Another Passion » recommended

10 Inspiring Blogs for Creatives 2

Rasmus Rasmussen — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 20:06:17 +0000

A year ago, when Another Passion was still brand new, I published a list of blogs to follow if you’re a creative person. Besides this one, of course. The time has come to once again share a list of recommended blogs. On the sites listed below, you will find hours of reading guaranteed to spark both inspiration and productivity.

There are ten blogs listed here but not in any particular order. I urge you to check them all out. If you don’t have time to do it now, bookmark this post or share it where you can come back to it later. Or better still, add the rss feeds of these blogs to your favorite reader and enjoy.

Rowdy Kittens – Tammy Strobel blogs about simple living.
Productive Flourishing – Charlie Gilkey’s blog about creativity, business and productivity.
IttyBiz – Naomi Dunford writes tips for tiny businesses and solopreneurs.
Steven Pressfield Online – Creative process guru. A must read blog.
Creativity Unbound – Edward Boches shares tips on personal branding and more.
The Art of Non-Conformity – Chris Guillebeau writes about achieving goals and more.
Accidental Creative – Productivity and creativity blog and podcast.
Zen Habits – Leo Babauta combines zen with success and productivity.
Mildly Creative – Ken Robert wants you to lighten up and create.
Art Biz Blog – Alyson Standfield blogs about making money as an artist.

I hope you like the list, and if you have recommendations of your own, I’d love to hear about it. Happy reading and creating!

Review: The War of Art

Rasmus Rasmussen — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 21:02:01 +0000

Steven Pressfield wanted to write a book for people suffering from writer’s block but ended up with a guide to being a happy creative in the more general sense. In short, Pressfield begins by identifying the enemy of getting your creative work done as ‘Resistance’. Then he goes on to talk about battling this enemy and finally, he talks about muses and adds some fluff to his otherwise pragmatic approach.

Pressfield’s view is unique. He has a military background and a couple of bestseller novels under his belt (The Legend of Bagger Vance; Gates of Fire). His approach is that of the soldier going to war. For many artists, this will definitely be a new way of looking at creative productivity. It comes off as very matter of fact and practical. I like that a lot.

Resistance is identified as the force within that gives us excuses for not doing what we want to do. It’s what makes us reconsider our choices, when someone tells us to get a real job. It makes us spend all day reading blogs like this one, instead of getting the work done. It’s procrastination and self doubt personified. The way to overcome this, according to Pressfield, is to become a Professional.

He compares the amateur to the pro using easy to understand examples. The athlete might be in pain, but he finishes the race anyway. The soldier might be scared, but she goes into battle anyway. You get the idea. Of course, Pressfield goes into more detail and offers suggestions on how to approach and overcome Resistance. The writing flows nicely, the chapters are short and sweet, and the book is at times hard to put down.

Reading the first two parts of the book was a rush to me. Much like what I imagine sportsfans experience when watching their favorite team play. My team is Creativity and the arch-rival is Resistance. At times, I almost found myself cheering at the book. Death to Resistance! From this moment on, I will never let that bastard win again.

Then, in the final third of the book, Pressfield almost completely lost me. This is where he gets esoteric and tries to go deeper into the nature of inspiration. This is where he gets religious. I literally had to put the book away for a couple of days at a time every few chapters. I wanted to finish it so badly, because the first two parts were so good. Luckily, Pressfield mixes in just enough references to other mythology that I was able to see past my own resistance, and not feel like I was reading religious propaganda. The first two parts took me two days to read, pacing myself so as not to read it all in one go. The last part took a week.

I have to settle on a rating of 8/10. Begrudgingly. I wanted to love it unconditionally, but unfortunately that did not happen. Don’t get me wrong though, it really is a very good and highly motivational read no matter what your personal philosophy might be. The approach of thinking like a professional is very effective and there are some nuggets of pure gold to be found in “The War of Art”.

“The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield, 192 pages, Grand Central Publishing (Amazon affiliate link)

The Ultimate Idea Development Tool

Rasmus Rasmussen — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:13:19 +0000

How much time have you spent researching, downloading and trying out different applications meant to boost your productivity? To help speed things up and organize your ideas? How much of that time was a waste?

I saw this on a Glenlivet label – “Unhurried since 1824″. I have collected (and enjoyed) many single malts but this is the only label that stuck with me. Unhurried implies care and attention. Unhurried implies quality. Unhurrying is an underestimated activity.

When it comes to software applications designed to help develop ideas, brainstorm, mind map and make you productive, they all claim to speed up workflow and make life easier. But I find them limiting or clumsy to use. When working with loose thoughts, raw concepts and ideas, I don’t want to worry about what the software can and can’t do. So, I use a different tool.

I’m talking about pen and paper.

All my projects and ideas begin on a blank sheet somewhere. Typically a journal, but if something needs to come out, I will grab whatever is close by; index cards, napkins or backs of receipts. The handwriting process stimulates my brain in ways that a computer just can’t do. It comes down to speed, or rather lack thereof. It’s unhurrying in action.

The brain has time to think through a sentence from several angles before my hand catches up. By the time the words get down on paper, I have already developed the idea a little further in my head. The handwritten notes come out more precise than anything written on a keyboard. Instead of walking away with just a thought jotted down, I come away with a clearer idea of what I want to do with it.

And I like physically touching the paper it’s written on. It makes the idea feel real. Tangible. Doable. As opposed to forgettable, fleeting and unimportant.

Maybe with multi-touch and more intuitive technology, some day there might be a serious competitor to the pen and paper method. But for now, it’s just not worth the time and frustration trying out app after app (though I did recently purchase Streaks – I’m such a hypocrite, right?).

Nothing beats a scribble and a doodle – I dare anyone to prove me wrong.