Pikaland's 9 Tips to be More Creative

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Pikaland's 9 Tips to be More Creative:


Amy Ng, Pikaland blogger and artist collaborator extraordinaire, has many a helpful article on creativity, business and life in her zine, The Good to Know Project. Amy hosted a Virtual Lab as part of our Holiday Workshops for Sellers series on Getting Out of the Box (you can find the recap here). I asked Amy to share more tips on sparking the creative process with Storque readers. Here they are...


About fueling creativity:

1. Creativity is fueled by experiences, sights, sounds and smells. Sitting still won’t bring new ideas in; experimenting and trying new things will jog your creativity.


2. I maintain a certain pattern to the day, with my morning bath signaling to me that I am starting my work with a fresh mind and spirit. After breakfast is when my day officially begins — I turn on the radio and look at my to-do list (see #3).


3. I jot down notes every night before I go to bed about what I need to accomplish the next day. This way, I’m actively placing my worries onto paper so I can go to bed not fretting about what needs to be done.


4. I have a box labeled for each different project I’m involved in, so I don’t worry about misplacing things or ideas. (This one was inspired by The Creative Habit.)


5. I also keep a different sketchbook for different topics and ideas. I have one for business, one for random sketches and another for my writing. And in these sketchbooks I sometimes allocate different sections so that my thoughts don’t get messed up too much (there isn’t a search function on them, like a computer has!).


6. I throw these sketchbooks all over the place, so when I have a thought I scribble it down quickly.


7. I try and find the pattern between things, and connect the dots between random things just for fun when I’m stuck in a rut. For instance, when I see the color yellow around me, I start to focus on finding yellow things — stuff that I didn’t notice before will show themselves to me. I’m heightening my sense of awareness because I’m narrowing my focus to one thing.


8. Doing things differently helps. I love calligraphy, but sometimes I seem to be stuck in a rut — it seems that I could only write in a certain way! So I stop, and see what others are doing, and try to analyze what I could do differently. A little more pressure on the downward stroke? Or how about adding more flourishes to that letter? It took me about a week of constant practice to free up my hand. If you’re stumped for ideas, have a look at Keri Smith’s 100 ideas to get you started.


9. Practice, practice, practice. Creativity is like a muscle that you need to flex regularly. I dread staring at a blank piece of paper, but everything begins with that first stroke. I’m a perfectionist, so I train myself to not use erasers at all when I’m drawing. And if I do make mistakes, I start on a new piece of paper — that way I let new ideas in and not just dwell on what I previously did.

Here are some books in my collection that I pick up whenever I need a boost:

1. The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp: I love this book. Twyla is a dancer and choreographer, but a lot of the things she has to say cuts across all disciplines.


2. How to Be an Explorer of the World: Portable Life Museum by Keri Smith: Keri reminds everyone to put on their explorer goggles and look at the world with new eyes — I did a review of her book here.


3. Living Out Loud by Keri Smith: Although the book is a little girlish for guys, I love the article she wrote about how to find what you love to do.


4. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho: This is an amazing book that I pick up and read again and again. The message is simple — you won’t find what you’re looking for until you follow through on your dreams.


5. How to be an Illustrator by Darrel Rees and Nicholas Blechman: I like how they talk to illustrators and get their feedback on running a creative business.


6. Lines & Shapes by Lena and Mav: Amazing artists and beautiful, beautiful pictures. I have volume no. 5 and I treasure it.


7. The first issue of the Good to Know project: I like keeping a copy on my bookshelf so I can read up on what my friends have to say about being creatively stuck.

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More Tips & Tricks!

and here's another post i'll be updating with Tips & Tricks, these are collected from several posts, websites, etc.  you can add your own tips if you have any, just leave a comment on this post!


1. " Learn to wrap packages properly in kraft paper instead of using envelopes. It is much cheaper. " (from Kate, at the We Make Zines community.)
My add-up tip: it's not hard to make an envelope out of a sheet of paper. you can use a real envelope, "unfold" it and outline the shape and the folded/glued parts on thicker paper or cardboard and save that as a pattern for making envelopes yourself. I'm sure there's a tutorial online about this type of stuff...
Also, you can also recycle old papers when making envelopes, but to keep it from getting your mail sent back to you, maybe use papers that are white on one side and patterned on the other. then, fold it so that the patterned goes on the inside of the envelope and the outside is plain white. Either way, these tips combined are a way to recycle and save money, and that's always good!


2. A problem that seems to come up often when selling zines with cash payments to outside your own country, is getting foreign currency and what to do with it. It's not always easy for people to go to the bank or post office specifically to exchange a couple of dollars (i used "dollars" because the zine scene is quite active in there). James N. Dawson at WMZ, suggested " why not just keep the money and use it to order zines from the country it came from? " Now that's an excellent idea, i would've never come up with that! Again, another tip that can save you money and you can still read new and cool zines, and keep your zine collection growing!


3. Lauren Arcade at WMZ says the following: " I write a lot of zine reviews, and I know it's proper to write out the full address of the author at the end, but I usually go with an email or website if there is one listed. Because you never know if somebody is going to read that review in 2 years and send their money to an address that the zinester moved out of a year ago. Also, if the mailing address for a zine is misprinted or if you screw up just one of the letters or numbers, then you're out a couple bucks. "
I've seen this issue brought up before many times, so it's definitely something to keep in mind, folks!


4. ...

Zine Trade Tips

following my last post, on SamProof's video tutorial, he talks about zine trading and he has had a great idea i feel i must share you (even) more people!

according to his own words, if you would like to have a copy of the zine but are short or out of money, you can send a drawing with a self-addressed stamped envelope and you will receive a copy of the zine back! also, your drawing might appear on the next issue of the zine!

i think this is a very good idea! usually, zine trading means you send your own zine to get a copy of someone else's zine. but what if you are not a zine-maker? that would leave you with no zine to trade and you would never be able to get that zine from that person... so, SamProof's proposal is a very generous one, in my humble opinion.


my only question/doubt on this hole process is:
how do self-addresses stamped envelopes work when sending them outside your own country?
i mean, i know how much it costs to send a letter to another person in my own country (Portugal), but how can i know how much it costs to send a letter from the USA, for example, to Portugal?
and in terms of currency exchange (Euro stamps postage vs. American dollars stamp postage), how does is work?
perhaps this is a bit of a dumb question, but, hey, if you can enlighten me, i'd be very thankful :-D