Rec
every time I start any creative venture that actually finishes/gets to a place I’m happy with, it’s after chipping away every excess part of it in my mind 100 times over and can’t help but make the final idea into reality. creating for the sake of creating will lead you nowhere but a blank page.
(Side point: making something out of your heart and soul is easier than from your head. good ideas dont exist, only authentic and inauthentic ones. make only what’s real to you.)
(Side point: making something out of your heart and soul is easier than from your head. good ideas dont exist, only authentic and inauthentic ones. make only what’s real to you.)
May 16, 2025
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Rec
😃Putting anything novel from your mind into the world is a success no matter what, it can’t be taken from you. If you’ve got ideas but feel like they aren’t translating when you go to create, keep doing it even if you think it’s not good or what you envisioned. From the stuff you don’t like, there might be something interesting to latch onto you can take in a new direction
Mar 29, 2025
Rec
🎨First things first: it doesn't matter the quality, the quantity, or the end result. If you create, you're a creative, full stop! Don't tell yourself you're a copier, think of it as adopting little pieces of the things you love and using them as inspiration to drive you. As long as you're not straight-up plagiarizing, there's nothing wrong with using something you love as a stepping stool to grow your own abilities, or as a palette with which you paint your own world.
Also, it's totally normal to feel stuck in a rut, or unoriginal, or to fall out of love with something you've made, or to feel doubt start seeping in. And it sucks! I'm often stricken with the realization that I'm one voice in a sea of millions, and I feel insecure that people will see me as lesser. Or worse: overlook my creations entirely. It makes me lose momentum in my creative process, and makes me feel more disheartened and nervous to put my stuff out there in the first place. "What if I put my heart and soul into this and nobody sees it?" "What if I bleed onto the pages and the consensus is "it's mid"???" "What if I'm wasting my time, and come back in two weeks and think this is utter garbage?" "What if people think it's too close to <other person's work>?"
But then I remember... we're kind of ALL out here, putting our hearts into stuff, trying new things, throwing around ideas, and hoping something sticks. And that's how pretty much EVERY work of art is made! And while it's awesome to get outpourings of support on the things you make, and recognition makes your work feel worthwhile... nothing is going to make you feel more fulfilled than putting your heart and soul into something you're passionate about, and seeing it through to YOUR satisfaction. Ultimately it's not about what other people think, it's about keeping that passion alive in you, and cultivating it so that it never dies.
So what can we do about burnout? Or lack of inspiration? Or when the hope levels are too low? Unfortunately all my "tips" are more abstract than practical step-by-step fixes.
Personally, I recommend steadily and eagerly engaging in the things that you tend to "copy" in the first place. Stop for a moment, and picture the word "enthusiasm." What comes to your mind? What makes you feel that way? Chase that feeling down like it's your most treasured keepsake floating away in wild rapids! Watch shows with artstyles you aspire to. Listen to songs that get you daydreaming. Get out in nature during the sunrise/sunset. Go see animals in a zoo/aquarium, or go people-watching in a mall/park. All the while, don't stop THINKING and MAKING THINGS. Doesn't have to be cute, or fleshed-out, because the beauty is in the moment. Snap candid photos, sketch freehand vignettes of what you see, jot down prose inspired by your surroundings, do whatever you can to keep your momentum without losing the joy associated with it.
The more you let yourself create freely, the more comfortable you'll be in the future when faced with the dreaded Block, the bumps, the discouragement, or anything else that may try to slow you down. And honestly? If you still find yourself stuck, good news: you're still a creative! And that will hold true as long as you desire to be.
TLDR: Don't stop making beautiful things, and if you get to a point where you feel you can no longer make beautiful things, make "ugly" things and surround yourself with things you see as beautiful.
