Three principles for creating consistently

To get better at doing a thing, you must do it consistently. This post highlights three principles I'm implementing to improve my ability and motivation to create consistently. Whether you write, photograph, crochet, paint, or whatever else, I hope these ideas will inspire you to grow in your own creative hobby.

Consume creativity

You can't create something out of nothing. The best creative ideas come from a unique synthesis of existing ones. Or better yet, creating alternatives to ideas with which you disagree. I've identified a few ways of consuming creativity that are very important to me.

Read books - The key word here is books. The internet is full of posts, articles, and information. I learn a lot from reading short pieces, but nothing compares to the contemplative stewing that occurs while deeply reading a book-length piece of writing. As I noted in my most recent personal evaluation, I didn't read a single book to completion last year, despite an unprecedented amount of reading in general. I feel that by reading only internet copy, no matter how talented the writer, my thoughts have become fleeting, shallow, and very unoriginal. The overall effect of this has led me to have stronger, yet shallower opinions. This week I got back to reading Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. Let me tell you--books are good for your brain. I can feel it working already.

Listen to music - but not on the radio. Not in the car. Not at work. No, I mean really listen. On the couch or in my bed. In dim light. Eyes closed. I prefer more complex forms of music for this exercise--music that requires my brain to work in order to understand. A lot of the time I don't understand it, but find great satisfaction in identifying the different layers and instruments and appreciating how the composer might have achieved a certain sound or effect.

Study the work of others - Find a mentor or role model. Someone who is much better technically at what you are doing than you are. Occasionally, find someone doing great work in an area you are totally unfamiliar with and spend time trying to appreciate and understand what it is they do. This week, for example, I stumbled across a man who creates digital oil paintings on his mobile phone. I was so intrigued by his work that I paid for a painting app which I (sadly) don't have the talent or skill to use to create anything even remotely resembling his work. Win for the App Store. But win for me, too, because I tried something new and spent significant time nurturing my creativity.

Eliminate variables of distraction

One of my hopes for blogging is that it will constitute good writing practice--a way to combat the laziness that creeps into my communication in hundreds of little text messages and carelessly sent emails. But you can't really be good at blogging unless you create quality content, in this case writing. Nine times out of ten, I fail at focusing on the writing. I get distracted by tweaking the blog's design, creating a graphic to accompany the post, incorporating social media, thinking about an email newsletter, or one of a million other items that really don't matter if I don't create a good piece of writing in the first place.

I'm not 100% sure how this applies to you if your hobby is, say, painting. Maybe you are tempted to spend more time picking paints and brushes than cranking out painting after painting until you get it right.

My solution here is twofold. First, write in a distraction free environment. Second, create image templates for social media posts so I don't have to spend more than five minutes doing that. An added benefit to this is that it will give the blog a consistent look and feel (something it lacks so far).

Look for ways to hone your concentration. Find distractions that compete for your focus and eliminate them. For me, writing in WordPress is awful because I click "Preview Post" more than I type words. See, that's letting a secondary aspect (how will this post look) take priority over what should be the highest priority (what does this post say and how will it impact those who read it).

Plan. Your. Time.

I consider this one of the most difficult, yet most destiny-determining skills a human can possess. This topic ranks so high on my list of important skills that I'm going to devote another post entirely to it. For now, suffice it to say that you will very rarely spend enough time on a hobby to get good at it if you only do it when you feel like it. Why? Dinner needs to be made. Laundry must be done. Maybe you have a job. Or a social life. And maybe because all of those things are more important to you than your hobby, you won't spend much time doing it. That is OK. All that matters is that you set aside an appropriate amount of time at a specific time to practice.