-
Jackson Pollock
awards
signs of progress
National Novel Writing Month, 2007
call for submissions
• Third Person Press •
what: Undercurrents Anthology
speculative fiction/poetry
who: Cape Breton Island writers
when: deadline March 15, 2008
how: click for detailed guidelines -
fly your colours
-
Nancy's Images
www.flickr.com 
nuanc's ones I like photoset
like The PCQ?
take this for your blog:
(click to see all your choices
and to get the code)
-
the PCQ flickr group
Feb
12
Growing Inspiration
February 12, 2007 |
[-inspiration, practices-]
While we all love the feeling of being suddenly and unexpectedly filled with inspiration, people working in creative fields, can’t wait around for those moments. There’s too much work to be done. Luckily, there are ways of cultivating inspiration.
To grow inspiration you need to:
- Clear a plot - make a special space where you will be able to create
- Take out the rocks and pebbles - work at distancing yourself from people and situations who are obstacles to your creative growth
- Bring in rich soil - learn as much as you can from as many sources as possible
- Dig deep - fine art is particular to the individual; in order to be authentically creative you have to know and be willing to express your deepest self
- Don’t overdo - constant struggle depletes; take time to refresh yourself
- Plant high-quality seeds - use the best quality materials you can afford
- Be patient - first efforts don’t result in masterpieces; take the time to master your craft and don’t expect too much too soon
- Provide the best possible nourishment - take care of your physical body
- Work at it daily - don’t wait until you find inspiration; do the work, and inspiration will find you
- Pull weeds, not flowers -till the soil without disturbing new growth - revise, practice, edit, rework, undo, practice, turn it upside down or look at it in the mirror, practice, change your perspective while believing in the work you’ve done
- Be patient and persistent - it takes time; keep at it
- Water and fertilize - first and always, be kind to yourself
- Don’t fret over what didn’t grow - learn from any “failures” and treat yourself with respect and dignity and move on
- Enjoy what you’ve grown - whatever you’ve accomplished IS an accomplishment! Don’t minimize it once you’ve done it! Be pleased with your work!
Interested in metaphors and writing? Read this article: Metaphors: Creating Illusion
Interested in gardening? Try this one by Sherry Ramsey
Originally published in the April 2005 issue of The Practically Creative Quarterly, theme: inspiration
© 2005 - 2007; all rights reserved
also posted in: Inspiration , Motivation , The Original PCQ, 05-06 , Practice & Practices , Process
tags: accomplishment, art, authentic, craft, create, creative, creative growth, daily, deep, dig, dignity, edit, enjoy, failure, fertilize, flow, garden, gardening, grow, growing, inspiration, kind, lie, love, master, masterpieces, metaphor, nancy waldman, new, nourishment, patient, persistent, plant, practical, practice, refresh, respect, revise, rework, self, space, undo, way
Comments
-
Words of Art
Write Words
"It's none of their business that you have to learn how to write. Let them think you were born that way."
- Ernest Hemingway
-
Results of our previous poll
What is your biggest creativity problem?too many projects at once can't get in the groove not enough time everything else takes priority self-doubts
other ['not enough talent']27% 20% 20% 15% 15%
5%
