I really think that finding this balance between wildness and discipline is key in creativity, which is not only about thinking of ideas and expressing them, but also about developing them into some form of finished project. I don’t know how wild my mind is, but, having grown up a classical pianist, discipline is kind of my jam.
Read MoreIf you’re anything like me, your definition of a good time is doing non-“work”-related work and/or you only feel relaxed if you have a whole day to be productive and/or you are stumped when people ask you what you do for fun, so here’s hoping you are not like me. But if you are, read on!
Read MoreI find myself using my piano training all the time when I’m writing. In the world of screenwriting, there are already musical terms in the jargon—a character might be too “one-note,” for instance, and scripts move in “beats.” For me, sitting through a good movie is virtually the same experience as sitting through a good musical performance.
Read MoreI’m pretty okay with the whole creative process—the collection of materials and the fashioning of the materials into a form. What I struggle with is coming up with titles for the formed materials. On the one hand, shouldn’t the work speak for itself? On the other, the title contains the formed materials, making them officially cohesive.
Read MoreWhile I’ve only interviewed four artists for Wild Minds so far, I’ve noticed they all share an apparent lack of writer’s (or creator’s) block. Developing a trove of ideas means there’s always something to work on—it’s a constant gift to your future artist self. But don’t ideas have to come out of nowhere? Ugh.
Read MoreI used to be a confident performer who loved the adrenaline rush of performance. As time went on, the adrenaline rush became anxiety. This anxiety grew until the point that I got so nervous—shaking, sweating, heart pounding, stomach churning—before performances that, a couple of years ago, I decided to stop for a while.
Read More“Think before you play” is a sentence I find myself repeating daily as a piano teacher. It seems simple enough, but it’s amazing how often students play notes without first figuring out what those notes are supposed to be. In writing, too, the creative process can’t be rushed, and sometimes it’s difficult to feel comfortable with the daily state of unfinishedness.
Read MoreWelcome to Wild Minds! There are so many themes I want to dive into immediately—themes like perfectionism, discipline, rhythm, power, process, and so on—but I think I’d better start with an introductory post.
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