By: Connor

Similar to this previous article on Studio Manifesto, this post is about harnessing your creativity. There a myriad of facets in the jewel of creativity, and I don’t know if anyone understands them all fully. Moving forth, here’s what you should be taking away from this article: Creating stuff takes work.

Hard work.

It’s fun to indulge the romantic notion of creativity as a ‘power’ that some people (artists, poets, musicians, etc) have, while mere mortals do not. Usually this isn’t the case; while what we hear about is the moment of revelation, it’s usually preceded by months, years, or even decades of blood, sweat, and tears. While having a routine and method to your craft makes sense and will create triggers (see previous STM article for more on this), it’s called creativity for a reason: you need to accept that ideas can and will spontaneously come to you, and be ready to roll with them.

1. Routines
Takeaway: Notice what time(s) of day you are most alert and creative. Dedicate that time to focused creative work. Use the same tools, in the same surroundings, even the same background music, so that they become triggers for your “creative zone.”

2. Systems
Takeaway: Take a few moments to review how you spend your time. Study productivity systems and experiment to see what works for you. (Behance’s Action Method is one of the many tools available to streamline your workflow.)

3. Spontaneity
Takeaway: Take breaks from the usual routine. Be open to new people, places, and experiences. Welcome the thoughts that appear from nowhere. Have a notebook or phone handy to capture them.

Read the full article at The 99 Percent

Technorati Tags: Creative Process, Mark McGuinness, Music Creation, The 99 Percent

 Print This Post

This entry was posted on Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 3:44 pm and is filed under Music Production, Wisdom. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.