As A Creator, How Do You “Get It Done”?
Welcome. It's Thursday, July 24.
How many times have you read or heard 'time is a construct', a golden morsel lobbed into your universe like it's going to mystically teach you to expand time or live by natural rhythms?
It bounces around in my consciousness, making a few dents, but falls to the ground limp.
When I'm ricocheting from one 15-minute chunk to the next, how does this infinite wisdom help?
I've come to believe that my annoyance with questions that circulate in closed loops, gaining traction year after year, like "What time? When? Where?" stems from resistance to (and perhaps resentment of) living against the clock.
For those around me who are familiar with my passive-aggressive resistance to living "on schedule," I feel for them.
They've seen the spark of glee in my eye when I say "I don't know" or "We'll figure it out" - like I've happily diverted their cruise ship onto a sandbar.
Speaking of cruise ships, cruise directors were created for a reason. Even when we have time off, we like to be regulated and relegated to a purpose.
Nothing says I have purpose (which equals worth around these parts) like filling every day to the brim so that we rightfully and urgently focus on not spilling or losing, instead of seeing the world around us.
And yet, here I am saying to you (and very much against my nature)….summer has more than halfway run through.
The irony isn't lost on me. After railing against clock-watching, I'm the one pointing at the calendar.
But there's a difference between anxious time-filling and intentional time-using.
What may be most beneficial isn't ignoring time entirely, but getting clear on what we need to do for the rest of this summer to build a creative daily practice. Even if it’s ONE thing every day.
Is this antithetical to what I just wrote? Yes. But I don't want to run my ship onto a sandbar either and forgo fulfilling my soul's purpose.
There's wisdom in the middle, not beholden to a schedule but not completely adrift.
ALL THAT to say, I’m submitting the “how-to’s” we’ve covered in the last 5 issues in a succinct form below. Plain and clear for your daily creative practice. Let’s go!
Send feedback (and what you want to discuss next) at [email protected]
Start Here.
The foundation of your daily creative practice is Creative Certainty.
Certainty is an unshakable inner conviction about one's creative vision that persists despite external doubts, practical challenges, or conventional wisdom. It’s an absolute, unwavering, possibly diagnosable conviction.
Your work already exists in another dimension. It’s your job to bring it to life. And the Universe has tapped you on the shoulder. You’re in charge of making it.
Take accountability and install it as your operating system.
From Beeple’s Standard Operating Procedures:
Answer this question: "Can I commit to making something, anything, every day?" Even if it isn’t “great”, the practice of creating is the goal and that's where the magic happens. Make one thing every day. Commit to it.
If the answer is “yes”, then make it a non-negotiable.
Create a deadline and a timeline. “People don’t have a lack of ideas, they have a lack of deadlines.” -Beeple
Embrace your garbage art and “shitty rough drafts” as part of the process.
Limit looking at other people's work too much. It’s terrible for your own creativity. "I really try to limit the amount of time I'm just mindlessly looking at Instagram and s#@! like that. Because I personally find that it makes me anxious and it makes me depressed... I don't feel like that puts me in a better place than I was 15 minutes ago." -Beeple
Don't try to be amazing immediately. Just try to be slightly better than yesterday.
Here is Beeple’s full “Standard Operating Procedure guide “
Daily Maintenance:
QUICK FIX: Meditate on: "I trust in the greater purpose of my work. Even though I can’t see the end result yet or completely understand it’s total purpose, I’m in charge of making this. It’s been assigned to me. I believe in my ability to extract what creation wants me to know and use it.
HIGH AMP FIX: Your brain will play tricks on you. That voice in your head may be saying:
➡ Is this really worth your time?
➡ This is going to be a lot of work with the possibility of no return
➡ Yeah, but how do you KNOW. What makes you so special?
Watch this quick video. Hopefully seeing it once is enough to cure you.
How can you have the level of certainty as many creators who have come before us?
Start Here. See and hear what's already around you.
Practice Deep Observation:
Seek solitude. Into the quiet you go. Take off those damn air pods and get comfortable in your head. Go on a walk with nothing but you and the sound of your footsteps. Don't think. Only observe. Commit to silence and record what comes up.
You're on watch for the nudges. They show up as obsessions, passions, illogical interests, and curiosities. They're observations that stand out. You're accessing something beyond your conscious mind. If you can't receive it, you're missing everything.
Follow your hunches (especially the illogical ones).
