Creativity...
Hello again all of you Afro Stachers! Welcome to another Fabulous Frog Blog! It’s true. I missed last week. But I’m allowed a week off once in a while, right? Besides, it was a little busy and stressful for me. As many of you may know, I work two jobs as an instructional assistant in special education in two different high schools. We started at one school two weeks ago, and then the other one week later. So I had to get back into the swing of things. But now things are starting to get back to normal. So I’m back!
Recently, I saw an online article about Robert Rodriguez. That’s right, the director. Don’t know him? He’s done El Mariachi, Desperado, From Dusk Til Dawn, Spy Kids, Sin City, and Machete, just to name a few. If you want to find out more of what he’s done, check him out on IMDB. He’s got some good stuff.
Anyway, this article I read was from an interview with Robert Rodiguez about creativity and leading a creative life. It’s actually quite interesting. Especially for someone like me who’s all about creativity. But it seems like it’s not just in writing (or in directing in Robert Rodiguez’s case), but being creative in everything you do in life. I’ll put the link in at the end for those who want to check it out.
So I want to share a few points in the interview that I found to connect with me.
Document what you do, so you can record a methodology and learn from what didn’t work.
Sounds pretty simple, right? Makes perfect sense, or more likely it’s common sense. But how many of us do this? I admit, I never have. I know I’ve said many times to myself, “I’ll remember how to do that.” But I hardly ever do and think I should have written it down. I mean, I keep a notebook for ideas that come to me when I’m not able to actually sit down and write so I can remember them later, but for notes of things that work for me? Damn good idea!
Creativity isn’t job specific. If you know how to be creative, you can just jump from job to job with no training and do them pretty well. The technical part of any job is 10%. 90% is creativity.
Who has ever had a job that’s boring? That’s the same thing over and over again? It’s just tedious and exhausting? I know I have had many jobs that fit that description. Many of us have! I’ve sat in an office cubicle typing reports, entering data, filing papers, and writing reports. It was a pretty boring job. And I was miserable! But something I do remember now, when I first started there, I was always looking for a better way to do the job. I was using my creativity to make the job better. Maybe quicker or more efficient. But I know when I was thinking in that capacity, the job wasn’t so bad. I know when I was doing the same thing over and over and over again, man, I just wanted to flip my desk over and walk out! So making a job more creative, whatever it is, can be rewarding. And that doesn’t just go for a job. Chores at home? Cooking something new? Even choosing a different way or place to write to get ideas.
Just get out of your own way. Open up the pipe and let the creativity flow through. As soon as your ego gets in the way and goes “Oh, I don’t know what you do next” you’ve already put eyes in front of it and blocked it a little.
This one really got to me. I remember reading another book about writing called If You Can Talk, You Can Write by Joel Saltzman. He pretty much said the same thing, just in a different way. Don’t let your inner editor get in the way of what you write. I used to be able to crank out scripts pretty quickly. I wouldn’t care what was going on the page, as long as I was writing it. I knew I could edit it later. These days, my inner editor is getting in the way and slowing me down. I’ll admit, that it does make for a better, well thought out story, but as I said, it can always be fixed in the editing and re-writes. I really just need to not get in my own way. Great advice.
And those are just three pieces of advice that Robert Rodriguez has given in that interview. There are a total of thirty! Maybe I’ll revisit this interview at another time and go into what other pieces of advice that I’ve taken to heart.
On another piece of news, last time I did a bunch of Shout Outs to various friends who do comics. Well, my buddy Scott Lost has started a new Kickstarter for his issue #5 of The 2nd Shift comic that he does. Please take a look at it and if you’re interested, give him some support. He’s a great guy! His Kickstarter is at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1835538384/the-2nd-shift-2015?ref=video
And here’s the link to the Robert Rodiguez interview!
That’s about it for now! See you guys next week! Until then, be good to each other!
