look at it another way

so you have finished your masterwork. you are happy and satisfied. rightly so.
well sort of.
you should never be to happy with what you have created - you should always be critical of what you do because you want to learn from what you have done so the next time you improve.

i am not talking about editing here.
i am not talking about touching up an image or refining what you have done.

i am talking about looking at what you have done critically.
you are doing this for two reasons.
firstly you are looking at where you can improve - do you need to tighten it up, let it flow more? more colour? less colour? the lessons learnt here will always benefit you when you start your next piece of work.

secondly you need to look at your work and ask yourself could i have done this differently? would it have been better if i had..?
what do i mean?
if you have done a series of portraits where you have painted/ photographed your subject face on, would you have been better to approach the from the side in order to get a profile or a three quarter view? maybe you need to just have part of the face in the finished image - a close up on the eyes.

if you have painted a landscape - maybe you should have gone with acrylic rather than watercolour. maybe abstract instead of figurative.

it is all about viewpoint.
look at what you have created and think about how you might have approached it differently. it may be that the method you used was the right one - so it means that the next time you try to do the same sort of thing you'll know what you need to do. it might also be that in looking for a new way to do the job you are struck by inspiration and have something new to work on.

you improve by looking, critically, at what you have done.
you improve by looking for new ways of working.

be pleased with your finished work. every completed act of creation is something to be proud of.
but use that piece as a way to improve your next piece.

remember everything is a work in progress.

nike are right

nike are right about one thing: just do it.
if you want to be creative then you are going to have to put in the hard yards. one aspect of this is just the doing of it.
the secret to inspiration is perspiration. don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
if you sit around waiting for the muse to strike there is a big chance you will miss the call beause you are busy doing something else.
so train yourself to be creative.
train yourself to do it.
it isn't a cool message. it isn't a wow message. it just is.
whether you want to write, paint, sculpt, play music or make bracelets out of hula hoops you have to find time to do it.
no waiting for the moment. it might come and you might watch it go by.
no waiting for the inspiration because who know if you can hear the gentle knocking of an idea?
create time.
create space.
create inspiration and create something special.

why do i say creat inspiration? because nine times out of ten (trust me i have done the surveys: would i lie to you?) inspiration doesn't fly down like a thunderbolt because you have been considering doing something creative. no it comes because you are actively thinking about being creative - you are wonder how to fill the canvas or the next chord sequence for the band's new single.
you have mulled.
you have pondered.
you have cogited.
in the midst of this mighty mental work comes the idea the inspiration that makes it all worthwhile.

it won't happen all the time. so don't be put off by the fact the first few times you try to unleash the beast of creation you end up with warm tapioca stinking up the place.
you may not think much if it.
i'll tell you wha you have.
1 - you might have an idea that is worth saving.
2 - you might have an idea you can finish off.
3 - you might have something that leads you to the next idea.
4 - you might just have started something happening and in a few short weeks you will have something finished that you are proud of.

no one gets to the finished item withou at some point having to go through the hard slog.
inspiration costs and here is where you start paying - to, sort of, quote.

when the times come where you don't want to get an idea into the world just remember this: keep going, work hard - just do it.

don't be afraid

don't be afraid of the dark - sometimes you just have to leap into it, take a chance and see what happens.

creativity is something that feeds off of itself.
it is a little like sport.
what do i mean by that? listen to sportsmen and managers and they will tell you that winning becomes a habit.
the same is true of creativity - the more you do it the more natural it becomes.

often you will learn more from your failures than you will from the successes (again a little like sport).

so don't be afraid to take chances with what you are doing.
don't stick to the same old same old.
if you have been writing period romances featuring ponies and miners maybe it is time to try to do the gritty noir butler as private eye story.
it doesn't matter if it turns out to be rubbish.
you will learn something from doing it.

moving out of the comfort zone is important.
in sports training is a combination of doing the same thing over and over and over until it becomes second nature as well as learning new things to surprise your opponents with.

that is the way it should be with your creative endeavours.
there are some techniques you are going to master and there are others are going to attempt to learn.
it is the attempting that is important.
it will show your weaknesses - allowing you to improve them. a good thing.
it will push you to think in a different way. stretching you. a good thing.
it may even lead to a whole new set of ideas for you to work with. a good thing.

