HOP ON! WE’RE GOING TO CREATIVEVILLE…
…but we’re making a couple of stops first.
Last year I bought Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way after watching the phenomenal Doechii become the third female artist in history to win the Grammy for best rap album. She credited the book for her rise.
Six years ago, Doechii was a struggling artist who just got fired from her fast food gig. Broke, unemployed and lacking a ‘voice’ that felt 100% hers, she set out to uncover her creativity by following the book’s twelve-week program, documenting her process on YouTube.
Now, I don’t expect to win a Grammy. Rapping is not really my thing. But what fascinates me about the book and Doechii’s story is how creativity isn’t a clear A to B drive, a quick problem and solution. It’s more of a process. One that can feel murky and all over the place at the start, but which starts to make sense and take shape as you go through with it.
The book takes you through twelve weeks of exercises, creative habit-forming routines, and challenges that grow your creativity as you grow too.
But as creative as we are, we aren’t artists. In our commercial world, we don’t have the luxury of time, most of the time. Briefs come in, deadlines are set, and you just get on with it. There’s a strong temptation to drive full-speed, straight at the idea. And don’t get me wrong, sometimes it works. Many great ideas have come in the heat of the moment.
Spotify’s name came about as a random fluke when co-founder Daniel Ek thought Martin Lorentzon had shouted "Spotify". And while they later developed a backstory that the name comes from the words "spot" and "identify" it’s clear that a serendipitous moment led to the brand we all know, and love to hate.
But such moments are rare, and risky to rely on. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, driving straight at the problem will result in a mediocre idea that’s been seen before.
To access more interesting, memorable and valuable ideas, you have to treat creativity as a process. One that develops, takes you left and right, and sometimes even makes a U turn. You have to allow yourself to take tangents and detours.
Poet Billy Collins summed it up best in his masterclass when he advised aspiring poets to allow themselves to go where the poem takes them, not the other way around.
Write uncensored, anything that comes to mind. Make a mess and make no sense. Cross out words, shift paragraphs, edit the re-edit. Don’t be afraid to stray away from your initial path. Play your way to the next big thing.
Do things that are in no way connected to the idea you desperately want to ‘nail’. Go watch a movie. Touch grass. Rollerblade. Grab a coffee in a place you’ve never been before. Read an article about something that excites you, or dive deep into a Wikipedia rabbit-hole about volcanoes (just me?).
The road to your next idea is up to you. Just try not to drive straight at it or it might end up a little… flat.
In the meantime, I’ll report back on the Artist’s Way and how My Way is going.
Who The LR We?
StudioLR is the creative agency that believes in guts. We’ve been grabbing people’s insides and making them interesting since 2004. If you liked this blog, you might like this one which talks about finding new creative ideas. And also features that Vinnie Jones ad.
