Category: Creativity
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Anna Wintour on audiences
The relationship between creator and audience is one of leading and following. If you’re a creator, you may find that you’re best off making things that you wanted to see yourself; that your audience will follow you because they want the same thing. For me, I’m glad I caved into my instinct and found the…
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Anna Wintour on developing taste
Anna Wintour says (in Masterclass, which I found via Anna: The Biography by Amy Odell): Developing a creative eye or developing taste, I think that’s something that you have within you from a very early age but it is also something that you can develop through exposure to culture, to the arts, through reading, visiting…
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Cut it in half
A constraint is the best way to start making creative decisions. One prompt I’d recently come across, from observing feedback on various drafts, is simply to cut the word count in half. How can I summarize? Would there be a good rephrasing that can keep the original intent? If not, what elements will I keep?…
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A little flame of talent
At Granta, Kent Haruf writes: When I finished that novel I wrote John Irving to ask if he would connect me with his agent, and he said he would. He said he had sent fifty writers to his agent and he hadn’t taken any of them, but maybe he’d take me. And he did: I…
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The illusion of catching up
One of the most important parts of hesitancy is that it compounds. When you notice other people making progress, and you feel caught in inertia, it’s important not to let your own expectations get away from you; you’re not going to catch up by aiming to catch up. Let’s say you and your friend had…
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Jamming on a WIP
For whatever reason, while I’ve known the power of collaboration in my head, my heart generally inclined itself to stay hush on my works in progress (WIP). Some reasons: I don’t mind telling friends or people, I just also don’t want to tell everyone; there’s the paper suggesting that publicly announcing your goals could make…
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Creative Doing, now available on Kindle
In the past couple of years, I’ve done most of my reading on an ebook reader (an Amazon Kindle). I love paper books, and I’d sworn by them through most of my 20s; then I moved across the world and couldn’t bring them with me. I’m slowly donating them to the library. As you can…
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It wouldn’t be the same without you
The title was inspired by some words I saw on the pavement near the Flatiron building a few weeks ago. I didn’t write down who wrote it, though it clearly made an impact. My life—and I’m guessing dozens, if not hundreds or even thousands, of others—wouldn’t be the same without them. Some quotes that have…
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Publish it anyway
One of the biggest differences between talking and writing is the element of spontaneity. When you speak, once the words are out, you can’t take them back. The closest thing you can do is amend your words, by saying, “I take back what I said,” or, “I misspoke.” By contrast, when you write, it is…
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Seizing your right to make art
Over a year ago, @THECOOLISSUE writes: rich kids being able to do art for a living may be a reflection of their privilege but it seems to me like a reflection of the fact that a human that doesn’t have to worry about money will often choose art. everyone is an artist until rent is…