what is the worst that can happen if you take a chancce and do something that you are not familiar or comfortable with? you will have spent sometime working on something that didn't pan out.
for all the disappointment of that trust me you will reap rewards in the long run as you will have learnt lots.

the very worst that can happen is someone sees you failed creative attempts and sniggers a little.

so what. never forget that you are creating for you and if they can't offer constructive criticism then they can sod off.

so take a chance.
don't be afraid (unless of course you are writing a horror story or making a ghost film - in which case be very afraid).

just take a chance

while having my morning toilet (a relaxing sit on the throne to let nature do its work while i read a magazine)i was struck by the optimism of one of the writers in 'metal hammer'. he said that for every band that makes it there are 10 that don't.
honestly that is wildly optimistic.

we have been spoilt by the likes of x-factor into thinking people can become overnight sensations.
it happens.
just not often.

here is a hard truth for you: there is a good chance your work will never be seen by anyone. there is a good chance no one will remember your work or your name.
for every wannabe singer, guitarist, painter, sculptor, writer, poet, film maker, dancer etc there are hundreds more all wanting to do the same thing as you.

talent plays a part.
luck plays a part.
being pushy plays a part.
being creative is just like office politics without the office.

you may not want to hear this but quite often those who do the best are not always the best at what they do - they are just lucky to be in the right place at the right time and known how to capitalise on the situation.

so why say take a chance?
firstly if you don't take the chance to do that creative thing you have always longed to do then you will never know if it is any good. i believe it was wayne gretzky who said something like you miss a hundred percent of the shots you don't take.
so very true.

also because the chances of you being seen are slight use this cloak of anonymity to do what you like.
don't worry about what the reader or viewer might think - just do what you want. doesn't matter what it is, doesn't matter about the style or the medium - just take your idea and run with it. do what you want in the way you want to.
if the chances are slim that you will be seen and published then you may as well have fun with seeing how your idea turns out.

and who knows because you have freed yourself of the shackles of looking for approval you might just be one of the lucky ones to be in the right place at the right time and become the next big thing.

if you don't?
who cares - you will have created something that you are pleased with and with the knowledge that you have more inside to get out and the next one will be better.

choices choices and more choices

it is all about making choices.
bit like life really.

what sort of choices? well how about trying these for size.
where to start? where to finish? keep it light? make it dark? go mimimalist? chuck the kitchen sink in? what is the central focus?

then consider: what is the theme? what is the meaning? what is the idea you want to convey.

then consider: how are you going to work? plan it out? wing it? are you going to do it when the feeling strikes you? at set times? in a set location? work in silence or with the radio on.

see so many choices to make in order to take your idea from that light bulb moment through to completion.

anyway you cut it there is a lot of had work.

so get on with it.

where to stop

one of those odd things to consider: just where to stop.
should be simple. it isn't.
where does the end come. when have you done enough and anymore is just too much.

there was a time when i thought bigger was better. i loved big books. they were a challenge to me. i loved longer movies: epics. i wanted albums to have more songs on them.

yet now the question is why so much? this might have started because i am getting older and have less of an attention span. it might be because of the internet and its encouraging of flitting from one place to another. i don't know.

i first noticed my questioning of when to stop at art galleries when i was looking at contemporary abstracts or sculpures. mostly when i am looking at such work the first question that pops to mind is how long did it take to do and the normal answer is: 'probably not very long'. then i start to wonder why did the artist stop at the point they did. what made them think it was done? did they get to their goal? did they lose interest? run out of time?

whenever you are creating something it is one of the questions you are going to have to ask yourself: where does it end?
are you going to turn what you thought was a 200 page novel into a several thousand page series? is that photo you are working on going to be photoshopped to within an inch of its life? are you going to add new scenes to that movie you making?

it is easy to add.
it is harder to stop at the right place, even harder to cut and edit something down.

try it.
next time you are doing something. stop. look at it. think about it and wonder could you do more with less.
i think you might surprise yourself.

don't worry there will come a time when i will be saying add everything in as well as the kitchen sink.

like i said there is no right way. there is no wrong way. there is just your way.

write way

in case you are wondering there is no right way to write. just in the same way as there is no right way to sing, paint, act, sculpt, screenprint, modern dance. you get my drift.
there is no right way to creativity.

this isn't the same thing as there not being a right way to success or popularity.
that is a differnt matter altogether.

