If you happen to be writing anything, then you’re probably keeping a notebook. Something you mark your ideas, dreams, songs and thoughts in to, and as you keep writing, you will probably end up having more notebooks that you ever imagined needing. And soon, as you keep filling the pages, book after book, you’ll forget what you filled them with in the first place. Good part is that when you open them up again, you’ll be transported to the exact moment when you wrote in the first place, but only this time, you get to experience it not as a creator, but as audience, and you can enjoy it objectively. Of course, unless you’re actually good – most of the time you’ll just be wondering: “what the hell was I thinking?”

Such is the routine of keeping a notebook.

And starting one was the best decision I ever made.

I agree, it has been frustrating at times. Most artists and creators that I know are humble people with extremely low confidence when it comes to their art. It’s funny; these are one of the strong and most achieved people in the world that can usually withstand any wave of struggle that life throws at them. They can solve any problem mindfully and intelligenty in times of agony and extreme annoyance. But when they’re making art, they’re as weepy and nervous as little babies on crack; on edge from the slightest critical feedback, as if the whole world has turned against them and hates them now.

Art has a tendency to pull out the worst of our egos, and I’m no different. I believe one is truly a master of her craft when they don’t feel the urge to prove or explain themselves to anyone. When they’ve stopped caring about the world and the approval of the audience, and only focus on their own enjoyment. People like that make revolutions happen.

Now let’s talk about the actual topic. I won’t make the claim that I truly understand my relationship to writing and keeping notes yet, but I felt like I wanted to share some of the aspects of my routine that I’ve learned in the past 1.5 years. I’m sure, that as I write more I’ll discover things I never imagined, but I hope that these little observations and tips prove useful to you, my dear reader.

1. Write constantly.

I try to write 2 hours a day after work during week days and over weekends I try to write 5 hours a day. Together that makes 20 hours a week. If it takes about ten thousand hours to master a craft, I still have about 3000 days or about ten years to ago. It sounds daunting. It’s going to take a long, long time, but at least I’m trying. Getting there eventually is what matters.

2. Write with drawings.

I’m a very visual person, I draw for a living and I think to best of my abilities when I’m drawing. Hence I draw a lot when I write. I just can’t keep it all together if I have an easy way to see and judge all the story beats and their relationship together. I applaud the people who have this innate talent to discover write their whole stories, but this method has proven to work the best for me.

I’m considering to make storyboards on postcards and putting them on the ground in the future, I’ve heard it to be a fun way to plot.

3. Sketch your references.

I need to be able to visualize my characters before I can write about them, otherwise they exist as a blurry mess without any focus or purpose and I’ll just waste time trying to catch something that ultimately cannot be catched. Locking their essentials down will make the rest of their features and thoughts come easier. It’s also called concept designing.

4. Talk to your notebook.

When frustrated, when you notice something silly or when you’re lost with your thoughts – let your notebook know it! Write it down, for it’ll make you stop and rethink your purpose and objective. The same applies when you do something good. Let yourself know about it and congratulate yourself. This writing thing is not supposed to be so serious that you can’t be happy once in a while.

This brings us to one of the most important points:

5. Let your mind go free and make yourself smile.

There’s not a safer place in the world than your notebook. Let yourself go free and draw what ever demons you need to make yourself smile again. All this struggle to improve will take the fun and pleasure out of creating, so go nuts, go silly – and draw dicks every now and then to reset your mind.

Everyone has their unique demons; mine happen to be very provocative and confusing. If yours take the shape of a pony or a flower, then that’s cool too.

6. Write more!

It doesn’t matter what pen, notebook or word program you have. What matters, is that you write or draw or create and one day, be the artist you want to be. We all struggle in our lives trying to fulfill our ambitions and passions, balancing work, family and hobbies. It is a hard journey to travel, but it could just be worth it.

Ask yourself, what do you want to be good at in the next five years and what can you do about it? And then do it.

 

Love,

Silver