Category: Thoughts & Ideas

There are a lot of details that go into building a writing habit. But before we start, here’s the reality you’ll need to take to heart. If you want to develop a writing habit, you need to write every day. The quantity, quality, and purpose do not matter. Sitting down, focusing on the blank page before you, and putting words down is what you need to do.

Let’s dive into what I know about my writing process and how I’ve been able to build a writing habit.

Set the stage.

I like writing in silence. This allows me to hear my thoughts and translate them to words on the page. Some soundtracks put me in the creative spirit, anything without lyrics, or oddly enough, Kid A by Radiohead. Mostly I am vigilant in eliminating as many distractions as possible as I come up with ideas. Once I have a direction and the confidence in my abilities has returned, I will sometimes have music playing in the background.

Nothing will kill your writing habit more than obsessively checking email and social media while you are attempting to write. I fail more than I succeed in this area. This will be a life-long challenge as I allow the outside world to go away while I explore my imagination.

Understand the writing process.

Writing is a multi-stage process categorized by genres, styles, purposes, and products. While it’s not necessary to understand everything, it is useful to know a few details about what you are bringing to life. Are you writing fiction or non-fiction? What medium are you writing for? How long will it be? Once you have the answers to these questions, then you can start.

I prefer writing non-fiction as opposed to fiction. I’m usually drafting a blog post, a podcast episode, or an email newsletter with lengths of a few hundred words to less than 5,000 words. Anything more and everything changes (the tools, the intent, the focus, and the deadlines).

Start writing by capturing and shaping ideas.

The simplest way to begin writing is to capture ideas. It could be a single word, a sentence describing a feeling, the juxtaposition of two opposing views, a character, or a setting. I like to capture thoughts in a sketchbook or on a yellow pad. Loose, messy, and free. I’m not bound by any medium or fully-formed end result.

From here, I start smashing ideas together to see if a theme emerges. This usually happens in my mind while I am walking, taking a shower, or spacing out. This is an extremely fruitful part of my process because I get ideas for phrases, titles, and an overall shape to the piece.

From here, you have a choice as you move forward:

1. Start writing and see where you end up.
2. Build a rough outline and start filling in all the pieces.

Regardless of your choice, you have to do the work of writing. Start stringing together thoughts and ideas, words, and sentences into a rough draft that communicates ideas through stories, reflection, or analysis. Your words might illuminate or confuse, but don’t worry, it’s only the rough draft. Words change quickly from draft to draft.

Wait, there’s more than one draft? Yes, countless drafts and endless revisions. Wrap your mind around that reality. Writing is not only getting something down on paper, but refining it over and over until it is right.

Why not get it right first? The biggest frustration to any writer is trying to be perfect from the very beginning. Writing becomes more complicated than it already is, and it takes more time. That’s a great way to not develop a writing habit.

Edit your words for simplicity and clarity.

Once you have a draft, now it’s time to go into editing mode. But first, take a break. It could be for a few minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months. Get your mind clear so you can come back to your writing with a hint of objectivity.

The number one goal of editing is to simplify and clarify what you are trying to communicate.

Assuming you are working on a digital device, save a copy of your work before you start making changes. While I don’t always follow this rule, I understand it’s importance. Especially when you are 14 revisions in, and you realize you really love how you wrote chapter two in the second revision.

Editing is a different skill than writing. It requires various tools and a new set of eyes. Have a trusted source you can send your work to for feedback. It helps to give your trusted source direction on the type of feedback you would like from them.

Designing == Writing.

Once the editing is done, now you get to design and polish your ideas in their final format. Whether you are producing an ebook, a printed manuscript, a blog, an email newsletter, a podcast, or an audiobook, you will edit and refine your writing even more.

An interesting phenomenon I’ve noticed in the writing process: viewing your work in context reveals additional errors and misunderstandings. The more you can see your work in the final typeface or design, the more you can anticipate future problems.

Know what medium you’re writing in.

Every week I’m writing in a variety of styles. I journal my thoughts every morning. I also write email newsletters and podcast episodes, draft emails and other forms of communication, and piece together long-form content for guides and courses.

