Chasing ratings

When creating something, the problem with following ratings, clicks, likes, engagement online is that it has its own set of rules to win – it is its own game, in and of itself. When the art of popularity is refined, it usually (always?) becomes a race to the bottom to appeal to the most people. This distracts you from the real task at hand – making something cool.

Creating something authentic and original – whether it is a book, an experience in a BnB, a song – means that it will not appeal to everyone. By definition. This is ok.

Instead we must double down on the people we want to please, who matter to you and whom you want to engage with your art.

I don’t think you can possibly matter to everyone. We must stop chasing ratings for ratings sake.

Publish something – it’s good for you

Publishing is good for you. It’s like an apple a day.

I have decided to take the publishing process from blogging, and apply it to my ‘day job’. It’s getting me really excited about work and play.

Marketing my supply chain risk assessment services online is essentially like writing a more technical blog, and searching for people who may be interested to read it is like an easter egg hunt. Don’t worry I would never subject you to that writing on this blog! My point is that the process is valuable and can be applied to many situations.

Everyone should publish something. It doesn’t matter what it is, because the longer you do it, the better you will get at writing. Publish ideas regularly enough and it will become a database of thoughts to throw at any given situation. That is a remarkably valuable and powerful thing.

Netflix as a resource

In a personal crusade against time wasting, I am trying to add purpose to any online activity. We have a Netflix subscription, but just like TV and cable, there is a lot of junk on there. So, I am trying to focus my watching on classic and new Sci-Fi to self-educate on the topic, and hopefully help to make me a better Sci-Fi writer.

So far I have watched Stranger Things and Black Mirror – both fantastic but very different.

Sometimes of course my wife demands non Sci-Fi for casual watching. Happy Wife, Happy Life!

But I plan on using lists like this: http://www.stuff.tv/features/15-best-sci-fi-movies-netflix to continue the education 🙂

Dune update

Following on from my previous posts, Dune is becoming more than a pleasant read for me, it is so good that I am treating it as a sort of Sci-Fi guru and teacher. A reference book to refer to when creating futuristic worlds.

Its scale and scope started out very large and wide – moving between two planets, explaining complex political relationships, alien life forms, technologies, religions and histories. However, passing the half way mark the author has chosen to zoom in on a few characters, killing off a big presence Ned Stark style, and focusing on subtlety and detail in the characters and their particular situations. It’s very absorbing!

This ‘zooming in’ technique (for want of a better word) has been a revelation to me and I plan to try and use it in the future.

New Year’s startup

I have been away for about a month and barely written anything in that time.

I am trying to get back in the swing of things. So to start with, a simple re-blog. I don’t believe in resolutions every new year, but I do believe in long term behavioral goals. This list sounds pretty good to me:

More creating

Less consuming

More leading

Less following

More contributing

Less taking

More patience

Less intolerance

More connecting

Less isolating

More writing

Less watching

More optimism

Less false realism

From: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

Surround yourself with good stuff

The reality of becoming focused and creative is that you have to push other things to the side and stay attached to the important task at hand.

A big part of this is choosing what and who you listen to and stopping what doesn’t work.

For me, what works is podcasts and newsletters from interesting, creative people. For me, what works is stopping social networks from using me, and starting to use them for my own purposes instead (I really had to think about this and make a strategy – basically I only engage with Facebook, and I curate this actively every time I log on. I use Twitter as purely a feed for this blog. I use Linkedin purey as a CV for my day job. No other social networking for me.) I need good music in my life and I need to look forward to things that inspire me like family and friends and home.

Lastly and most importantly, I need to use time available to me. Life fill up the hours without much effort. When I get time to write, I take it actively. Adequate time spent writing, and adequate repetition of the writing process will make me a good writer.

What do you need to surround yourself with to become creative?

Just a little more

It’s strange how some things stick and others fall by the wayside. Creativity is hampered by the half-baked efforts which lead nowhere.

If the end goal of a perfect novel or song is not reached from the start we can lose confidence.

If space is not made for creative efforts, we will never have the time.

However, if we can be patient, and have faith and keep trying for just a little more each day, doing something creative over and over, we will get better. I have seen it happen with my own eyes with an artist friend of mine. We will get confident and we will get creative and we will get good.

Any problem you have…

…is probably fixable.

Think about it. Humans have cured polio. We discovered bacteria. We put people on the moon. We have cell phones which are as sci-fi as you can imagine. They let me talk to someone in China…if I so choose. So progress happens if we want it to, but it is not automatic.

In my personal experience, I am learning that there are two key components of creativity and progress.

First, I have to accept that progress will bring with it unintended consequences. These can be positive: For example back in the day we learned about atmospheric pressure which allowed us to create vacuums which allowed us to create combustion engines to push trains down a track. But they can also be negative: those combustion engines spit out pollution of all sorts. Personally, to become more creative has led me to quit unsatisfactory jobs, to learn about publishing, marketing and blogging. However it has also led me to become super self-critical. This is good sometimes in a work context, but it can impact other areas of my life. I never expected this as a side-effect.

The key for me is that progress is always better than the alternative, which is stagnation. It is a truth which I have had to get my head around. Stagnation is easier but far more destructive to my life. I think this applies universally to our race.

Next, for progress to occur, there needs to be focus. This may be internal – are you sure of what you are trying to achieve? Are you putting in the time and work? Or it may be a matter of collaboration. Do you have another person who will help you progress? I am learning that focus essentially means aligning of habits and habitual behaviour. Mine were all out of whack before I chose to be more creative.

I find it comforting that there are broad rules and conditions for progress. It helps my creativity and keeps pushing me on to fix problems each day. What helps you make progress?

Sci-Fi @home

I see how great sci-fi books take inspiration from everyday events. It’s a whacky world we live in.

Take this alien looking plant for example. From a few saggy leaves it is now in bloom and has pods exploding every few days:

photo-on-2016-11-25-at-5-31-am-2

Expect a public service announcement that the invasion has started. Started in my kitchen.