advice for creators – Meg Dowell Writes

If you are anything like me, you have moments when you just want to sit down, clone yourself five times over and DO IT ALL, RIGHT NOW.

That’s what brain rush does to us. It makes us wish we could drop everything and focus on our art, whatever that may be. In reality, we can’t always do that. So how do we handle wanting to start all these new projects when we just can’t right now, for legitimate reasons (work, school etc.)?

Here are a few things to remember.

It’s okay to focus on one thing at a time, or multiple things at once

It all depends on what you can handle. How much time do you have? Do you have the freedom to split your days between multiple projects? Or are you at one of those really awkward points in your life when you come home from your day job and somehow have to find time to dedicate a few hours to your side project between dinner and sleep?

You can work on a few projects at once, chipping away at each one a little at a time, or make more headway on one project at a time by making it your creative priority. I’m working on about 10 different things right now, and I don’t always like that, but it’s just where I am in life right now. It is what it is. There is no right or wrong way to do it, as long as you are doing something and keeping up with it consistently.

If your idea is unique enough, no one is going to take it from you

It’s very unlikely that you are going to miss your chance to “be the first one” to write or do something just because you didn’t jump on it fast enough. If your idea is original enough, and you are passionate about it, it’s much more worthwhile to take your time, plan thoroughly and create something amazing than rush into it and create something that totally flops.

No one’s going to steal your ideas right out of your brain. Not usually. And if they do, there is always a way to put a new spin on something that has already been done. It just might take a little more time to make it work. That’s just part of creation. There are a lot of people creating new things. You just have to find your place within the chaos and do things your own, different, amazing way.

Mind your milestones

Whether you realize it or not, some of your ideas have prerequisites. You might need to write a lot for free before someone will pay you to do freelance work. You might have to start small before you can go big, even if no one pays attention at first. You might even need a degree or certification to be able to legally or credibly create what you want to create.

I have been a particularly frustrated graduate student the past few months. All I want to do is create, and sometimes that means I start feeling trapped when I’m locked into an assignment with very specific parameters and requirements.

But I also need my MS credentials to produce some of my bigger ideas, particularly a health web series (you’re going to love it, eventually). You need some kind of credibility to do that stuff; there are enough clickbait-happy health nuts without science degrees out there already. So before I can start really focusing on that idea, I need to first focus on finishing my degree (almost there).

Even I have to remind myself of these things at least once every day. Creation happens in stages. If you let your passion carry you through it, and let it help you continue to work hard and go after what you want, in time, you will create amazing things. There is no rush. You have plenty of time.

What are you working on right now? Is there a project you really want to start, but can’t make time for it at the moment? How do you cope with that frustration?

Image courtesy of withbeautiful/flickr.com.

Whether you’re feeling discouraged or you’re having the best time of your life, a little inspiration from someone who has been where you are, and worked their way up to success in your field, never hurts.

Pixar films are known for their excellent storytelling, and Inside Out‘s Best Animated Feature Film Academy Award win on Sunday night came as no surprise to most of us. We laughed. We cried. We thought about our imaginary friends for the first time in 15 years (or longer).

Even more heartwarming than knowing our favorite animated film of 2015 won the award it deserved was the heartfelt advice Pixar’s Pete Doctor gave young creators while accepting the Oscar.

“There are days you’re gonna feel sad,” he said. “You’re gonna feel angry, you’re gonna feel scared. That’s nothing you can choose. But you can make stuff. Make films. Draw. Write. It’ll make a world of difference.”

And he’s absolutely right. We can’t always choose how we feel, but we can channel those emotions into our art, whatever it may be, and choose to create anyway.

Young creators have it harder than you might think (never forget that you were one once). They have dreams and aren’t afraid to chase them, but they also have people telling them they need a backup plan first, or that they can’t make a living doing their art, or they have support but no one telling them where to go or how to make it big.

Anyone can take Doctor’s advice though. It doesn’t matter if you’re stuck in a crappy freelance job or you’ve been trying to get published with no success or you’ve had some success and are just feeling burned out.

Your work doesn’t matter any less just because you aren’t having the success you’ve been hoping for or you’re not enjoying what you do as much as you thought you would. Your words can still make a difference to someone, or might make a difference at some point in the future.

You may never win an Oscar or publish a bestseller or have your stories read by millions of people around the world. That doesn’t mean your art, whatever it is, isn’t still worth doing. Sometimes it takes awhile to break through the white noise. Maybe you never will.

But we don’t just create to be noticed. We create because it is part of who we are. It helps us through various stages of our lives and makes us more self-aware. Finding an audience that will pay attention is just a side effect. Not guaranteed, but possible.

Keep telling your stories in whatever way suits you. It’s what makes you you.

Image courtesy of variety.com.

Tag: advice for creators

Things to Remember When You Just Want to Create Everything RIGHT NOW

You May Never Win an Oscar, but Your Work Can Still Make “A World of Difference”