The Artist’s Way

Not a book, but Brian Eno’s “Oblique Strategies”

About 10 years ago, I read “Creativity, Inc” by Edwin Catmull, co-founder of Pixar. It detailed the ideas and events that lead up to the advent of feature 3D animation and filmmaking. I found it to be an inspiring story that mixed a passion for computer science with the desire for compelling storytelling. I was independently studying animation at the time, and it definitely lit a fire in me, as it was written by and for computer nerds who would like to make art.

I’ve always been more technically-oriented than artistic, so it was nice to see a book written from a similar perspective. I spent most of my young adulthood working on my technical skills so I could get a decent job, but around the time I read this book, I actually started putting time into creative endeavours in my free time as well.

Okay. So this is going to sound weird. Not a book recommendation - but rather a video game.

Thought it’s about as non-fiction of a game as you can get. And it even talks about creative tools and the philosophy of what inspires creators.

Its called: “The Beginners Guide”

You can find it on Steam, and it’s about 2 hours long. It is basically a narrator walking you through some video games he liked playing from a certain artist that disappeared. He just analyzes the decisions the artist made in the game and why before moving you, the player, to another game from that artist.

Most of the gameplay is very limited. Just walking and looking. Almost like you’re going through a museum that itself is a work of art being described to you by someone who appreciates it.

There’s a couple of clever twists, but when it comes to finding yourself creatively again, it certainly helped me.

Admittedly I’m a writer, but trying new experiences is what gets me creatively working again. This one certainly did it for me, and thought I’d at least recommend the same.

I really like Hugh MacLeod’s Ignore Everybody

The holographic universe and the theory of chaos

Two MOOcs on Coursera.

• Sharpened Visions: A Poetry Workshop, California Institute of the Arts on Coursera. Taught by Douglas Kearney.
• Teaching Writing Specialization: Teaching Writing Process, Teaching Reluctant Writers, Teaching Texts and Forms, & Responding, Revising and Assessing Student Writings. Johns Hopkins University on Coursera. Taught by Mark Farrington.

And then rereading my old favorite books to see how the authors wrote sentences, specifically, as opposed to the plot which I already knew I liked.

If you’re into visual arts, “The Art Spirit” by Robert Henri is pretty great.

Stephen King’s On Writing. It obviously has a lot about writing and but I find it inspirational for general creativity, plus he reads the audiobook and it’s a fun short listen!