Monday, January 21, 2013

On Following Your Unique, Creative Self

Okay, so I'd never thought of myself as a creative person until I started writing. Over the course of the last year, I've realized just how incredibly creative writing is, how much energy that takes, and how in a creative endeavor sometimes we only see failure where this is much success.

I've tried to silence the part of publishing that calls for a commercial idea. I want to write for the love of crafting a story with the kind of words that draw emotion to the surface. Of course, I have to work on the commercial end of things all the time, but when I have a blank page, I don't want any of the words I try to be influenced by whether or not my novel will sell.

I've attempted to surround myself with articles and blog posts and friends who share this creating-for-the-joy-of-it philosophy.

My amazing and wonderful husband sent me this video -- he is an amazing and wonderful photographer, which is extremely creative and artisitic -- and it's just a fantastic reminder that we need to be true to our own selves. We need to follow our own creative vein.

This is a documentary on professional photographer Joel Grimes--and his photos are gorgeous. My favorite line? "Work from your uniqueness." (I especially like how he talks about trends, and hard work, and building a body of work, and rejection and the need for it, among other things.)

It's long, I know. But the part you really want to start watching is at the end. So drag to about 37:00 and watch to the end (If you want to see some of his photos before you listen to him, start at 35:10 -- they are awesome). That's about 10 minutes. Just put it on while you're answering email or something. It really is fantastic, and you can substitute any creative venture (writing, painting, dancing, music) when he says photography.



Are you working from your uniqueness? Are you enjoying it?

20 comments:

Stina said...

Heck, I'm watching the entire video, but I'll have to do that later on or else I'll have no time to blog this morning.

As a writer and photographer, I do work from my uniqueness and I love it. I probably do it more so from the photographer point of view, though.

Laura Pauling said...

I watched the last ten minutes and everything he said was so true and definitely could be applied to writing. Thanks for sharing!

Christine Fonseca said...

And love this, and I love Adam's continual support for you and your journey! And yes...speaking from the creative heart is the way to go. Love that you are doing that...

Jessica Nelson said...

I haven't watched the video but love the quote you shared!!! Just love it. Wow.


My hubs is a photographer too. Interesting. :-)

Anita Saxena said...

Thank you for sharing this! It's something I needed to hear!

Liesel K. Hill said...

Great video! I really liked where he said you should take what you already have, go out and do what you love, and create a body of work. Between that and your fav like about working from your own uniqueness, well I think he's hit on the keys to success, don't you? Thanks for sharing this Elena! :D

Anonymous said...

"Shoot with what you have and just go out and create."

"Work with what you have."

Such a great reminder! Thank you for posting, Elana.

Angela Brown said...

That was pretty intriguing. When he mentioned about following your passion, I know that spoke volumes for me. It is often in following your passion, not the commercial money-ism, that success is found. And though I may not be the world's biggest fan of Stephenie Meyers, I can recall reading an article or two where she mentioned that money wasn't her biggest driving factor in writing the Twilight sage, but rather, the desire to tell a unique love story...which is what she created in her own unique way.

Emily R. King said...

Amazing. He is truly talented. His advice is very wise. Thanks for sharing!

ilima said...

It's great when what I want to write is what my agent wants me to write. I've reflected lately on why I started writing, though, and feel like I need to nurture that a little more now.

Bethany Elizabeth said...

I kind of believe (even though it might be a little idealistic) that everyone has enormous creative potential inside of them, and no matter what, they will never reach the end of it. Maybe I just believe everyone has infinite creative potential - as long as they can find the right medium. :)

mshatch said...

He makes a great point about finding our uniqueness and using it.

Liza said...

Working with your heart...

Leigh Covington said...

This is great Elana! Glad you shared. I love photography too and his pictures are amazing!

Jemi Fraser said...

Sounds great - I'll give it a listen in a bit. I love the quote - we each are unique and celebrating that through our creativity is an awesome idea!

Nicole said...

I love the sentiment of this post. Creativity re-energizes me, and I'm so happy and grateful to have that outlet with my writing.

Nichole Giles said...

Just FYI, you are one of the most uniquely creative people I know. And on days like today you give me courage to go with my own creativity too. <3 Thanks.

Matthew MacNish said...

This is so awesome. Be yourself - everyone else is taken!

Kerri Cuev said...

"Work from your uniqueness," just the advice I needed today :) Thank you!

T. Powell Coltrin said...

I like that, "Work from your uniqueness".

Like it a lot.

T

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