Whether you are writing an email, a blog post, a podcast episode, a feature film, a short story, or a novel, the structure of the medium often fuels your decisions. On top of that, there are three different interpretations of that structure that either propel you forward or hold you back: 1) The standards set by gatekeepers and professionals, 2) your creative understanding of those structures and rules, and 3) what an audience wants.

The more I write, the less interested I become in what the standards are. I have become obsessed with my own interpretations and how the audience responds. But be prepared to experiment and see what resonates with yourself and others.

Set deadlines and release schedules that work for you.

Let’s start with deadlines, they are an absolute necessity for any writer. Over time I’ve realized an important reality: there is a difference between having one and being committed to it.

If I don’t take a deadline seriously, I’m not committed to it. I’ll make half-hearted attempts. I’ll let the dissonance between my imagination and reality stop me from starting, let alone finishing.

Where deadlines usually fall apart is when I don’t have an idea of what to write, no process of discovery, no clue of the structure of the finished piece. If I don’t know what an appropriate deadline should be, I arbitrarily pick and date and see what happens.

Another important lesson about deadlines: learn what keeps you motivated and design your deadlines with that knowledge. For me, whatever is in my calendar is what gets done. I make sure deadlines are in my schedule so I can see them in my weekly planning sessions.

Writing on an iterative release schedule.

Nothing will impact your writing ability more than a commitment to writing on an iterative release schedule. Whether you release a daily blog, a weekly email newsletter, or a bi-weekly podcast episode, sticking to a release schedule refines your craft over time.

The frequency of your commitment should be an attainable challenge. If you’ve never written on a schedule before, you are more likely to succeed in writing monthly or every other week. Pick a time-frequency, build your habit of writing and releasing, then up your commitment.

How you think determines what you do.

In writing, as well as any other creative endeavor, your mindset is everything. As you build your writing habit, ten essential characteristics will guide you from aspiring author to prolific producer.

1: A spirit of curiosity and discovery will motivate you through the bleakest of days. Some days you’ll find the words flowing through you as if you were inspired by the Muses. Other days it will be a slog through a slough. Get curious about what you could discover about your imagination, characters, and their world.

2: Your identity as a writer is less important than actually writing. I don’t consider myself a writer even though the majority of my work is writing. Don’t worry about the title, just do the task at hand.

3: Stop comparing your half-finished works with what other writers publish. This is the cardinal rule of any creative profession. Comparison is a destructive force. There is a time to use it, but not when establishing your writing habit.

4: Spend time every day, letting your mind wander in search of thoughts, ideas, feelings, and stories. In The Source: Open Your Mind, Change Your Life, Dr. Tara Swart writes about a function of the brain called the default mode network. This is the area of your brain that works in the background when you aren’t working. When we wander, relax, and do things unrelated to our task at hand, the default mode network works on our behalf. That’s where the moment of inspiration comes from. Trying to remember the name of a song? Stop forcing yourself to remember and go do something else.

5: Develop a list of topics that you would love to write about for a long time. This recommendation comes from The Business of Expertise: How Entrepreneurial Experts Convert Insight to Impact + Wealth by David C. Baker.

6: Set daily writing goals and increase them over time. A lot of advice for new writers focus on page counts. In a recent interview, author Ellie Alexander shared her daily writing goal: 2,000 words. Set goals that make sense for you.

7: Write for a purpose. Whether you just want to have fun, write the next ground-breaking novel, or promote your latest product, take time to understand your motivation for writing. It will help you to fill the blank page with your thoughts, refine them, and share them with the world.

8: Introduce gamification into your writing process. Jerry Seinfeld bought a giant calendar and put an X through the day once he was done writing. The game was to not break the chain of X’s. I’ve added gamification to my writing process by trying to score 100% in Grammarly or a green light on my post in WordPress. How can you turn your writing into a game?

9: Never stop capturing ideas. Everything is useful. What doesn’t work today will eventually fill-in-the-blank in a future project.

10: Treat writing like a job and a hobby. Show up to your writing desk with intent and purpose every day, just like your day job. But a hobbyist mindset is helpful as well. Get obsessed, flirt with the muse, daydream, and pretend your writing will change the world. Most importantly, have fun.

Treat writing tools like a marriage, not a one-night stand.

