I didn't start writing fiction until I was twenty two. In fact, I hated creative writing throughout school (vastly preferring the literature of others to anything I could create) - but this doesn't make me any less of a writer now. Looking back, I can recognise my dislike of creative writing then for what it really was - the fear of others (even a teacher!) reading something deeply personal to me…
Read MoreCreating blog content is great for your site SEO because it makes your site look active and engaging, helping it show up in searches and get found.
Even if that isn't your aim, it can also be a really good, regular practise in consistent creativity - which is the best way to improve at something. It invites idea generation, writing for a purpose, building skills in word choice, sentence structure and editing - mostly without you even realise it.
Read MoreAs a quiet person, I don't really believe in saying something for the sake of talking, and the same can be true of the way I feel about blogging and the other content I create. It's important to me to offer something of use, of value - whether that's in inspiration or encouragement, or yes, even advice - in this noisy online world.
Read MoreAfter making good progress for a few solid weeks, I finally got the ‘fear’ with my current writing work-in-progress.
The fear for me comes in a few different forms, but this time it was the sheer overwhelm that comes when faced with the scale of crafting a whole novel.
Read MoreWe can’t create with consistency and dedication if we’re run down or ill. The relationship between art and work and productivity is a complicated one for lots of us. But whether you rely on it to pay the bills or not, your art’s presence in your day-to-day and what to do when you’re ill can be difficult to figure out. Just in the same way that a self-employed person must take care of their
Read MoreIt's a necessary part of any creative process, that we all must start somewhere, that we all must be a beginner. This feeling can fall somewhere between joyful discovery and faint discomfort, but often it's just plain frustrating. We want to be better than we are. We want to get the hang of something right away. It's perfectly natural.
Read MoreWhen we do anything creative, we're asking ourselves to make lots and lots of decisions. Some of those are the obvious, visible kind (what colour should that be? Is that the right word?), and some are less tangible, the instinctual decisions we make without even realising (like when we place a mug on a flatlay photograph without really thinking about it). All of those little conscious and
Read MoreSetting habits and building positive routines is something I'm really interested in this year, particularly as a way to find a more realistic and practical solution towards achieving a goal. New year's resolutions are easy to give up - we fall at a hurdle a few miles along, we get discouraged by our progress and give up, or we just run out of
Read MoreThe new year is a pretty exciting time for lots of us, January is the one time of year where we can really lean into a love of planning and dreaming and goal setting. The magic of fresh starts and clean slates always holds a very powerful burst of momentum and energy for me, so I'm making the most of it by really diving into a season of…
Read MoreSometimes we can feel hesitant to use the term creative, perhaps because of it's associations with traditional art and more tangible or active creative pastimes.
Read MorePutting our creativity out there is never easy. It can fill us with self doubt and criticism, make us feel vulnerable and exposed, all the while running the risk of it being judged negatively somewhere along the way.
Read MoreCreative energy is something that can have quite dramatic highs and lows. Our drive to create can veer frequently from super-charged, high productivity, to apathy and creative block and back again.
Read MoreIt can seem scary sharing something you've made online for other people to see (and potentially judge), but trust me when I say that it's far more likely to be a positive experience. In fact, getting likes and comments on something you've made can be a real boost - the perfect confidence push for you to keep going.
Read MoreIdeas are the very essence of creativity. They are the seed that something beautiful can bloom from, the soul with which something can be sustained and nurtured.
So it's no surprise that we can fall into the trap of treating them with a specially held reverence, as though they are delicate, fragile creatures that might float away on the breeze if we look at them too long.
Read MoreIf your creativity is at all linked to your career or finances (even if it's a side hustle), or if you share what you make with others in any way, it's likely you'll feel more than a little pressure surrounding it.
Too much pressure can easily lead to creative block or self doubt, but the easiest way to help head this off is by creating work that fills you up with joy in the first place.
Read MoreIt's never easy to take a break from creating, whether it's your full-time gig, side hustle, or just-for-the-joy-of-it personal project. Sometimes it really is necessary though, the only thing that will refresh our creative well and ensure we're taking care of our own needs, too.
Read MoreIt can sometimes be incredibly difficult to open up about our creative hopes and dreams. However, we're often much happier to share our creativity in the online world than we are face to face.
We lie about our weekends; hide the blog we've been pouring our free time into; live in fear that our colleagues or old school friends will find our creative instagram account.
But what is it that makes us close up around the people we see every day, and how can we start to be more open about who we really are?
Read MoreBusy lives tend to make for less time in general, we have to squeeze our creativity into little pockets of spare time, or steal moments here and there in between packed schedules and stressful priorities.
With such little time to devote to creating, the need to actually achieve something can sometimes feel unbearably important, and can even overtake the original intended enjoyment.
Read MoreGet to grips with your inspiration in a tangible way by making a creative vision board. It's a tool for developing new ideas and getting clarity on your style, as well as helping you stay focused and intentional in your creativity.
Read More
It is so natural to evolve and change in style - and in fact it can be pretty crucial in order to successfully grow as a creative. Sometimes - when we're just starting out, or if we hit a bit of a block - it can be difficult to find that evolution or direction naturally, and it becomes something we have to actively seek in order to move forwards.
