In one of my recent free Q&A calls, Talia asked, “What can an artist do to become unblocked?” and I went on a bender. Using my 10 Rules for the Creative Sandbox as a basic outline, I riffed for several minutes straight.
Then Talia shared the particulars of her block (hint: she’s an actress who’s turned to writing as a brilliant tactic to deal with the lack of control over whether she gets cast or not), which launched another riff on my own sad story of stuckness, how I got back to creating, and the only foolproof way to unsuck.
This episode is the result.
Here’s the thing, when you do something creative, you are likely to feel blocked a lot! Whenever I take on any creative project, I usually hit at least a few blocks along the way to done. Thankfully, I have a fix for that: I turn to my Creative Sandbox Rules and they never fail to help get me back to flow.
I’ve talked about the rules before, but they deserve a revisit periodically. Here they are in all their colorful glory (click here or on the image to get a printable copy of this poster to hang on your wall).
Quotables from this Episode:
The only difference between you and your heroes is that they have all the same voices that you have going on in your head, but they didn’t let those voices stop them.
The only way to unsuck is to let yourself suck first. (Click to tweet!)
We are so afraid of making crap, but we NEED the crap to fertilize the good stuff. So make crap daily! (Click to tweet!)
Resources Mentioned in this Episode
Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking (aff), by David Bayles and Ted Orland
On Writing (aff), by Stephen King
Free, downloadable poster, with my Keys to Creative Flow/Rules for the Creative Sandbox and my Imperfectionist Manifesto
Thanks for Listening!
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Now go get creating!
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