6 Bad Habits You'll Want to Avoid as a Creative
Your journey as a creative is long and winding with plenty of traps that are easy to fall into. Here's how to avoid them.
We all want to be the best we possibly can be in our respective cinematic fields, but regardless of whether we're screenwriters, directors, DPs, or any number of different positions in the film industry, we're all at risk of forming some pretty nasty habits throughout our careers. These habits could severely affect our ability to produce great work, create new professional opportunities, and reach the level of success we want to reach, but luckily character designer Bobby Chiu (Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass) names six of them in the video below, as well as some ideas on how you can either work through them or avoid them altogether.
Chiu's video is really inspiring and informative, but in case you didn't have twenty minutes to spare in order to watch the entire thing, here is his list of six bad artist habits:
- Getting your information from only one source
- Not having a social media presence
- Being all about business
- Getting jaded
- Asking for help more than you offer it
- Not learning
All of these are pretty spot on and I'm sure most if not all of us can remember a time when we were guilty of some of these. I've definitely spent a good chunk of time ghosting social media and being jaded and cynical and being so completely done with everything all the time.
However, I think the most important bad habit to avoid, at least for me, is not being a lifelong learner. The moment you stop watching films, reading books and scripts, taking classes, or searching for information on the internet you risk slowing down (or ending) your growth as an artist. Yes, getting off of your ass and actually making films is important, too, but how much better will your work be and continue to be when you bring all of the new concepts, tools, and techniques you learned with you? It's definitely something to think about—no—don't think about it, just do it.
What are some other bad habits that filmmakers and other creatives should avoid? Let us know down in the comments.
Source: Bobby Chiu
