As we start the weekend, I wanted to share this video with all the No Film School readers out there who might be having some sort of creative block. Staying in a creative and inspired state of mind is not easy, and there are a multitude of factors that can derail us in our creative pursuits. But in less than 2 minutes, this video will provide you with a bunch of suggestions to help you get you back on track:
These are all great ideas, but some of them stick out to me in particular:
Don't Force It
I remember Don Hertzfeldt saying at a Q&A that writing is like going to the bathroom; you have to do it when you feel the need to. I have generally found this to be true. All too often I've felt the sudden need to write when it wasn't convenient (a good reason to also follow their suggestion to carry a notebook around), and at others I'll set my mind to writing a script, and it feels like I'm trying to extract ideas out of a tar pit. It seems that being creative isn't something you can't really make happen as much as it is something where you set up the most conducive conditions possible and let it happen.
Stop Beating Yourself Up/Stop Trying to Be Somebody Else's Perfect
Or in other words, you are your own worst critic. This can be a mental habit that's hard to kick. You want to create something great, and when the finished product doesn't match up with the gleaming ideal that you've set up for yourself as your goal, you think that you've failed and that what you've created is no good. This in turn can deter you from working on further creative efforts. Which brings me to the message in the graphic I chose to go along with the headline of this post...
Don't Give Up
Remember that it's all an evolving process, and that the only way you're going to get to make your ideas a reality is to keep going.
Via [Filmmaker IQ]
