Two books on creativity that I recently enjoyed were Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert and Find Your Artistic Voice by Lisa Congdon. Gilbert focuses mainly on writing and Congdon on visual art, but there’s enough overlap between the two to begin building a generalized theory of creativity.
Concepts
Here are some of the concepts from one or both books that I found most resonant.
Your voice matters.
Everyone has a voice; everyone has the potential for creativity; everyone has magic. Gilbert writes, “The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them.” Congdon notes that many people are hesitant to share their story because they think it is too happy, too sad, too boring/ordinary, etc. But if you’re being true to yourself, you will find your audience. People are drawn to art for different reasons: people may be drawn to yours if they find it relatable, or comforting, or funny, or aesthetically pleasing. There’s room for lots of different kinds of art, and it doesn’t all need to be made by you. Your job is to make your kind of art.
Fear is a part of the creative process.
Both Gilbert and Congdon stress this. Gilbert builds a metaphor: Fear goes everywhere Creativity goes, so if you’re going on a creative journey, Fear is going to be along for the ride. Don’t let Fear drive! But get comfortable with Fear being there. Make friends with Fear. The presence of fear doesn’t mean you’re going in the wrong direction – on the contrary. Congdon points out that novel situations, “the unknown,” activates fear, so the presence of fear can actually be a sign that you’re headed in the right direction: somewhere new.
Don’t sweat “originality” too much.
No creative work is truly original. It’s always influenced by whatever the artist takes in. So take in a lot of influences; the more influences you have, the more your work will be transforming and blending instead of copying something directly. And curate your influences to stuff you truly love. Andy J. Miller, one of the artists interviewed in Voice, encourages copying, but says, “Copy only what moves you.” Originality is not as important as emotional honesty.
Make bad art.
Lisa Congdon calls this “embrace the suck.” Quoting Ira Glass, she discusses the frustration of that period of time where you’re transitioning from a consumer to a maker, and your sense of taste exceeds your ability. Personally, I have never reached a point in any art form where I think my work is good, even when I’m producing work I would have drooled over at the beginning of my journey, because my sense of taste progresses at a faster rate than my abilities. If you acknowledge you will never “arrive,” but you can enjoy creating anyway, you’ll set yourself up for far less frustration.
Limits can be freeing.
Finding your voice can be defined as choosing your limitations. For example, Lisa Congdon’s bold, graphical style is defined by her use of red, yellow, green, and blue; she rarely uses orange or purple. I love orange and purple, so I wouldn’t want to choose that particular limitation, but I can choose other ones: I can curate what techniques, colors, styles, subjects, etc. I do want to focus on, and freely ignore what I don’t. (This process of noticing and curating the art and process that sings to you reminds me a bit of identifying what “sparks joy” in Marie Kondo’s The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up.) As a newbie, I can feel like I don’t have the right to opt out of certain techniques – that it’s educationally important to be well-rounded – but I’m trying to notice anything that feels like an obligation and consider if this may be one of those things I don’t want to be part of my “voice.”
Follow tangents.
Elizabeth Gilbert stresses the importance of curiosity. Your curiosity is the guide to the direction you want to go in. Even if your curiosity seems to be taking you down a weird side path and you have no idea where it leads or if it leads anywhere, go!
Show up.
The artists interviewed in Voice stressed the same thing over and over: consistency is key. Keep making stuff. Elizabeth Gilbert has some eccentric tips for showing Inspiration you are ready, such as cleaning/preparing your workspace, putting on nice clothes, and working without inspiration (even just writing “blah blah” on a piece of paper: I would liken this in my practice to idle swatching/doodling.)
Have fun.
Fun is the only way to build a sustainable practice. Ultimately, this is the reason you show up and work consistently. You won’t want to keep doing it otherwise. (As a reminder to the socially conscious among us, who may feel our duty is to make art that has a Deep and Meaningful Point, Gilbert stresses that “you don’t have to save the world,” quoting the journalist Katherine Whitehorn: “You can recognize the people who live for others by the haunted look on the faces of the others.”) In a chapter where she defines “divinity” as a mysterious creative spark, Gilbert writes, “Only when we are at our most playful can divinity finally get serious with us.” She also writes, “Our time on earth is short and should be enjoyed.”
Creativity Exercises & Challenges
Here are some exercises that I have cobbled together from inspiration in both books.
Brainstorm Stuff You Are Interested In
“I ask students in my idea generation classes to make a list of all the things in their lives they are interested in – the things they spend their time thinking about and are fascinated by,” Lisa Congdon writes. This seemingly simple practice can be very powerful at moments of crossroads in your life. Curiosity will lead you on tangents that inspire creative inspiration if you let it – but if you’re out of practice, you may need to cultivate the skill of finding and noticing curiosity.
