Just realized it's been three days since my last digital "confession" and had to set aside some time to create something here on Hive (which is my first home). I'd fallen behind on the other platform that I write for, but it's good to have another outlet for my (at times) overflowing creativity.
The Creative Process
Interacting with other creatives here on Hive got me to thinking about the creative process itself and just why it is that I receive such joy whenever I engage in it.
I think a lot of it is due to the fact that I get to put my stamp on everything that I write. Even now, I have a title for this called 'Working Title' that will surely go through several changes before the final one at the end (In fact, I may just use "Working Title" as the name of this post, as it really illuminates some of the ideas I'm trying to express).
I love the iterative process where things such as titles and headings, word flow and graphics, all enter a period of steady transformation, often emerging very differently than they began. I love to brainstorm, and it isn't unusual for me to generate a dozen potential titles, sometimes combining elements of several before tweaking it to perfection.
The graphic here that I made in Canva looks simple, but had to be tweaked and included a number of changes in fonts, formatting, and a mountain of tiny optimizations in order to reach the final result. It took about an hour, but I was happy with the design in the end.
Everything has to read just right and be juuust so before I can say I'm happy with it. And even then, I sometimes have to stop myself and say "that's it" and prepare to publish.
This creative garden that I'm tilling is something that the mimics, copyists and plagiarists here on Hive cheat themselves out of in the race for illicit support and unearned token generation. They're losing out on the personal growth that comes with trying to solve interesting textual puzzles which have the bonus effect of sharpening the mind.
It reminds me of the First Nations people who take a piece of whalebone and carve into a bespoke piece of art to be handed down for generations. The right kind of effort put into anything, can imbue one with a sense of pride not only once it's completed, but throughout the creative process itself.
Then comes that eureka! moment where you hit it and you just know it.
Don't Worry If Your Writing Sucks Absolute Ass At The Start, Just Keep Going
While you may see the nice little tidied-up product at the end, trust me, all of my posts start out as a steaming pile of horseshit at the start. These digital turds come out one by one, and I have to stitch them together into hopefully, something coherent.
Those early paragraphs can leave me saying: "What the fuck is that bullcrap?" But you know what? You have to treat them as if you're adding flesh to a skeleton. Bit by bit, and don't you dare fucking give up either.
Keep at it and take breaks if necessary in order to come back inspired, and don't you EVER steal anybody else's work. After all, they worked hard shaping their own steaming pile of horseshit into something wonderful. So roll your own! :)
Sometimes nothing comes to me, zero, zilch, nada. When that happens i stop binge-watching Jeffree Star Mr. Beast videos and take my lard ass out for a walk. Recorder in hand, I step through the park and record any interesting thoughts that enter my brainstem.
At times, they develop into almost mini-conversations I have with myself, and I must look bonkers to anyone nearby. But that shit works, and I can come back with enough content to fill a blog post. So give it a try.
Oh and don't you worry @meesterboom, I won't tell anyone about your Jeffree Star obsession (wink, wink). LOL!
Starting With The Germ Of An Idea
I was reading about how my favorite band, The Beatles, would do take after take, until they got a song just right. It was interesting to watch the creation of the tune 'Something' and see it take shape from start to finish. George Harrison sang a number of takes before selecting the final one.
Watching Paul McCartney slowly give birth to 'Get Back' is yet another example of how we as bloggers build our posts layer by layer until we reach the finished product.
Even writing this post had me starting out with nothing but an idea, and then laying that first line down word by word. It was a process that was at times both halting and free-flowing, the words coming in either a trickle or a literary torrent.
And that's what I love about Hive. It combines both writing and crypto, two things that I love and are essential to me which keep me coming back for more! What keeps you coming back to Hive?
Please check out my recent posts:
Image Credit: [1] @EverNoticeThat Created using Canva.
You are so right, it is just a matter of not giving up. Sometimes you just have to finally throw that "steaming pile" out there too. Otherwise it will just sit on the computer forever being edited. At least that is what has happened with me. With my cognitive health challenges, I have struggled with my two in depth posts and get overly critical of my writing skills. Eventually I had to just say "fuck it" and post the damn things. It comes down to the trust thing I have been writing about, I need to trust myself more, and trust my audience will appreciate what I am writing and the effort I have placed into it.
That's so true. I still remember reading about the 8 years the band Guns N' Roses spent on the album Chinese Democracy, forever fussing over it before its release. I have to stop myself and say "that's it" as it's good enough.
Get it out there and share it with the world. And don't worry if nobody on Hive sees it, it'll show up on Google and live on the blockchain. I still receive interactions on Twitter about posts I wrote on Hive months, and even years ago, that had almost no support here but were found via search. Turns out there's more than one way to skin a cat! :)
Guns N Roses!!! That was a kick ass band back in the day.
Why don't you also start a podcast about the creative process?
Would be nice to have you as a metaphorical sidekick ;<)
I don't know? Thinking hundreds of episodes out, would I be able to create enough content based around that over the long haul? Don't know.
I have so many possible subjects I'd like to tackle. Take politics for instance, I could talk about that all day, but it's divisive and I'd piss off half my audience. The paranormal, true crime and things that go "bump in the night" is another area that I'm interested in, but Mr. Ballen seems to have that covered. I like history and odd facts as well. Decisions, decisions... :)
Haha, I get you.
I have done - and still do - plenty of overthinking
in my life.
These days, I don't think long term anymore ( with anything ). The future is pretty unsure anyway ( and I don't necessarily mean this in a dystopian way ), so we can best focus on the now and the short term.
My advice would be to start with something you like and take it from there, step by step.
but I know we're all different and we can't all slay the perfectionist in us,
like I tend to do on an almost daily basis ( often still failing at it ).
You'll get to it, when the time is right...
@clareartista you might like to read this ;<)
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