February 2021 – Page 5

February 17, 2021

Having Fun With Formatting: All Work And No Play

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”– Jack Torrance The Shining

Today’s post is brought to you by the most relatable axe wielding murder to grace the silver screen… Jack Torrance from Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”

In addition to being a deranged lunatic Jack is, like myself and some of you, an aspiring writer. He takes a job at the remote Overlook Hotel to escape the distractions of modern life and finally finish his novel.

Unfortunately a mixture of cabin fever and malevolent spirits in the hotel convince him to ditch the novel and try to kill his family instead.

The extent of Jack’s insanity is revealed when his wife Wendy discovers that his novel is merely the sentence “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” written on hundreds of pages.

A detail I love is that the formatting on each page is different. It seems in the midst of his madness Jack took the time to play around with the formatting. Once a writer always a writer!

On the day I completed this challenge we were still waiting on the results of the US presidential election. An event so exacerbating that it makes Jack Torrance’s lunacy relatable.

In an attempt to retain my sanity and avoid Jack’s fate I created my own “one sentence” novel; formatted in a few different ways. I hope it brings some much needed sanity to your day!

February 17, 2021March 24, 2021

Haikus And The Power Of Economy

“If I Had More Time, I Would Have Written a Shorter Letter” – Blaise Pascal

3 lines. Seventeen syllables. Five syllables in the first and third line, seven in the second.

This is all you need to write a Haiku. A Japanese form of poetry so terse it requires more syllables to explain than write. Yet, it took me nearly an hour to write the Haiku below:

I’ll preface this by saying that I write at a pace that makes glaciers look like Formula One cars. But still, it’s a Haiku for fuck sakes! Why did such a simple poem take so long to write?

Paradoxically, Haikus are difficult to write because they’re simple. When the infinite expanse of an empty page narrows to the confines of 17 syllables, you have to choose every detail with care.

When you’re robbed of the luxury of inessential words and superfluous syllables, you’re forced to pair an idea down to its most elemental form. That’s what makes this a great exercise not just for writers, but anyone who makes a living teaching or sharing ideas.

In many cases “more” detracts from your message. Especially with the vast competition for people’s attention, it pays to express ideas in a quick, simple way.

So get your quills and start writing. Sayōnara folks!

February 17, 2021

Creativity As Problem Solving

“Be creative? I don’t have time for that! I’ve got stuff to do.”

A perfectly justified response when a “woo woo” right brainer, like myself says you should be more creative.

And look I get it…

It’s easy to think of creativity as a luxury reserved for the rare savant, the chronically underemployed “starving artist”, or the rich kid whose parents paid their way through art school.

But the truth is you don’t need to work in a creative field to “be creative”. Hell, you don’t even need a so-called creative hobby.

For the more practically-minded out there I want you to think of creativity as a form of problem solving. A way to come up with an abundance of solutions for everyday tasks you face.

For example, for my be creative and shit challenge I tasked myself to write the word “VOTE” using different objects in my apartment.

The task itself is simple, all you need is a circular object (for the “O”) and a few parallel objects (for the “V” “T” “E”) to construct the word.

While the task is simple, there are an infinite number of ways to complete it. This is where creativity comes in! You can use solid objects like I did with these pins:

You can cut objects into the different shapes like I did with this cucumber.

You can combine and bend elastic objects, like I did with these receipts.

These are just a few examples. There are likely hundreds of ways I could have spelled “VOTE” with the paltry possessions in my apartment.

While I chose a relatively straightforward problem to solve, the same principles apply to larger, more complex ones. The type of problems you likely deal with at home and work. And the even bigger ones we collectively face as a society.

Creativity is an expansive act. It widens our scope of the world, and allows us to manipulate mind and matter to create possibilities which previously didn’t exist.

This is something that can be applied to all people, in all disciplines. So whether you’re an abstract painter or an accountant, I invite you to bring a creative mindset to the problems you face.

February 17, 2021

Inspired Stupidity

“The essence of creativity is fucking around; art is that which is done for the hell it” — Tim Kreider

The quote above is from Cartoonist Tim Kreider’s book “We Learn Nothing: Essays & Cartoons”.

Initially I highlighted the quote because it might make me sound cool at a cocktail party. But then I began to consider its implications.

Maybe creativity, in its purest form, really is just fucking around.

Think of it like this…

A great painting begins as a sketch on a page; a finished symphony with someone noodling on a piano.

The painting or the symphony may be the end result of creativity, but they are not its “essence”. The essence is the playful drive to make something out of nothing.

Creativity becomes hard, painful work when we take it too seriously. When we approach it with the lofty goal of making something timeless or significant.

When we do it for some ulterior motive, rather than just for “the hell of it”

February 16, 2021

The Be Creative And Shit Challenge

Do you consider yourself a creative person?

I know I do!

However, I have a problem. One that gets in the way of actually creating anything.

You see, I have a little critic that lives inside of my head. He may be little but he’s quite mean and talks loudly.

He says things like:

“Dude you’re a terrible writer, don’t even try”

“Don’t publish that; they’ll laugh you out the room”

“That was a shitty little picture you drew.”

Can you relate?

While this “inner critic” speaks in different voices to different people; I suspect most creative people have one.

I’ve spent years trying to battle this inner critic… mostly to no avail… so for one month I wanted to try something else.

For 30 days I’m going to prove my inner critic right by creating one “shitty thing” every day. I call it…

“The Be Creative And Shit Challenge”

The goal is to create and share something every day for the month of November… no matter how shitty it is.

That “something” can be a drawing, photo, poem, piece of avant garde performance art… doesn’t matter!

The goal is simply to create one “shitty” thing a day. I want you to set the bar so low that it throttles any excuse your inner critic has.

This is no time to create your masterpiece. This is your opportunity to roll around in the creative muck. Enjoy the fun and failure that go hand in hand with making things.

And most importantly… Give that nagging “inner critic” in your head the “fuck you” it so duly deserves.

Come join if you feel inclined 🙂