Here are some prompts I came up with for possible types of things you might add to your list of Things That Fascinate Me.
- Art/creative works, e.g. paintings, movies, books, music, video games, TV shows, plays/musicals, etc. (does not need to be the same medium you create in)
- Topics in science, history, philosophy, etc.
- Plants and animals
- Places (specific, like “Reykjavik”, or general, like “the ocean”)
- Aesthetics from the present or past (art, architecture, home decor, fashion, etc.)
- Tasks or skills that you enjoy or want to learn
- Questions about the world (“How is ____ made?” “Why is is that ____?”)
- Colors, shapes, patterns
- Moods and emotions
- Relationship dynamics between people (real or fictional)
- Cliches, fads, and trends that you are/were really into
- Times in your own life that you found the most exciting, engaging, or confusing
- What you love to hate
- What you loved as a child or teenager
- Your personal clickbait: topics where, if you encounter an article about it, you always click through (what does Google think you’re interested in? Is it right?)
Draw Your Creative Family Tree
This is an exercise described by the artist and teacher Kate Bingaman-Burt in her interview in Find Your Artistic Voice. Diagram the artistic influences that inspire you. Bingaman-Burt says, “The more branches your creative family tree has, the more unique your voice is going to be.”
Research Older Artists
If most of your influences are modern (artists on your Instagram feed, etc.), challenge yourself to learn some art history. Who are their influences? What did work in your medium look like ten, fifty, a hundred years ago? There’s a scene in the show Freaks and Geeks (which was made in 2000 but takes place in 1980) where Nick, a teen drummer obsessed with contemporary bands like Rush and Led Zeppelin, has his mind blown when a friend’s parents play him Gene Krupa records from the 1950s. It’s easy to get caught up in the current fads and trends and there’s no shortage of modern artists, but exploring historical work can expand your horizons and provide some breadth to your creative family tree.
Be A Beginner At Something
Congdon challenges you to “think like a beginner,” to cultivate what Zen master Suzuki Roshi calls a “beginner’s mind,” open to possibility and exploration. I find that the easiest way to maintain this muscle is to be a beginner at something. This means continually trying new things, whether that’s new art forms or new hobbies. Some will be things you stick with, and some won’t – that’s fine! The key is to experience what it is to be a newbie every so often, to remind yourself of the excitement, fear, and joy of being new at something.
No References Week
This is specifically suggested somewhere in Congdon’s book though now I can’t find it. The idea is that if you normally make art from references (whether that’s photos or other art), to spend one week with no references at all – creating either from your imagination or from life only. I think this is really good exercise for me personally because I use references a lot. It’s not that I should never use them, but they can become a crutch, and a week is long enough to break out of a habit without becoming an onerous ban. If this doesn’t resonate with you, consider some artistic practice you find habitual and challenge yourself to go a week doing something different, just for a change.
Plan Your Creative Time
Sometimes I’m bursting with ideas when I’m on the bus or in line at the grocery store; other times I’m standing at my painting desk with literally no idea what to make. Ideas/plans happen to me at different times and moods than the space to create. That’s why I often find it useful to be enrolled in a class or in the middle of a challenge, because it removes the “what do I make?” choice paralysis.
Another method is to spend some time when you’re not actively creating to make a list or plan for how you will spend your creative time. This can be as specific or as general as you care to make it. In Voice, Congdon suggested actually scheduling time (at 10am I will work on this), but I find this too stifling. But I do like to have a running list of things that I’m in the middle of or planning to work on, so that when I have time to create, I can just go down the list until I find a project that seems interesting in the moment, or where the level of effort and brainwork matches the energy I have available.
Take Breaks
Congdon also adds “don’t forget to schedule downtime”: not every moment you have free from your day-to-day obligations needs to be scheduled for art. Hanging out with friends, seeing a movie, or just chilling are important ways to build energy and prevent burnout, creatively and generally.
There’s another reason to give yourself “time off,” especially if art feels forced right now. Personally, I find that in times of creative block, the magic often returns when I’m not trying to force it, but just living my life and letting myself be, or doing something completely different: especially something kind of tactile and boring. Elizabeth Gilbert describes this phenomenon in Big Magic, noting the story of the writer Clive James who cured his writer’s block by giving up and spending a few days painting stars on his daughter’s bike. “Einstein called this tactic “combinatory play” – the act of opening up one mental channel by dabbling in another.”
As much as creativity can feel at times like a sacred duty, really nobody is making you do it and you can stop if you don’t want to do it anymore. Don’t forget, you’re here to have fun, so if it’s not fun, try something else.