Practice New Thinking:
Stop living desperately. Live in certainty. You have a purpose and you're in charge of making it happen. Here’s a reminder.
Be casual. Don't chase. What is yours will come to you. You still work and practice but your mindset is peaceful.
Daydream without guilt about what you want.
Make a claim about who you are. Use cognitive dissonance to your advantage. Claim you are a creator. Say it all day, out loud: "I make art. I am an artist." "I make music. I am a musician." etc. Your subconscious will surge and strive to make it true.
Daily Maintenance:
QUICK FIX: Build new brain pathways. Tell yourself “I’m an artist. I create art,” (or whatever you create). Do it in front of the mirror. And do it until you no longer cringe.
HIGH AMP FIX: Check your thoughts constantly. Pull out this huge list of lies we tell ourselves as creators, figure out which one you identify with, and tell yourself some truth instead.
If you follow your hunch and get extra obsessive about it PLUS plug it into a routine (and get possessive about that) then, you have a formula for fulfilling your purpose.
Read the classic Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland. Fast read. 122 pages.
Start Here.
There’s a difference between craft and mere execution. When you commit to excellence in the details - when you choose the better material, take the extra time - you're making a statement about what you believe your work deserves. And the certainty that your work is destined to exist.
We learned some invaluable concepts from Darla Johnson, who knows her craft well. Here’s a recap of Darla's Standard Operating Procedure from our interview.
Listen at all times. Even while floating on a tube in a lake, Darla is noticing. That counterclockwise spinning was an alert - like a notification from the universe saying "Hey, you're in charge of making this." She didn't know it at the time, but she'd just received her assignment.
Develop your "stock movements." Darla has a movement vocabulary she calls "stock movements" - techniques that "feel good and freeing to me." These are her creative tools, the elements that reliably get her in the flow. She trusts them like we trust our exacto knives. Develop your own set that “always gets you in the mood".
Trust your connections. They are specific to you. I'll be honest - when Darla told me about spinning counterclockwise, it didn't move me. I appreciated it, but I didn’t feel it. But it spoke to her in a way only she could understand. Don't look for others to validate the deep connections that speak to you. Those whispers are for you alone. (You can't hear them if you're distracted and not listening.)
Work from essence, not structure (and trust that process). She doesn't choreograph everything in sequence. Instead, she imagines herself "inside of the dance" rather than observing from outside. Each section arrives in its own time, then gets pieced together.
Use your body as creative intelligence. Physical exploration leads to breakthroughs. She works with energy patterns - "crescendoing wave," moving "from core outward." Her body tells her what the work wants to become.
Let each piece have its voice. "Each dance has its voice that I must tune into to find its expression." She constantly checks: "Am I truly acknowledging the essence of what I want to say?"
Start Here.
We examined the unstudied quality of creating as a kid. Children's drawings are filled with life because they're not trying to make "good" art. They're on an expedition, instead.
Do you remember the ease of making something purely for the joy of making it? The power of unabashedly going for it?
“Art does not reproduce the visible, but creates it.”
-Paul Klee
He 'un-taught' his students, redirecting them away from copying reality and toward creating new realities from simple marks.
The magic lives in the wandering. When your hand follows curiosity instead of a blueprint, when you let the work whisper what it wants to become, you access something beyond your conscious mind. You become the translator, not the dictator.
When the world feels heavy, when tragedy makes creation seem pointless, remember “the dot that went for a walk”.
Be absorbed by the moment and infinitely present.
Start with one mark and let it lead you somewhere unplanned.
Trust the process over the product.
A grand statement isn't necessary. You can transform pain by beginning. Let the dot start walking.
Daily Maintenance:
How to immediately get out of “the funk".
QUICK FIX: Scribble like a mad man. Write like a mad woman.
Make things so hard that you break them.
Stand in your yard or in the grass, breathe the air and connect with the earth. Focus on one microscopic thing. The smallest flower. One blade of grass. Stare at it with no thoughts until you feel the shift. Appreciate it like this is your last chance.
Sit in some water. Do anything that makes you so present that yesterday and tomorrow don’t exist. Only one moment and you’re in it now.
HIGH AMP FIX: Dot Fisher-Smith brings a lifetime of wonder to you. Let her help you. This video was created by Michael Raimondo and Justine du Toit. @reflectionsoflife. You can support them on Patreon here. There is a shorter version of this video here.
