Articles on Creative Practice
Long-form essays on the actual work of making things every day — what gets in the way, what reliably helps, and what I have learned from running my own practice across writing, drawing, music, photography, and code.
How to Beat Writer's Block: 7 Strategies That Actually Worked for Me
The blank page is rarely about creative bankruptcy. It is usually fear, fatigue, or the wrong starting place. Seven strategies I have personally tested for breaking out of stuck — and the one I come back to most when nothing else is working.
Read article →Why Creative Constraints Make You More Original
I used to think unlimited freedom would produce my best work. When I actually got it, the work got worse. An essay on why constraints — narrow, specific, externally imposed — are the most reliable engine of original work I have found.
Read article →Building a Daily Creative Practice That Sticks
I have started a daily creative practice probably forty times. The current version is in its eighteenth month. Six things I had to learn before the habit would actually hold, and what I would tell myself if I were starting over.
Read article →The 30-Minute Creative Warm-Up Every Artist Should Do
Musicians and athletes warm up. Most of us in other creative disciplines try to start cold. The three-phase, thirty-minute routine I use before any serious creative session, plus a ten-minute version for days when that is all you have.
Read article →How to Choose the Right Creative Prompt for Your Mood
The same prompt can produce strong work on Tuesday and nothing on Thursday. A breakdown of the four moods I recognize in myself and which kinds of prompts to feed each one — and the one question to ask if you do not have time to diagnose.
Read article →Cross-Pollination: How Mixing Disciplines Unlocks Originality
The most original piece I have ever written was structured like a song. Why misapplying techniques across creative disciplines reliably produces work that would not have existed otherwise — and a few ways to practice it on purpose.
Read article →The Honest Truth About Creative Streaks and Why I Almost Quit Mine
On day 247 of a creative streak I almost broke it on purpose. The streak had stopped fueling the practice and started running it. What the experience taught me about when streaks help and when they quietly start hurting your work.
Read article →From Prompt to Finished Work: A Step-by-Step Process
A prompt is a doorway, not a destination. The six-stage process I use to take a one-line prompt and turn it into a finished, released piece — with what to do, what to avoid, and how long each stage actually takes.
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