by It’s been all over for the last month or so, and it’s reaching a peak right now. Think of what Kanye West has been doing, putting out 5 albums all within the span of a month. That’s a crazy amount of creativity and work. You might think, “I can’t possibly work that hard on creative stuff. I have too much to do” — but you’d be wrong.
Passion, drive, focus, they are all related, and in a lot of ways they’re trainable. If you want to harness your full creative potential, force yourself into doing the work an hour a day. Stick with it for 20-30 days, no breaks, no days off. It’s doable even if it seems daunting. Let nothing get in your way. That is the first step. Then, when you can do it for 20-30 day blocks with no problem, up your commitment to 2 hours. Then to 3 hours.
I have the same struggles as anyone else, with work, family, a life to be had outside of simply writing, but I always dedicate my first hour of the day here and to Bible study, which gets me mentally prepped for the day in a lot of ways, and also forces me to come up with a unique thought for myself to write about. At my lunch time, I bring my food, don’t go out, and I hole myself in and write for an hour. At the end of the day, when the kids go to bed, I write or edit. I get 3 hours in every single day even with a lot going on in my life.
And it’s a great time to be an artist–perhaps the best in history. Though the gatekeepers of the industries are lashing out and trying hard and making it daunting, know that those institutions won’t be respected within a generation. They may not even be there. The institutions are something that’s been strived fro for decades only because they used to be the only possible outlets in order to reach an audience. They had real power, the prestige only came from them being the loudest voices because they had the capital behind them to mass produce. Now we live in a world where you can find audience here on the internet. Get involved in communities with other artists, add value there Over time, you’ll build your audience of your own, it’s a skill in and of itself that has to be worked on and developed.
But focus on the art first. That’s the important part. Create because we as humans were designed to want to create, as we emulate our Creator. It’s summertime, and it’s light out for long hours, energy is high all around. The economy is going great, energy is out there for you to harness. Go forth and produce!
My last production was my most polished and hardest worked on. It took me over a decade to get this story right. And I’m glad i took the time and energy. Check out The Stars Entwined here.
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