Paul Klee’s Pedagogical Sketchbook shows you how to create with the freedom and wonder you had as a child. Perfect for: Anyone feeling stuck or wanting to rediscover the pure joy of making something.
Start Here.
Through poetry, we process complex emotions with precise language and connect our personal experiences to universal themes. Poetry is filled with contradictions and doesn’t attempt to resolve them.
All creators can learn from the art of writing poetry and being comfortable in the “in between” while creating.
First: Capture & Collect (The Notebook)
Poems often begin with an image or sensory detail that caught a poet’s attention
Many start with a phrase that "arrived" unexpectedly
A smaller percentage begin with an abstract concept or emotion
They maintain notebooks religiously filled with fragments, observations, overheard conversations.
Establish your capture system - notebook, phone app, voice memos, whatever works
Daily observation ritual - 10 minutes of noticing interesting details OR notice details at all times
Fragment collection - save incomplete ideas without judgment (this is crucial)
Cross-pollinate inputs - study work outside your field regularly
Identify your triggers - what sparks your creativity? Walks? Music? Conversations?
Second: Discovery Through Controlled Chaos
Poets tend to use "discovery drafting" (writing) to find out what they want to say, (not because they already know). Some have described it as “controlled chaos" letting ideas flow, then shaping them.
Your breakthrough happens here:
Start before you're ready - begin with fragments, not complete concepts
Set exploration sessions - dedicate time to play without outcome pressure
Build non-linear- work on different parts simultaneously
Document discoveries - note what emerges during the making process
Embrace productive failure - expect a very large percentage of attempts that do not work. This is normal and is discovery.
Third: Iterative Refinement (Where the Magic Happens)
Poets average 15-20+ drafts per poem.
Establishing your refinement practice:
Plan for multiple iterations - budget time for 12-25 refinement cycles. Test your work - get feedback at each major revision
Change perspective - step away, return with fresh eyes
Focus on one element per revision - don't try to fix everything at once
Kill your darlings - abandon favorite parts that don't serve the whole
Fourth: Constraint as Creative Catalyst
Limitations spark creativity. Sonnets, haikus, formal structures don't restrict they liberate by forcing innovation within boundaries. Constraints focus creativity.
Your constraint practice:
Identify your constraints - time, budget, materials, format, audience
Embrace limitations - see them as creative challenges, not obstacles
Create artificial constraints - impose rules to force innovation
Study constraint-based work - learn from others with similar limits
Push against boundaries - find creative ways to work within restrictions
Fifth: Community & Critique
Poets participate in workshop culture, seek peer feedback, engage with their creative community throughout the process not just at the end. Creating in isolation is like trying to see your face without a mirror.
Your community practice:
Find your creative tribe- Join groups, workshops, online forums
Seek regular feedback - schedule critique sessions throughout your process
Give feedback to others - teaching others improves your own work
Study masters in your field - analyze successful work regularly
Cross-disciplinary learning - learn from creators in other fields
DO YOU WANT TO BE A CREATOR HERO TO YOUR FRIENDS? ⬇ ⬇ ⬇
The Commencement of Autumn: Collaborative Video Dance Project
The Purpose: A collaborative dance video created from video clips submitted by this community.
Your Role: Take Darla's 6 tips and everything you've learned about certainty over the last three issues. (Link to video in comments).
Create a 45-second to 1-minute dance to music of your choice, inspired by the theme "The Commencement of Autumn."
Yes, the beginning of Autumn and what it means and/or represents to you.
Our Role: I'll combine all videos into one continuous piece (with full credit to each dancer) and publish "The Commencement of Autumn" in the September 4th issue and across all social media channels.
Your Deadline: July 30th, 2025
Details:
Create a video (45 seconds to 1 minute - longer is better so I can edit with all the best parts intact).
Technical Requirements:
Use your phone or any recording device.
Position the camera so we can see you clearly and in focus.
Dance in good lighting - if you can't see yourself clearly in your recording, neither can we. Daylight works. Natural lighting. Outdoors. Or a brightly lit room.
Music- You can play the background music of your choice while recording. Send the song name, artist, and source (or a link) with your video submission.
Send any questions, your video and music info to [email protected]
Here's the video of Darla’s suggestions for creating dance.
THANK YOU everyone for the feedback. Please feel free to email me with any suggestions! [email protected]
You all gave incredible feedback on Issues 4 and 5. Thank you!!!
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