates, curates and documents.
Get there.

Then go away.

Have a period of isolation.
By the sea.
By the forest.
By the garden.
Bye the city.
Bye the apartment.
Bye the studio.
Travel. Even when you can’t go anywhere.
Change your surroundings.
Get lost in your own thoughts.
Hunt with a view.

Stay grumpy.

Inspiration is often found in the grumpy.
Push creativity to the limit.
Push it further.
Make things that won’t shame you.
Makes things that will save you.

This is for you.
This is for me.

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