for most of us being creative is something we do in isolation.
if all you want to do is create that piece of work that has been gnawing at your soul for escape then it doesn't matter what it is like as long as you are satisfied with it.
it is your vision.
your voice, your idea.
if it works for you and it gets your idea across in the way you want then it has worked.
be happy.

if you want your idea, your vision, to reach a wider audience then you might just have to compromise. you might have to follow some of the rules.

it comes down to: create for fun or create for profit.
both are as valid as each other - they just have differnet road maps to their destinations.

it doesn't mean your highly original but highly idiosyncratic work will not be appreciated by a wider market - just don't expect it.
however as they say "all roads lead to rome" so perhaps your personal map may just lead to success.

just nick it

there is nothing new under the sun.
don't be afraid to steal someone else's idea - just make sure you do something good with it.
it happens all the time. sometimes it is an 'adaptation' think of 'magnificent seven' and 'seven samurai'. or there are homages think of 'skizz' and 'boys from the blackstuff'. in the world of music it is called variations on a theme.
copies, homages, plagarism - call it what you will but there are times when you have to play with someone else's toys.
don't think of it as cheating - you can learn from it.
what is it you like about it?
what don't you like about it?
do you like the structure?
can you improve the pacing?
is it the characers? is it the settings? is it theme. is it the descriptions?
(this works for all forms of creativity - doesn't matter what you are doing you can always steal from somewhere else).

so if you are stuck for inspiration - go steal it from someone else.

jot it down

inspiration can strike at anytime.
don't rely on memory to keep hold on to that snippet of inspiration. no what you need is a notebook.
me i use a moleskine notebook. hey if they were good enough for hemmingway they are good enough for me. (in an aside i often go to the royal academy and more often than not i will see a middle-aged chap with his moleskine sketchbook sketching a painting or two. he seems quite talented).

if you are lucky when the muse strikes you will be able to act on it.
mostly though inspiration hits when you least expect it and when it is least convenient. so you need to make notes turning the inspiration into something concrete. something that you can come back to at a later date.

why come back to it later?
well there are times when inspiration is just a bit half-arsed. those are times to let it lie and mull it over, give it time to grow into something bigger and better.

with a notebook you can jot the ideas down, leave them to one side and then come back to them later.

the important thing is to come bck to those jottings - no point in writing down the idea and then forgetting them. that is like buying a lottery ticket and never checking the results. what kind of fool does that? (ah that would be me).

so make notes.
come back to them later.
simple advice that works for anything creative.

read watch listen

one of the easiest ways to find inspiration is to read books, magazines, newspapers; watch movies, tv shows, plays; listen to music, radio shows and people speaking.

you can find nuggets of ideas in all of these.
you can also see how someone else has constructed their song, their poem, their book, movie etc.

best of all you can steal ideas from other people.
remember there is nothing new under the sun, don't worry too muhc about coming up with a new idea. instead worry about making your version of the idea fresh and interesting.

do it

creativity is like a muscle. to become stronger/ better at being creative you have to work at it. the words, lines pages you write are like reps in the gym. each one helping you hone your craft.
beckham didn't become golden balls just by being born gifted he became a world class player by working his golden balls off. arnie's muscles might have been the product of good genetics - but he sweated in the gym to hone them into olympian perfection.

it is all about the work you do.
it is all about the practice you do.

if you want to be a guitarist - do scales.
you want to be a photographer - take pictures.
you want to be a painter - then put brush to canvas.
don't think about doing it.
do it.

only through doing it will you improve.
you improve from making mistakes. you improve from learning where you went wrong.

so practice, practice, practice.
it may not make you perfect. it will help you become much better than you are right now.

so whatever it is you want to do. stop reading this and go and do it. do it once. do it twice and do it again. you'll see you are getting better. oh and don't think it is going to be easy, because it isn't. if it was we would all be creative giants.

get on with it then.

Start

this is going to be me wittering on about how i want to be a writer. how i want to be creative. blah blah.
i have said i have wanted to write for more years than i can remember. someone once said you don't want to be a writer you are. you just write.
just write.
that is what i am hoping i will do with this. just write.
bits. pieces. ideas, thoughts and who knows what else may pop up. you never know i might even add in some of my lame attempts at fiction.

the question is: how long before i stop doing this?
answer on a postcard please.