Episode Notes:

Gird yourself for a conversation on the power of creative community. While such a community may take time to cultivate, know there are many ways to do it and it's worth the wait. Whether through friendly, professional competition, sharing creative experiences or plain old "merc talk" (you'll see, we promise), creative communities often provide the inspiration that helps a creative practice thrive.

And, hey, thanks for being part of our community, we're glad to have you!

Links: Independent Creative interviews (Check out this one and this one, both with elements about collaboration) Jeff VanderMeer Finch and Murder By Death collaboration Austin Kleon, Steal Like An Artist Science Fiction Fantasy Online Writing Workshop

Episode Notes

What if you could turn those creative doubts into fuel for your creative practice? Harvest those doubt nuggets and toss them into the old notion conversion contrivance and fire up an inferno of inspiration. Except in this case the contrivance is your mind and the nuggets are electrical impulses, but still! When you doubt your work, from how well it matches the idea in your mind's eye or whether you're conveying exactly what you mean, you open up possibilities. And where there are possibilities, inspiration is there for the taking.

Links: Wonderbook by Jeff VanderMeer About Writing: Seven Essays, Four Letters, & Five Interviews by Samuel Delaney If You Want To Write by Brenda Ueland The Accidental Creative Podcast hosted by Todd Henry

Episode Notes

Lest you think your creative practice will or should be a linear progression to mastery and achievement, we pull back the veil on some of our current experiences in our creative practices that really drive home the notion (you'll see what we did there when you listen) that creating is indeed a practice. Like most things we practice, we must constantly re-evaluate and return to those things that inspired us to create in the first place, but we must also see those things with new eyes (but not the kind you get on the black market).

Links: A tingle in the scalp, Austin Kleon Writing and the art of surrender, Nathan Bransford Interview with visual artist Kerry St. Laurent from The Creative Independent - the interview digs into a number of things here and is a pretty good example of the messiness of a creative practice.

Episode Notes

In this episode we talk about the kind of narratives in our lives that are like icebergs. We tell a story about a kid on the playground who just wanted to imagine he was on a ship. And then we bring him again. And again. Our narratives, whether we create them ourselves, they're handed to us, or a little of both, shape who we are and how we go about going after what we want. And when they're particularly insidious, they keep us from living the creative life we want.

Links: Links: It's Not About The Money by Brent Kessel A fantastic page from Byron Katie about doing that introspective work (the Questions section is what we reference in the previous episode, Narratives Part 1: Everyday Narratives) Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland (review) - This is a nice companion piece to this series on narratives. If you can get a copy of this book, we highly recommend it.

Episode Notes

This episode marks a new four-ish part series on narratives, what they are, how they affect our ability to start or maintain our creative practice, and what you can do to change those narratives that are not so helpful. We start with everyday narratives because those are the low hanging fruit of introspection, the gateway fruit-meat of your inner journey, if you will. Come along for the ride and, who knows, maybe you'll add another tool or two to your toolkit for building the creative practice you want.

Links: It's Not About The Money by Brent Kessel A fantastic page from Byron Katie about doing that introspective work (the Questions section is what we reference in this episode) Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland (review) - This is a nice companion piece to this episode. If you can get a copy of this book, we highly recommend it.

Episode Notes

This episode goes a little long because that emotional ball of twine is tough to unravel and chock full of good stuff. We attempt to characterize what exactly comprises our why and fail. But we fail forward and upward in a spiral! Our why has nuance and evolves just like we do, so it can be hard to pin down. If you're not sure what yours is, we offer tips on how to give your mind the space to offer it up. We offer a few scenarios or conditions that can help bring your why forth as well.

Note: Our mic was a bit, um, jumpy in this one, so the sound quality isn't up to our usual standards.

Links:

• It's Not About The Money by Brent Kessel
• If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit by Brenda Ueland
• The Accidental Creative Podcast with Todd Henry

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Episode Notes

Say hello to your Inner Critic, the wet blanket part of you that is happy to point out all the reasons you shouldn't start or continue your creative practice. We take a look at the myriad ways the inner critic manifests, as well as offer up some suggestions to take charge and keep a healthier perspective on the weight the inner critic carries (or doesn't!). We also talk dishes of shame and try to give our friend a new name that better reflect that everything it brings to the table isn't negative. And if your inner critic is telling you there's no point in listening to this episode, invite it to listen along. Maybe it just needs a boost!

Links:

• Learn to Play The Fool where Austin Kleon includes the concept of the beginner's mind. Just a fantastic post overall.
• Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind By Shunryu Suzuki
• Your Inner Critic is Drowning Out Your Creative Voice, Episode 331 of the Creative Pep Talk by Andy J. Pizza (transcript is included in this link). Great stuff and worth a listen!
• The obligatory link to Coaching the Artist Within by Eric Maisel
• Comfortable with Uncertainty by Pema Chödrön

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Episode Notes

Everyone is busy, just ask them! Have we traded our precious time to just spin our wheels in the name of seeming productive, valuable or needed? Is being busy a badge of honor or is it a shield to keep us from the creative practice we know we want? We discuss what being busy means (what it reallllly means) and have a go at working around it or even with it to make time for your creative practice.

Links:

The Everyday Work of Art by Eric Booth An article about Elvis and playing around that opens with the Heraclitus quote we mention in this episode. Mint Money You Need A Budget (YNAB) AppSumo Deep Work by Cal Newport

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Episode Notes

In which we poke fun at fingerless gloves and work through some ways of overcoming that ever important need of all creative practices: space. We fly dangerously close to the sun that is physics, talking not only at space availability, but time as well (insert mind blown animated gif here). Also explored: the virtues of being flexible, of being open, and most of all, being persistent in your search for space to create.

Links:

• Dean Koontz's House (Seriously. Check it out.)
• Fingerless writing gloves with writing on them
• Peep these artist studios for some inspiration
• 8 Tips on Finding [and Enhancing] the Optimum Space for Your Creativity (a little more inspiration)

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Episode Notes

Ginger and Jonathan talk about what it's like to get stuck, like those times we decide to vacuum the entire house instead of doing the thing we love to do. Whether it's housework or social media or just general ennui, it happens to everyone and that's okay. The question is how do we get past that feeling or that resistance? Well, check out today's BONUS episode for some tips on how to do just that.

Links:

• Steven Pressfield's The War of Art
• All good things must begin
• Take one action to overcome resistance

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