There are endless writing tools and apps out there. You could spend all of your time trying to find the best tools possible and never write a single word. Spend some time to find the tools that unlock your creativity and make writing fun. Here are the tools I use and how I use them:

• 8.5″ x 11″ Yellow Pad. This is how I capture my notes and ideas during business meetings, interviews, and work.
• Pilot Precise V5 Extra Fine Rolling Ball Pen. I love this pen. The right amount of line thickness and weight.
• Strathmore 9″ x 12″ Sketchbook. The 60 lb. paper is a staple for my journals and daily collection of ideas and quotes from reading.
• iA Writer. This app, combined with Markdown, a shorthand for quickly providing style and hierarchy to your documents, is where I do most of my work. I can also organize files and folders based upon my different projects. The program is light-weight and fast.
• Microsoft Word. If iA Writer is light-weight and fast, Word feels heavy and formal to me. If I need to quickly add formatting or send a formal document to a client for revisions or feedback, I’ll often use Word.
• Google Docs. Google Docs is essentially an online version of Microsoft Word with one massive difference: you can collaborate in real-time with other writers.
• Grammarly. A tool that not only checks spelling and grammar, but ensures you’re writing in a style that is clear and direct.
• Adobe InDesign. The software I use to design and publish my ebooks.
• WordPress. The blogging platform I have used since 2008. I use the Classic Editor as opposed to the Block Editor.
• ConvertKit. An online platform for building a mailing list and sending email newsletters.
• Scrivener. I’m exploring Scrivener for long-form writing projects. It not only allows you to organize your work, but also stores your research in the same file.

There is so much more I could say about writing habits, but I’ll end with this: start writing every day before you think you’re ready. You’ll never be fully prepared for what will satisfy your mind.

What are you waiting for?

Post originally appeared on BlogWorld.com (6.5 Ways To Start And Finish A Documentary Film)

For the past year, I have been working on an online documentary video series called Innovators of Vancouver that documents leaders of vision, passion and action throughout my hometown of Vancouver, WA. Each episode is 5-10 minutes and combines a filmed interview with B-roll of the Innovator doing the work that inspired me to choose their story for the project. I have finished six episodes, currently working on the seventh episode, and because of my work on this project, I often get asked by aspiring documentary filmmakers what they need to know to get started making their own documentary projects. Among everything that one could know about making documentary films, here are six and a half things that any aspiring documentary filmmaker needs to know about starting and finishing a documentary film project.

1) Know What Interests You

A lot of people don’t know where to start when it comes to making a documentary and it is important to start with what interests you. It could be something serious that you have personally struggled with such as depression or cancer. It could be the story of your grandparents coming to America. It could be a visual blog post about your addiction to gator meat or your love affair with coffee and doughnuts.

2) Start In Your Own Backyard

You don’t need to travel the world in search of experts or subject matter for your documentary film. What you are interested in and what you end up making a film about can be filmed in your own community, all it takes is finding the people that share the same affinities that you have. Start with your friends, family, boyfriend, girlfriend, spouse or kids. Ask them their thoughts on your subject, this is formally known as conducting a pre-interview. It helps you to develop a report with your subject off-camera, ensuring that you know exactly what they bring to your documentary film. It also helps you with step three.

3) Learn How To Ask Great Questions

Essential to great documentary film production is the ability to ask great questions that are open-ended and specific to your interviewee’s experience with your subject. By pre-interviewing people you learn about the depth of their experience, their passion or dispassion for your subject, and helps you to craft a series of questions that go beyond who, what, when, where, why and how. With that said, the best place to start is:

• Who are you?
• What do you do?
• What are your feelings on [subject]?
• When did you first experience [subject]?
• Where can people learn more about [subject]?
• Why does [subject] matter to you?
• How can [subject] affect others?

These aren’t the best questions, but they are a starting point, but you will only get to the ending point if you…

4) Shut Up And Listen

Don’t be like newsanchors and pundits that interrupt to get their agenda and point across, shut up and listen to what the person is saying. Nod your head in agreement, emote with body language, empathize when necessary. If you think of something to ask as a follow-up, write it down and wait until they are done talking before asking the question. Learn how to make people feel comfortable by looking them in the eye and giving them 100% of your attention.

