Post 14 of Dream, create and make money in the arts – My Series on becoming a Successful Creative

Decide and do

I saw some friends of mine earlier this evening and one of them, the wonderful theatre director and teacher Simone Vause  talked about the best advice she was been given by the former Head of East 15 Drama School where Simone has been running workshops and directing for over 33 years, in addition to her directing and character development work.

 Decide and do.

So it is time indeed to decide and do. Maybe henna tattoo it on your hand so you don’t forget, I am thinking of it 😉

So we are here, 14 posts in and now I am telling you to create. Finally I hear you mutter, ‘what was with all that event free thinking, festivals, events, deadlines, vision boards, psychological stuff?’

I would argue that you probably enjoyed some of it, especially the part where you did not have to actually create, just dream wildly about your possible creation in ever tightening boundaries set by me aka a deadline and a specific event. Or is that just my inner pterodactyl talking?

I have been wondering here how best to progress forward for those readers who are not in the performing arts or don’t want to put on an event.  I am not going to tell a Royal Academy of Art graduate how to paint for next year’s Art Frieze submission nor an actually already published author aiming to get her next novel written and out to her agent, we all have our trusted techniques. However the one thing I can share based on actual decade(s) of experience is how to create and put on an event, a cabaret show, a piece of theatre, an evening of music or poems that gets press, audience, reviews, tickets sold, and a room of people having a great time whether it is a book launch, charity event or a full on 3 hour musical.

So that is where we are heading now, creating an event with a thread, a through-line, a heart and yes probably a message too, we will come back to press, social media, marketing, branding, audience targeting etc later so feel free to dip out here and come back in about a week!

But before you go, try Liz Ranken’s discussed affirmation technique again, write down 25 times free-hand the following; feel free to change or add to it.

‘I create work that fulfills my creative potential for myself and humanity”

(I have been trying this and it does make a difference in terms of the place that I come from in my work, my ego and the thus attendant fears are shoved aside by a willing to be the best version of me that my heart wants to be.)

Then sit, stand or lie down in your most comfortable creative position and start.

Start the first draft, the preparing of the canvas and actually put pen or brush to paper, or start choreographing the dance from the bit you have imagined. Work out the chords to the chorus you hear, write the goodbye speech of the girl to her lover in your play, film or novel. Take your camera out and start filming to get ideas.

Camcorder Girl image courtesy of imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Main Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Decide and do needs to be our mantra as our first draft comes wiggling out from our fingers, mouths or toes.

So today start to create and tomorrow carry on. One foot/word/note in front of each other, be it half an hour before the kids get up, or the hour after you get home from work before you eat dinner and settle in front of that dread machine (the TV). Not that there is not great stuff on it but it robs us of our creative hours, passive watching rather than active dreaming and doing. Too much TV, video games and YouTube  leads to late nights, lost creative dreams and grumpy mornings.

If you don’t know where to start spend today’s half an hour thinking about it, look at your vision board, where is your instinct telling you, what hints of a story do you want to tell.

Just write something eve if they are an unfleshed out theme or  an idea which makes no sense yet.

Main Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Young Artistic Girl With A Paint Set” by Stuart Miles

About this series – Being a Successful Creative – The Business of Creativity
This is a series of daily blogs for you on how to dream up, build, market and sell a creative event, gig, festival, book launch, cabaret night, exhibition of rude plastic cupcakes or whatever creatively inspires you. It is time to create and put on that play about your family, a series of drawings about hedgehogs, the album you have talked about making or the short film you always wanted to write and make.