Thursday, September 26, 2019

Picture This: The Other Side of The Wall


She stood staring in the mirror. How did she get here? What was that sound coming from inside the wall? And why were the paper towels under the paper towels?

She moved the paper towels. She turned off the faucet. No make-up to fix and her hair was fine pulled up in a pony tale. Now, about that noise.

Ever try to hear what noise is coming from the wall when someone in the room keeps flushing the toilet? She'd need to leave the room. She'd need to be on the other side of that wall. She left the room.

The sound of her footsteps clicks down the hall. The toilet flushes again.

From the other side of the wall she can hear a very tiny voice whisper, "The paper towels were not yours to move..."

She does not hear the disturbing sound from inside the wall. She does hear the toilet flush. Again.

"Enough of this," she sighs. "Time to get to work."

-- doug smith



Picture This:

1. Find a random image (truly random, do not select the picture.)
2. Write for 5 minutes with that picture as your inspiration. Stop.


Inspiration from Steppenwolf

I found this while looking for something else and it reminded me of how much of an influence this wild piece of improvised music had on me when I was young. It goes all the way back to 1967, and legend has it that the improvisation was necessitated by the late arrival of the lead singer, John Kaye.

I remember listening to it over and over as a kid in high school. It (or a similar recording) was featured on a double live Steppenwolf album. I love the subtle build and the almost spooky transition into the song "The Pusher." This still sounds great to me, and the early improvisations have influenced my own musical improvisation.

Check it out.




Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Creativity Is Hard Work


Wouldn't it be great if there was a magic formula you could use to make you as creative as you wanted to be whenever you wanted to be creative?

Press the button! Turn it on!

There is no magic wand, button, or switch. There is no magic.

There is discipline. There is practice. There is exploration and discovery. But, no, no magic.

Creativity is hard work, not magic.

Let's get busy.

-- doug smith


Monday, September 23, 2019

Dig Deeper


"When do you stop creating?"
"You don't."
"Ever?"
"Ever."

The gold is deeper. The song grows in rows of understanding. The time keeps ticking but the ideas will not run out as long as you prime the pump, practice relentlessly, and keep creating.

Creativity prods us to dig deeper than we've ever dug before.

Keep digging.

-- doug smith


Keep Creating


Stay creative as long as it takes. It takes longer than you think.

-- doug smith