5) Adding Images And Video To Further Tell The Story

Now that your interview is recorded, find photos and film B-roll that will help visually tell the story. Childhood photos go well with stories from your grandparents. Film volunteers serving in the community, follow your subject as they go about their business during the day, and don’t forget to get multiple angles, wide-shots, close-ups and everything in between.

6) Edit Everything To Tell A Broader Story

Open your favorite video editor: Final Cut Pro X, Premiere Pro, iMovie, Windows Movie Maker and start watching the interviews. Clip what stands out, forget the rest. Start adding the B-roll on top of the interviews. Keep building without worrying about the length of the project. Once you have a strong beginning, middle and end, eliminate the fluff. Fine-tune the edits. Level your audio so that all of your interviews are at the same volume. Add some background music, but don’t break copyright laws: use royalty free music or find a local musician that will let you use their music in return for free advertising.

Now that you have a finished documentary film, here is the final tip:

6 1/2) Do it again

Don’t just check “Make Documentary Film” off your bucket list, do it again with a different subject. You’ll learn better ways to do specific techniques, your editing will tighten, you’ll learn what to shoot and what not to shoot, and you’ll become more comfortable reaching out to subject matter experts that bring depth and credibility to your finished film.

With that, get out there and start your next documentary film. Most importantly, finish it, upload it to YouTube or Vimeo, and share it in the comments of this post.

Post originally appeared on BlogWorld.com (Make Better Videos, Part 3: Remember The Passionate Beginning)

Ask any working filmmaker a simple question: “what movie would you make if you could, right now?” After a second or two, you will most likely hear an accurate and intricate description of the movie that plays in his or her mind. A glimmering glow slowly erupting from the depths of forgotten passion, showering you with excitement and energy, capturing a glimpse of the original desire to make movies. Somewhere along the way, filmmakers inevitably forget about their specific origin of filmmaking passion. They get caught up in the professional pursuits of their career and over time lose their excitement. Regardless, as long as filmmakers desire to learn, grow and make better videos, they must continually remember the passionate beginning of their movie-making career.

Taking Your Pulse: Where Are You At Today?

Filmmaking is demanding, time-consuming and expensive. Creatively speaking, it’s hard to keep the juices flowing day after day, year after year. The little experiments that once brought tremendous joy, gave way to minimized risk, lessened satisfaction, and a deep-seated desire to escape the burdens of professional filmmaking. This is a critical part of the unfortunate, yet necessary, journey of the artist (yes, filmmakers are artists). If you can make it through the severe times of drought and doubt, you will become a stronger and more devoted filmmaker.

So, where are you at on your journey? For myself, I have been making videos for about ten years and I am coming to a point where I need to empty myself of all that I have learned, so that I can reconnect with why I initially wanted to make videos: To tell stories that matter.

Over the years, I have grown in my technical abilities, but I daily struggle with maintaining my passion and excitement. The stories became less about subjects that mattered and more about making sure that bills were paid and obligations maintained. Not the greatest ingredients for filmmaking success. So, how do you rediscover your initial enthusiasm for filmmaking?

How Far Away Are You From When You Began?

The first step in connecting with your passionate beginning—–why you make videos—–is identifying where you are at. This will help you to identify and strip away all of the baggage that has piled upon your foundations of passion and desire, things like:

• Comparing ourselves to other filmmakers.
• Lusting after the latest and greatest equipment.
• Arguing about editing software changes.
• Wishing that we were better at our craft.

As you purge these distractions and de-motivators from your creative process, you will actually see that you are closer to your passion than you realize.

Recapturing The Creativity And Passion Of The Early Years

The next step in recapturing the passionate beginnings of your filmmaking career is to make the film you want to make. Here are a few things that you can do:

• Make a one to five minute short film about whatever you want regardless of budget, equipment and talent. Break out your cell phone, your home video camera or your professional gear and experiment with new styles that you normally wouldn’t think to utilize. If you are a fan of structure, play with cinema verite or non-linear storytelling. If you don’t like structure, try to be as structured and specific as possible. Essentially do the exact opposite of what you would normally do.
• Return to the “lab” and experiment with the tricks of the trade. Rent a super wide-angle lens, go handheld, try a dolly-zoom horror/suspense effect, play with focus and composition. There are unlimited tools at your disposal, have fun.
• Feed your creative soul by reading, watching movies and connecting with others. Need some suggestions? Read Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud or Story by Robert McKee. Watch something funny like Monty Python and The Meaning of Life, a classic like Citizen Kane, something you normally wouldn’t watch like The English Patient or your favorite movie, mine is Time Bandits by Terry Gilliam. If all else fails, call up a friend and have coffee and listen to them talk about their job in cubicle world, that alone might just trigger an amazing surge of creativity and desire to make better films.

