Recs for someone just entering their thirties and looking to take their creative ambitions seriously this decade???

Question

Karen Fischer · Answer

Subscribe to a magazine for something you love: It doesn't have to be trade, exactly, but find a magazine that aligns with your passion and subscribe! Being up to date in what's going on the field goes sooooooo far.

Caroalbers · Answer

Mindfulness: Mindfulness will take you far, imo. Start slow, but pay attention to your thoughts. Pay attention to when you find yourself thinking “I wish I were writing right now” or “man, I want to do XYZ”. Notice those. Take them seriously. Go from there. Don’t expect to create perfection or amazing things on day 1,2,3, 100. Just start doing it.

Bree · Answer

13 steps for getting WAY into a hobby: If you're thinking creative hobby, I just wrote this which I hope will help!

Bree · Answer

The War of Art: I read this nearly yearly! It makes me feel deeply seen and highly motivated.

Private Label · Answer

Art Life Practice The Studio Set: Keep this handy. Tons of tools to keep your creativity busy.

Josie · Answer

Lydia Davis: Ten of My Recommendations for Good Writing Habits: Lydia Davis's tips in this article are aimed at writers but I think offer great advice for any creative medium. She explains how keeping a notebook and other endeavors sharpen your observational skills for seeing things in the world to create about

Hannah Noah · Answer

Making a website: Even if you don't plan on selling stuff, it makes you feel very "official" as an artist and is a great way to share your work with family/friends!

Ruby · Answer

Body doubling!: Find someone who is also wanting to work on a goal of their own and set targets together. Share successes and struggles and push each other. Work at your goals during the same time time slot if possible.

Uri · Answer

Do the thing first thing in the morning. Just 5-minutes.: Otherwise, life will get in the way. If you can take it to bed with you and have it at your bed side, do it in bed first thing in the morning.

I think it was Jerry Saltz (How to Be an Artist) that gave this advice and it helps me when I need to begin my creative practice again. Basically the demons of the day will take priority eventually so you might as well cheat a bit and get some time to create for yourself. I think the rest of these tips actually came from this book

Some more advice: warm up, make a piece of shit, and take a break if you hate it.

Warm up: For me and drawing “warming up” looks like drawing circles or repeating shapes or lines or squiggles until I feel I have a good control for my pen/pencil/marker/etc. This can take a while but eventually those pen strokes get more confident for me.

Make a piece of shit: Make anything.  Don’t let starting at zero keep you from trying anything (blank canvas fear). Eventually, even if you make something crummy, you’ll have practiced and used your creative problem solving skills and will be better for it next time. When drawing, I might just scribble all over or color the whole page to get over the fear.

Take a break: don’t take frustration as defeat. Sometimes you need water, food, to live life a bit to get over a creative hurdle. You can always come back to a creative project  days, weeks, months, years later. And all the lived experiences that came in between working on the piece will come through in your creation. I think Virgina Wolf used to toss crummy stuff into a drawer for years at a time to come back and build on them later. don’t quote me on it.

I know I didn’t make these up and probably got it from Jerry Saltz or  Art Matters Because Your Imagination Can Change the World by Neil Gaiman

Maggz · Answer

the artist’s way: You’ve quite possibly heard of it, but if you’re willing to put the work in, this is a great place to begin.

Jackie Homan · Answer

Hosting a conversation/panel community event: If you have a few friends or peers who have expertise in a topic, gather them together and put on a casual community event! A lot of bookstores, shops, bars, studios, etc will let you use their space for free if it’s open to the public. And a lot of people are just looking for free ways to meet new people, get inspired, learn something new. Win win win