Also, it's totally normal to feel stuck in a rut, or unoriginal, or to fall out of love with something you've made, or to feel doubt start seeping in. And it sucks! I'm often stricken with the realization that I'm one voice in a sea of millions, and I feel insecure that people will see me as lesser. Or worse: overlook my creations entirely. It makes me lose momentum in my creative process, and makes me feel more disheartened and nervous to put my stuff out there in the first place. "What if I put my heart and soul into this and nobody sees it?" "What if I bleed onto the pages and the consensus is "it's mid"???" "What if I'm wasting my time, and come back in two weeks and think this is utter garbage?" "What if people think it's too close to <other person's work>?"
But then I remember... we're kind of ALL out here, putting our hearts into stuff, trying new things, throwing around ideas, and hoping something sticks. And that's how pretty much EVERY work of art is made! And while it's awesome to get outpourings of support on the things you make, and recognition makes your work feel worthwhile... nothing is going to make you feel more fulfilled than putting your heart and soul into something you're passionate about, and seeing it through to YOUR satisfaction. Ultimately it's not about what other people think, it's about keeping that passion alive in you, and cultivating it so that it never dies.
So what can we do about burnout? Or lack of inspiration? Or when the hope levels are too low? Unfortunately all my "tips" are more abstract than practical step-by-step fixes.
Personally, I recommend steadily and eagerly engaging in the things that you tend to "copy" in the first place. Stop for a moment, and picture the word "enthusiasm." What comes to your mind? What makes you feel that way? Chase that feeling down like it's your most treasured keepsake floating away in wild rapids! Watch shows with artstyles you aspire to. Listen to songs that get you daydreaming. Get out in nature during the sunrise/sunset. Go see animals in a zoo/aquarium, or go people-watching in a mall/park. All the while, don't stop THINKING and MAKING THINGS. Doesn't have to be cute, or fleshed-out, because the beauty is in the moment. Snap candid photos, sketch freehand vignettes of what you see, jot down prose inspired by your surroundings, do whatever you can to keep your momentum without losing the joy associated with it.
The more you let yourself create freely, the more comfortable you'll be in the future when faced with the dreaded Block, the bumps, the discouragement, or anything else that may try to slow you down. And honestly? If you still find yourself stuck, good news: you're still a creative! And that will hold true as long as you desire to be.
TLDR: Don't stop making beautiful things, and if you get to a point where you feel you can no longer make beautiful things, make "ugly" things and surround yourself with things you see as beautiful.
Jul 19, 2025
Rec
Writing… Ideas…
One minute it flows out of you wildly - forcefully vomited thoughts that can’t be contained so they must be spilled. Ink to paper, notes app paragraphs.
Other times it can feel like beating your head against a wall repeatedly and still never breaking through to the other side - blood trickling down your forehead and all.
I truly don’t think there is any solution for this. Whatever your creative pursuit, the process will always feel painstaking until miraculously one day it doesn’t.
Unfortunately you don't get to choose when inspiration hits you like an tonne of bricks and before you know it the feeling is long gone.
Sometimes I like to write all my thoughts down in a stream of consciousness. It doesn't have to make any sense, and it usually doesn’t.
If you’re lucky you may find something in that chain of unfiltered thoughts that makes a lot of sense when recontextualized.
Be messy, because you’re never going to be perfect. It doesn’t always work out, but what else are you going to do about it?
Just write.
One minute it flows out of you wildly - forcefully vomited thoughts that can’t be contained so they must be spilled. Ink to paper, notes app paragraphs.
Other times it can feel like beating your head against a wall repeatedly and still never breaking through to the other side - blood trickling down your forehead and all.
I truly don’t think there is any solution for this. Whatever your creative pursuit, the process will always feel painstaking until miraculously one day it doesn’t.
Unfortunately you don't get to choose when inspiration hits you like an tonne of bricks and before you know it the feeling is long gone.
Sometimes I like to write all my thoughts down in a stream of consciousness. It doesn't have to make any sense, and it usually doesn’t.
If you’re lucky you may find something in that chain of unfiltered thoughts that makes a lot of sense when recontextualized.
Be messy, because you’re never going to be perfect. It doesn’t always work out, but what else are you going to do about it?
Just write.
May 16, 2025