By letting the naïve filmmaker within emerge and run free, you might just make better videos that surprise even the internal critic. But in order to do that, you must never forget the passionate beginning to your movie-making career.

A few weeks ago, I was handed some DVD’s with video clips for a project I was hired to edit. As I worked my way through the footage, I came across several clips that were shortened by the videographer prematurely stopping the camera before the scene ended.

Which brings me to a video tip that I need to remember as much as the videographer that gave me the footage:  Don’t cut off your action!

1. Start recording
2. Wait 3-5 seconds (This is called pre-roll)
3. Say “Action”
4. Your subject will now talk or the scene will proceed as planned
5. Say “Cut”
6. Wait 3-5 seconds (This is called post-roll)
7. Stop recording

That’s it! Seven easy steps to not cutting off your action.

Happy filmmaking!

Growing up, I remember being fascinated with maps, globes, and road atlases. I would stare at the different countries, trace how far they were from Washington, dreaming of one day making the real-life journey to those distant lands.

I read the atlas like others would a novel, fascinated with imaginary journeys and people, intrigued by the lay of the land. When my family went to the store, I wanted to know which store we were going to, the roads we would drive on, the proximity to major freeways, and the minor roads that connected at different spots. Long before the days of GPS and Google Maps, I used this knowledge to give concise directions from Seattle to our home in Hockinson.

To this day, I don’t like to get lost, preferring to always know where I am and where I am going. However, this desire to always know where I am, never wanting to be lost, has been adapted in how I use and express my creativity.

Creativity Is Knowing Where You Are…

The funny thing about creativity is that you consistently need to take stock of what you have and where you are. You can’t blindly drive down the road expecting to arrive safely and timely to your destination. Your eyes must be open, destination known. But once those two aspects are known, you have freedom to define the journey in an infinite number of possibilities. Projects typically have parameters and goals that need to be met (your destination). You then take your skills and abilities (where you are currently at) and plot a course and plan of action for the completion of the project.

The danger is when you always begin a journey in the same place, never seeking another way to get to your destination. When you never take a chance and risk getting lost, everything looks, tastes, sounds, and feels the same. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

…So That You Can Get Lost

The joy of living a creative life is found in getting lost, eventually arriving at your destination in new and exciting ways. Not only that, but there are additional benefits to getting lost. You stop at unexpected places. You meet people you otherwise would not have met. You see new things and realize that there is more to our lives than what we daily experience.

All of this fuels our creativity. We change the way we speak and write, what we photograph or paint diversifies, our lives grow beyond the borders of our past assumptions, and most importantly, the starting point for our next journey has shifted.

We are not the same.

We will never be the same.

That is what is so frightening and exciting about getting lost. We not only find new ways, but ourselves as well.

I can’t wait to get lost. In fact, I think I’ll go for a drive right now.

The people that I consider my heroes all have the same character traits: they not only dream big dreams, but they act upon those dreams and bring them to life.

Heroes Of Action

In 2008, I traveled to The Gambia, Africa to produce a documentary on the construction of a school building for an organization called Shared Blessings. The founders of the organization are two of my heroes because they not only inspire me to act upon my dreams, but they are shining examples of what it means to be creative in what they do, and in the pursuit of completing the daily tasks that compose their dreams.

They realized that their dreams wouldn’t become a reality by just dreaming. They had to act. They had to work hard. They had to sacrifice and save, spending wisely. They had to bring others on-board that could do things that they couldn’t do, and they had to be open to what happens when you act upon a vision for a better future: change.

Popular Slogans Aside, Creativity Is About Action

Creativity is all about doing and acting upon what I want to see, witness or communicate to myself or others. I often tell myself that I’m not “feeling creative” or “inspired” and choose to do something else regardless of timelines or deadlines. This wouldn’t be a problem if it wasn’t a habit. What I have learned by escaping the present reality of being proactive in the pursuit of my goals is that I become lazy by not working hard through the feelings of non-creativity.

