Igniting the Creative Process
Plan your work, work your plan.
Creative ideas, can often be created at the spur of the moment. You don’t have to plan your creativity step by step, but you must properly prepare for it. A well thought out idea, requires precision and planning. It demands a certain level of methodology that is outside the scope of what other creatives might do, and that’s what creates truly exceptional work.
I am not saying overthink your process, I am just saying—have one. Be intentional, and you will produce work that embodies the very essence of whatever message, mood, feeling, or thought you are trying to convey.
How do we act with intentionality when by nature we are creative beings who are overflowing with magnanimous ideas? We must not only be intentional about our final product, but also how we develop it. Have a process, and follow it—every damn time.
Everyone’s process will be unique to them, because you’re an individual dammit! But I believe, we can each follow a comprehensive set of guidelines, to developing a creative process that is not only fun and exciting but delivers the best work you can create.
1. Plan Ahead
Yep, it’s really that simple. When I am preparing to do make-up for a photo shoot, I could easily show up the day of with out a plan in my mind, and with every make-up product I own towed behind me. OR—I can act with intentionality by collaborating with the team I am going to be working with, and developing a key strategy for how I will execute the different looks/ideas that I may create that day. Simply planning ahead, not only makes me feel like I can do anything, but it also conveys to those around me that I am prepared, and ready to take on the day! When we are planning, we must not only consider how we get to the work, or how we do it, but ultimately how we finish it. Ever do something, and sat on it for months or even…never released it?—I’m looking at you! A plan involves how we get somewhere from start to finish. When planning, PLAN IT ALL!!
2. Write It Down!
Remember when you were learning how to write those dreaded essays that we all had to write from grade school and up? Your teacher, wouldn’t just let you write to your hearts content, she had you create an outline that gave you the direction to write the paper thoughtfully. So, create an outline, make a list, draw a picture…do whatever you need to do to make that idea STICK! The best way to own an idea, is to not just speak it into reality, but to physically own it. There’s something so impactful about putting pen to paper. It not only allows us to commit, but it gives us a specific guide for how we are going to write our creative story.
3. COMMUNICATE
You have thought about it, wrote it down, and now it’s time to speak that creativity into the world. There’s nothing worse than a plan, that isn’t well executed. To execute your plan, you must communicate to those you are working with, and those who are working for you, exactly what your expectations are. What you need from them, but most importantly what they might need from you. WHY? Because we are only as good, as the team we create with. It is important, that we establish a collaborative environment where we can share and create. And at the same time an environment that has a clear direction, and an established set of deliverables. We can never expect someone to know what we are talking about, unless we show them.
4. DO WORK
Planning can be fleeting. I say this because some of us are great architects of the plan, but when it comes time to creating the real work we left our perfectly laid plans at home. Get out there, and DO THE WORK. Work your plan the way you envisioned it, embody the intentionality that you originally used to create it, and follow through with the completion of the entire process.
5. DON’T GIVE UP
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and blah, blah, blah. But SERIOUSLY…it’s not always going to go off with out a hitch, IN FACT one of the beautiful things about creating a concept, is allowing that idea to continue to evolve even after we have done all of the above. It could be the simple stroke of the make-up brush that makes the “mistake” that takes you down an avenue that you’ve never discovered before. So, be earnest, and let the conceptualizing process happen to you.
So that’s it, in a nutshell. We are all capable of creativity, if we have the mind enough to dream it. I encourage you to get out there, and create things that you are truly passionate about. Plan your work, and truly work your plan, it’s this simple methodology that should meditate in the back of your mind. Surround yourself with people, that feed, cultivate and nurture your creative mind and spirit.
“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine, and at last, you create what you will.” – George Bernard Shaw