creativity
-
The World According to Garp
•
1 min read
Below is an excerpt from John Irving’s 1978 novel The World According to Garp: Garp threw away his second novel and began a second novel. Unlike Alice, Garp was a real writer—not because he wrote more beautifully than she wrote but because he knew what every artist should know: as Garp put it, “You only…
-
Thinking without thinking 🤔
•
1 min read
Work is the practice of gathering string. But it is the empty mind that weaves experience, knowledge, and ideas altogether. The apple may have hit Newton’s head, but his insights into gravity were brewing all along. There is no such thing as Eureka, just the gradual harmonization of distilled moments that become apparent when we least expect…
-
Seth Godin on writer’s block
•
4 min read
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see the disclosure for more info. Writer’s block is a myth created by people who are afraid to do the work. There are various reasons writers let the blank page get the best of their emotions. Trying to be too perfect Procrastinating en route to excuses that usually include the…
-
A window through popularity
•
2 min read
Popularity rarely equates to quality, particularly when it relates to art that’s abundant like books, music, and paintings. It’s impossible to sift through catalogs of content and proclaim one piece better than the other. Popularity is often the result of mass marketing. Budgets dictate following. A bank-backed Universal Studios will always create more awareness than…
-
Essential writing advice from Anne Lamott
•
1 min read
TED distilled fourteen writing tips from an interview conducted with novelist Anne Lamott. Her 1995 book Bird by Bird (Amazon) has become an essential guide for aspiring artists of all types. My favorite snippet from the interview appears when she’s asked to give her younger self some writing advice: “I’d teach my younger self to stare off…
-
Famous artists and their recipes for good luck
•
1 min read
Creatives obsess with how other successful creators do their work. Witness the 2013 bestseller Daily Rituals by Mason Currey. But instead of focusing on the productive habits of successful artists, author Ellen Weinstein highlights their oddities. Her book Recipes for Good Luck: The Superstitions, Rituals, and Practices of Extraordinary People contains some fascinating and funny habits.…
-
Facing the blank canvass
•
1 min read
The blank page means to go. Attack. Write for five minutes straight. Put “TK” (to come) in for things that need to be flushed out or fact-checked. But keep writing, jogging the brain. Once you have everything down on paper go back and dig through the trash. Keep what is necessary and discard the rest.…
-
‘Grab a leash and take your thoughts for a walk.’
•
1 min read
Said Henry David Thoreau, “Methinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.” Walking boosts creativity. If you ever get stuck in a creative rut, science shows that you should go for a stroll to get your endorphins moving. As learning scientist Marily Oppezzo notes in her TED presentation below,…
-
Ansel Adams: Photography With Intention
•
1 min read
Today, the mobile phone makes everyone a photographer. But how many people can create what they actually visualize in their head? For Ansel Adams, what he saw in front of him was different than what he pictured in his mind’s eye. So he created the ‘zone system,’ allowing him to play with the aperture to…
-
Everything starts on paper
•
2 min read
Everything starts on paper. Whether you are using post-it notes or loose leaf, paper is ideal for getting down thoughts and mapping out ideas quickly. In fact, some Google employees prohibit phones and use paper exclusively to brainstorm. The magic of writing in analog is a controlled speed, flexibility, and focus. “Everyone can write words, draw…