CREATIVITY TIP: Stop Thinking Your Project is Important

It’s time for Thursbetter Nursletter!

When I need motivation to do a project the BEST thing I can do is reduce its importance in my brain. It’s just a stupid thing I’m making. The world absolutely doesn’t need it. It doesn’t matter. It could fail or succeed and either way the world keeps turning.

Why does this work? I dunno. I guess it just frees up my brain to just try stuff. Be silly. Go with my first instinct. I can make a messy thing and fix it later. That’s easier than making a perfect thing right away.

Over time the more imperfect things I make the better I get at it, because I made a lot of things!

I bring this up now because I’m actually making good progress on a screenplay for the first time in many many months. Before typing this post I thought about why its working. I’m not 100% sure, but one big reason is that every time I sit down my state of mind is in a really healthy “let’s just try THIS” place. I’m just throwing scenes after scenes and inventing new characters without really knowing them and seeing where they take me. It feels reckless and nonsensical at times. But that’s the essence of creativity at its best. You’re literally pulling things out of thin air and just seeing what happens.

And no one’s watching. I can write whatever the hell I want. It can be REALLY stupid. In fact, it’s more fun when it is!

Of course, I will go back and my perfectionist mind will take over as I edit. But that’s actually fun when there’s stuff there to edit.

But I believe it’s easier, more fun, and more productive to just think the thing you’re making is kinda dumb. And to just be messy. Right now the world needs us to be our sloppy, messy, silly, stupid selves. It’s how the best stuff is made.

Wink (ding),

Craig