Category: Creativity
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Confusion as a starting point
“I don’t even know where to begin,” is a place to begin. Just start there! Write, “I don’t know where to begin, because I’m concerned about how it’ll turn out. Because…” Or, “I don’t know where to begin, and I feel…” Or, “Today, I started writing and then I stopped. I stopped because…” Remember, you…
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Creative oscillations (on discipline vs. play)
Irina Dumitrescu recently wrote a fascinating piece making the case against discipline, in favor of play. She asks, “What if, what if, what if it’s not just some vague nameless Resistance that keeps us from doing what feels right, but the very fact that we’ve attached discipline to those activities?” Her question definitely resonates, and…
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Insights from the idiot
A few days ago, I wrote about the four inner beings of a writer. Susan Sontag called these the nut (i.e., the obsédé), the moron, the stylist, and the critic. Professor Betty Flowers called these the madman, the architect, the carpenter, and the judge. I started this blog with the intention that it served as…
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Creative Doing, at Sharpen Your Edge
I recently joined my friend Dr. Greg Wells at his podcast, Sharpen Your Edge. It usually airs at LinkedIn on Thursdays at noon et, you can catch this one at YouTube: One of the themes we talk about is how creativity is innate and every person is creative; indeed, many of us draw in school,…
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The four inner beings of a writer
Susan Sontag writes in her journal: The writer must be four people: 1) The nut, the obsédé 2) The moron 3) The stylist 4) The critic 1 supplies the material; 2 lets it come out; 3 is taste; 4 is intelligence. A great writer has all 4 but you can still be a good writer…
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Dan Crowe, on starting Port Magazine
I’m in the middle of developing a speech for Creative Doing right now, and the research process led me to revisit an interview I did with Dan Crowe (who most recently launched INQUE magazine) a few years ago. A few excerpts from Dan that I really loved: “My friends and I that launched [Port], we…
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Make a map
I recently came across Dishoom’s cookery book, a “highly subjective guide to Bombay with map.” The description very clearly explained a path to becoming a leading thinker or authority on something: make a map. The most obvious place is to start with an area you’re familiar with; where you live, where you work, your favorite…
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“As soon as they like you, make them unlike you…”
“A lot of people you see on the internet HAVE to be on the internet.” Donald Glover, Interview Magazine Recently, Rolling Loud festival announced that headliner artist Ye has dropped out of their festival. A lot of Ye fans are, rightfully, righteously indignant—this is the second time this year he has dropped out, last minute,…
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Lloyd Banks, on inspiration from magazines
Obviously 50 is my favorite member of G-Unit, but Banks comes in at a close second. At GQ, he talks about how he found departure points for his songs from print magazines: [At home] I had probably somewhere between 600 and 700 rap magazines. That was my process: I would flip through them while I…