Last week I was on a panel for Pax Online about creativity in the time of the pandemic. I spoke about Fortnightly Fiction Jam and how I’m using that as a balance for the other projects I’m working on, which are all long-term, expansive projects. Some takeaways from the panel:
General advice:
- Follow creativity where it inspires you: it might not be the area you expect during these times, but it’s still valid
- Similarly, the kinds of media and creative inhaling that inspires you might be different right now
- Don’t worry about staying on top of trends and the hot new thing right now – minimize obligations and “shoulds” in general
- Give yourself deadlines—you can do this with jams, an accountabilibuddy, promises to a community, etc.
- Do what you need to feel safe
Advice for ways to make creativity safer:
- Embrace shorter form creative projects
- Carve out physical space in your home for creativity
- Embrace a lower quality bar. Give yourself permission to not be at your best right now!
- Give yourself permission not to fill all of your time with hobbies, productivity, and output
- Find supportive communities to engage with
Advice for picking up new skills:
- Committing to something by dropping money on a class/supplies/etc can be a good incentive to stick with learning something
- Learn by doing — the best way to pick up a new skill is diving into a project where you need that skill
- Youtube, Reddit, and Udemy are great resources
Advice for collaboration:
- Collaborators can help keep you accountable, and can also lessen the stress and burdens of areas where you’re not as strong
- Find people who complement your skillset
- Find people whose personalities mesh with what you need and complement you. This might mean seeking out people who are different from you and bring new perspectives
- Collaborate as much or as little as you need. Don’t get stuck thinking your collaboration “should” look a certain way
- Everything is more difficult right now, so division of labor is more important than ever! Be patient, and make sure people’s tasks are well-suited to their skills (including your own).
When collaborating:
- Find people who complement your skillset
- And people whose personalities match what you need and complement you
- Collaborate as much or little as you need
- Everything in the world is more difficult: so division of labor is more important than ever
- Collaboration is one way to feel less alone
Remember that you might already be doing creative work for your day job or household work, and leaning into the creativity of that might be depleting your energy for outputting projects
However much or little energy you have for creative projects is okay and valid!
Link to the video:
