Developing Creative Stamina
From finger paint to art. How to develop Creative Stamina to create even when you're not feeling it. From waiting for inspiration to creating inspiration.
Unmistakable Creative Podcast
Interviews with creatives and entrepreneurs. So many life lessons in here. Srinivas Rao is the best interviewer in podcasting. Gets the biggest stories instead of the biggest guests.
Fast Co.Design - Brainstorming is dumb
Yes, we create ideas in interaction with others. But only one person can speak at the same time. Seems inefficient. Luckily there is a better way! More ideas come when you start “brainwriting” instead of brainstorming and alternate group sessions with solo-brainstorming!
Vox - Rapping, deconstructed: The best rhymers of all time
I like Vox. And I like hiphop. So, no surprise I really liked their reconstruction of rap and how the greatest rhyme. Very well done visualization of different rhymes to show the evolution of the craft. Very fun watch that’ll give you new admiration for these artists.
Every Frame a Painting
Great YouTube channel that takes apart and explains aspects of storytelling with movies. How Scorcese uses silences. How Jackie Chan is the GOAT of action comedy. How Robin Williams was a master of movement. And how Vancouver plays every city but itself.
Tennesse Williams - The Catastrophe of Success
What happens to the drive of a creative when he gets success and the struggle is gone? In his letter from 1947, playwright Tennessee Williams tells that success made him depressed. Without the struggle, everything lost it’s value and he couldn’t create. Oh, and he shares how he got out of it.
Ryan Holiday - 31 Ways To Get More ‘Deep Work’ Accomplished
Sure. Interaction is good. And yes. multitasking has its uses. But some tasks need deep work. Intense concentration and cognitive focus to make real progress. Problem is, we’re more and more being conditioned into shallow work. Here are 31 ways Ryan Holiday uses. Some are: Scheduling distractions, getting off-grid and practicing it.
Nerdwriter’s YouTube Channel
Ah. A proud nerd! This guys is nerding out on the most obscure topics. From different philosophers to the Japanese mending practice Kintsugi. And explaining paintings and art house movies. And he explains these topics very eloquently. A great way to get smarter without doing the 'heavy lifting' of reading. To get started check out his video’s on Morality, Ceci n’est pas une pipe or Pan’s Labyrinth.
BBC Magazine - How creativity is helped by failure
Permission to fail. A great new year’s resolution. Art and innovation get better by making progress. They're not conceived by the initial idea or by thinking really hard about a solution. You need to try and thus often fail in order to eventually find that gem. This art exhibition doesn’t just show the eventual masterpieces but shows the mess-ups, rough drafts and preliminary sketches.
Isaac Asimov - “How Do People Get New Ideas?”
Creativity from 1959! And it holds up! Asimov was asked to join a think tank about missile defense systems. And quit it. But not before writing down the ways he saw people creating new ideas. He writes about how you make new connections. When you need interaction. When you need contemplation. Very good read!
William Deresiewicz (The Atlantic) - The Death of the Artist and the birth of the Creative Entrepreneur
Very interesting read about the changing role of an artist these the past centuries. From the low-class artisan to the artist as a solitary genius. And what are the implications of the current form of creative and diversified entrepreneurs? Where 10,000 contacts are more important than the 10,000 hours. Where it is every man for himself and art becomes a commodity. Becomes entertainment.
Jon Westerberg - 10 Hard Truths About Making Things
Jon writes a lot of nice posts. But I decided to share this one. He shares 10 things about being a creator that are hard lessons to learn. So read this and be on the lookout! The 9th one spoke the loudest to me: Talent won’t mean anything if you don’t finish anything. “Nothing has to be perfect, just put it our there”. The funny thing is, the next point is to "make each creation count". I think that navigating that fine line between acceptance of the imperfection and striving for improvement is going to end up being another blog post soon.
Noah Bradley - How I became an artist (The 12 year journey of my art thus far)
Very cool to read his journey of becoming an artist. Following a very non-liniear path with many twists and turns. Seeing the progress he makes in his work visually (lot of pictures included) is especially cool and re-emphasizes the importance to always keep developing yourself!
Unmistakable Creative - The Instigator Compass
Without having a plan for the outcome, this writing project turned into a beautiful collection of essays on finding a compass in creative work. A compass that is needed in the life of any artists (writers, entrepreneur, painters etc) when shit gets messy, hard and complex. Firstly finding work that matters. Then about the grit needed to see it through and actually make something worthwhile. Lastly about how to make art that touches hearts. Go! “Forever is a long time to play it safe"
Srinivas Rao - Things I’ve learned from writing over a million words in 5 years
Ik vermoedde al een beetje dat er iedere maand wel iets van Srinivas bij zou zitten. Deze keer weer een blogpost. Hij heeft een practice. Iedere ochtend schrijft hij 1000 woorden. Geen hoger proza. Simpelweg z’n gedachten de vrije loop geven. Dit ordent zijn gedachten en maakt patronen zichtbaar. Hier wat hij van al dat schrijven geleerd heeft en hoe het hem veranderd heeft. Mooie les ook: set yourself to succeed!