By allowing procrastination to become a habit, I dream smaller dreams, knowing that I can handle them. My actions become sporadic and less structured. I spend more money on reference materials, searching for a new idea or path, even though I never gave up on the path I’m currently on. I have become the hare, cocky and self-assured that I can still win the race regardless of resting and then running at double-speed to catch up. But the tortoise will always beat me if I have that mentality.

Act, Then Rest

Creativity, much like life, is more fruitful and beautiful when you work hard to the point of exhaustion, followed by a period rest and relaxation. This is the cycle of creative regeneration that is not talked about much.

I often hear that in order to grow your creativity you need to feed it, but that is only half the picture. Yes, you need to feed your creativity, but you also need to spend your creativity, to empty your storage tanks so that you can fill them up again. I have a yard debris bin and when I forget to empty it, it starts to smell because the grass clippings and weeds decompose. This is exactly what happens to our creativity if we don’t spend what we have stored. We become mushy and we smell.

Creativity becomes active and alive when we daily pursue big dreams that take more than what we have to offer. This pursuit pushes us to the edge of what is known, shoving us into the realm of the unknown, giving us a glimpse of eternity that is only found in a creative, expressive spirit.

 

To Whom It May Concern:

You may not remember me, but I’m your creativity. I died when you stopped learning about new techniques and technologies, relying solely upon your past experience. It was a slow death because at first you had something to prove, so you needed to back up your bravado and ego with results. But as your accomplishments increased, your bravado lessened, your ego exploded, and the desire to investigate and learn was the first casualty.

In time, as I died, you started to look at work itself as the source of the problem. You changed focuses and mediums, sacrificed art for supposed craft, and ran around the office like a chicken staring down the farmer’s axe. Never wondering, even once, if the solution to the problem was to learn something new about what you do. Instead you bemoaned the loss of me, your creativity, wondering where I went.

Where did I go?  The truth is that I didn’t go anywhere. I am sitting on the bookshelves that surround you each day. I live in the source code and design of the websites you visit, in the composition and textures of the photographs you look at, and in the story and artistry of the movies you watch.  I exist in the work of your friends and colleagues. I am the expression of acquired knowledge and assumptions, the communication of reflections and inflections, the conversation of questions and answers, and the collective pursuit of learning how to better do all those things. I am living for today and for tomorrow. And you are still living in the past.

The good news? I am not dead forever. I can be revived. It just takes time and a desire to learn and grow. To travel beyond the existing borders of what is known. Admitting that you need me and that you let your arrogance and laziness get in the way of living a creative life.

Most importantly, you need to realize that while it may be true that there is nothing new under the sun, you might just find the secrets of the future, buried in the wisdom of the past.

This is the promise of a fully-alive, creative spirit.

I know this is what you want. I’m telling you that this is what you need.

Sincerely,

Your Creativity

Want to know the secret to having more creativity and feeling fulfilled in your creative pursuits? Try something new. Put on a lab coat, spike your hair like the evil mad scientist you know you are deep down inside, and step into your creative laboratory. It’s time to experiment!

Start In The Sandbox Before Going To The Beach

I am amazed with the architectural genius of people that build amazing sandcastles. As someone that makes really bad sandcastles—think towers of plastic bucket-shaped mounds of sand—I look at what is created and sculpted by the pros and think that I am not good enough, so I don’t even try. But I need to realize that the pro sandcastle builders started somewhere, and it was probably not at the beach. They probably had a sandbox at home where they could learn and practice the different techniques of sandcastle building without performing for the general public. Eventually, their confidence and abilities were ready for the big time, and they went to the beach.

In regards to technology, we should develop sandbox environments that allow us to try new ideas without first facing the scrutiny of the public. When implementing new code or programming ideas, it is never a good idea to edit live code without first testing the changes. That is why most programming environments actually have an area called sandboxes for developers to test code.

Safe Places To Fail

Adopting sandbox environments create safe places to fail. Without failure, we cannot learn about what worked and what didn’t. We also cannot learn new things unless we embrace failure and try new things.

