quote:A Creator Doesn’t Just Talk About Their Work. They Work.
and
quote:The Creator Gets Out of Her Own Way
and
quote:A Creator Does Not Entertain Hypotheticals
Really great stuff about luck, too, which there's a lot of talk about in the indie ebook publishing circles these days (along the vein of "only some will get lucky..." - I like what this author says about having to put in the work to get lucky in the first place.)
posted
Thank you, KayTi! I love this article! I wish I had a printer and a place to tack it up where I'll see it. That's a rich box of wisdom-truffles right there. I'm going to have to go back for another bite later in the day (and the week, and the month, etc). Really thanks!
Posts: 99 | Registered: Aug 2011
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posted
Yes there is a lot of good info in that article, but the comparison of building bridges is flawed. Art for the sake of art is being overlooked to keep the bridge's contruction under budget. In today's world, money is everything by cutting anything not need for any project such a constructing buildings, bridges, roads, etc. I know. I'm a production worker, and my bosses are always looking for way to cut costs. This is also why a company's customers will look at competitor's of said company. Whoever can do the work the cheapest and still do the job gets the job. It's not a matter of art anymore but one of landing customers and saving the company money when doing it... which in a lot of ways is a shame.
Posts: 1320 | Registered: May 2008
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posted
I'll give you my *one item* list of things to do if you want to be creative:
On every project, attempt just a little bit more than you are absolutely sure you can accomplish.
In my past life as a software engineer, I gained quite a reputation for creativity, but I never once went to work with the intention of doing anything creative. No, I was out to save the world, to protect people from vector borne diseases, to protect wild great apes from tourist-borne illnesses; to empower first responders in humanitarian disasters; to control invasive plant species before they disrupt local ecosystems.
One thing about all the important projects like these is that there's never enough money -- not by a long, long shot. What you really want to do is unrealistically expensive. You don't have half a million dollars, so like a good engineer you make a priortized list of all the things you might be able to do and how much they cost. You pick things off the list until you have a project that you can safely do for, say, fifty thousand.
And staring you in the face will be that the top thing on the list of stuff you discarded. Naturally your first thought is, "If I try really hard, I could do this one too." Listen to that thought.
And that's how you become creative. I used to tell the young engineers working for me, "Make sure every project you do has something in it that's a stretch. Not an irresponsible stretch, make it something you can do but will make you sweat." Not only is this better value for the money, it's *safer*. Nobody can do consistent quality work when they're just going through the motions.
Stretching a little bit on every project fosters creativity in any field. Don't sit down to write a *creative* story. Sit down to write a story that's different than anything you've done before; that will challenge your skills as a writer.
Posts: 1459 | Registered: Dec 2010
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