This episode is a little more personal for us. We dig into how we each have managed our creativity while dealing with unexpected and emotionally difficult times. Each creative deals with this in their own way. There is no single best approach other than to use or perform creative work in the manner that serves you best. Creativity can be a therapeutic benefit, but it can also cause anxiety and stress. Knowing yourself and “going with the flow” of what feels best, being open to change, accepting setbacks, etc. is probably the only guidance we can give. But if you’ve ever struggled with being creative while facing life’s biggest challenges, give this a listen. You’re not alone.
In this episode, John and Kevin discuss whether creatives should focus on making weaknesses stronger or double down on our strengths. How do we even evaluate what a strength or weakness is? Should we label something as a weakness? We each want to improve in our craft, but what’s the best way to frame how we do that?
Resources
Kevin suggests reading Cory Doctorow’s article about how social media platforms change over time. Why they always (so far) serve the owners and never (so far) their users or the content creators in the long run. Read it here.
John recommends a strengths and weaknesses listicle from Elite Daily. The presentation undermines the message, which isn’t actually wrong, but sounds like it is.
In this episode, John and Kevin discuss why taking a break or slowing down our creativity can actually make us more creatively productive. Taking the time to consider our work: the content, techniques, and approaches, even our mindset, will benefit our overall effort.
The need to recharge
First Ideas: taking time to think of and generate better ideas
Living—experiencing life, which fuels creativity
Bonus! Stay tuned for a special, surprise ending.
Resources:
Kevin suggested The Art of Slow Writing, by Louise DeSalvo – not just for writers. DeSalvo discusses the idea that our best work comes when we’ve taken our time to let ideas filter to us. First blush ideas are the easy ones. Lots of examples of famous books that took years not just to write, but for authors to figure out what their story idea was about.
In this episode, John and Kevin dig into how the pursuit of perfection in our creative work can hold us back. They discuss how and when perfectionism can manifest during the creative process and ways they have overcome the pitfalls.