Common lore says that Thomas Edison discovered 999 ways to make a lightbulb, not that he failed 999 times. That is a very optimistic view of failure and necessary for us to emulate when experimenting with new creative ideas.

But how do these safe places fit in to your business model? Do you allow your employees time to grow and learn without fear that they could lose their job if they fail?

Knowing that jobs are secure in the pursuit of new ideas is the only way to foster creative innovation. But that is a risk that management is going to need to take. It might even be a risk that creatives of the future might have to make regardless, in order to set themselves apart from all of the others in the over-saturated markets.

Have Fun

Experiments are meant to be fun. Smile. Giggle. Get messy. Remember what it was like to be a kid again and try something new.

There will always be structured time, devoted to productivity and profit, but it is a challenge to justify—to ourselves, let alone bosses, spouses and co-workers—that time for creative experiments is vital and necessary to a thriving and expanding creative world that unveils daily treasures of art and beauty.

Have you ever caught yourself dreaming? Of places you’ve never seen before? About combinations of existing objects that would create the unknown and new? Or the unlimited variety of mediums on your magical palette of sounds, images, words, textures and tastes? About the possibilities of life? The endless bounds of technology and progress? About a perfect world free from the confines of disease, poverty, sickness, or even death?

All of these imaginations, whether real or in your mind, are beautiful examples of creativity.

Imagined In Your Mind

Creativity is a two-way street of imagination and creation: imagining in your mind what potentially could be and figuring out how to bring it into being. I often make excuses that I’m not creative enough. We are all guilty of saying that at some point in our lives, but is it because we spend too much time on sustaining what has already been made, and not enough time on what could be?

In 2008, Mike Wallace edited and released a collection of essays called The Way We Will Be 50 Years From Today: 60 of the World’s Greatest Minds Share Their Visions of the Next Half-Century. It is a book filled with raw and pure imagination from scientists, philosophers, inventors, economists, world leaders, and many others thinking about a world free from disease, war, addiction to oil, and even robots.

In Tim Mack’s essay, “Snapshot of a World with the New Nation of California,” a vision of a world filled with non-humanoid robots is laid out in a thought-provoking manner. Mack talks about how much artificial intelligence will have learned in 50 years, yet still have much to learn from the minds of humanity because of their lack of innovation, imagination and curiosity.

This is the beauty of creativity and imagination: the sole expression of an individual’s humanity. Creativity is what makes us human and sets apart from machines and animals. Mack sums it up succinctly, “The ability of the human mind to go beyond the status quo and believe in dreams has proved a cornerstone of our humanity.”

An Unlimited Playground Of What Could Be

Do you remember what life was like when you were a kid? I remember playing with my Star Wars action figures, pretending that I was on Tatooine, saving Princess Leia from the evil Jabba the Hut. I could travel at warp speeds between reality and make-believe. It was an unlimited playground of not only being someplace else, but imagining what could be.

As I grew older, the cynicism of adulthood got the better of me, abandoning me to a bar stool in the mental bar of Mos Eisley, drunk on the spoiled wine of a wasted youth, wishing that my broken-down spaceship could even get out of port, let alone, half way to my imagination.

But eventually, I got off the bar stool and realized something: creativity is not only imagination, but also creation. Creativity implies a sense of intentional and purposeful action.

Created By Your Actions

Imagination without action is just day-dreaming. It won’t bring about what could be. It just reminds of us how miserably discontent we are. We get mad, get drunk, and then forget about what could be until we repeat the cycle the next day.

Creativity becomes alive and meaningful when we act upon our imagination, our dreams. You never know what could be, if you never try to change what is, and that is why creativity is best not to stay imagined in your mind alone. It needs to be shared with the world.

If that intimidates you or you think you aren’t good enough, start with expressing your creativity to yourself. Belief in yourself is a great place to start, but too many end there becoming arrogant. The only way to avoid the trappings of ego is to share creativity with another person, followed by groups of others, allowing them to shape and morph what could be, into what is.

Are you imagining big and exciting things? Are you sharing those dreams with others? Or are you just sitting on the sidelines moping and bemoaning that you are good enough and should be playing in the big game with the rest of us?

Consider this your wake-up call to get in the game. Act on your dreams and express your humanity. If not for yourself, for the sake of the world.