Create If Writing

Blaine Hogan on the Portfolio Life

by

Have you ever experienced one of those strange journeys in life? The kind where you start at point A and end up at point Q? (This podcast is one of those journeys for me!) Today’s interview is with Blaine Hogan. Blaine started out as an actor, but as he began to really make it, a series of panic attacks derailed his career and brought his life to a halt. He is now the Creative Director at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago and the founder of the course Make Better. I first ran across Blaine years ago in an episode of one of my favorite shows, Prison Break. Listen to his story in the podcast to see how he came from there to creating a course like Make Better. Truly inspiring stuff!

Listen on YouTube to Create If Writing – Episode 002 – Blaine Hogan on the Portfolio Life

 

You can connect with Blaine on the Make Better site, or follow him on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Create If Writing Episode (3)

At a Glance 

  • I loved Blaine’s understanding of art as a spiritual experience: “The lights would go down and someone tells you the most true thing they know.” Do YOU think of art as spiritual in some way?
  • Have you ever unraveled in the best possible way, as Blaine says he did?
  • Has your life ever taken you on one of those surprise journeys? Were you pleased with the destination & the journey itself?
  • “Disorganization is not a badge of honor for creative professionals.” What I took from this is that we often need great discipline and organization to create, especially in the middle of busy lives.
  • Do you feel like you need validation (self-validation or validation from others) to let yourself write or create?
  • Has being an adult stifled or killed your creativity? In what ways do we encourage creativity in children but discourage it in adults?
  • Blaine mentioned the discipline of being AWARE, and giving yourself credit that what seems like a small though over breakfast might be important. Write it down. Put it on the computer. File it away. Write every day.
  • “Never stare at the blank page.” Do you have hope or guilt with the blank page?
  • Are you a good starter or finisher? (Or maybe a good middler?)
  • Do you struggle with a sense of artist guilt if you miss a day or don’t accomplish your goal?
  • If you have kids, how do you balance having kids & creating art?
  • “I am not my work.”  <- Do you find that as freeing as I do??
  • I loved his idea of not creating a singular project, but our life as a portfolio. How do you think mindset might change creative work?
  • Do you think you could make it through a silent retreat???

Life is a portfolio, not a series of projects.

Relevant Links

Make Better
The Wounded Heart by Dan B. Allender
Seth Godin
Paul Jarvis
Willow Creek Community Church

 My Big Takeaway

THERE WERE SO MANY. I love thinking of the idea of a portfolio rather than projects. I have so many projects and sometimes I think they are all in their separate boxes, unrelated. Thinking of my whole life as a portfolio gave me a sense of hope and also the freedom to HAVE so many random projects. I also have even more of a sense of validation for art just by talking to other artists. I hope listening gave YOU the same sense of validation! As far as a practical takeaway, I love the idea of keeping something handy to write down those thoughts through the day. I’ve been keeping a small notebook in my purse for the past few months and have found that I write things in it all the time. Sometimes to-do lists and sometimes fragments of a poem or story.

Do you think of life as a project or a PORTFOLIO?
Tweet This

 What I Want to Know from YOU

I’m nosy. I want to know all of these things in the comments and I want to know them NOW.

-Do you feel like you have lost some sense of creativity as an adult?
-Have you had to overcome something (whether that’s fear or a traumatic event or criticism or something different) to continue following your passion?
-What inspired you most from this conversation with Blaine?
-Do you have a way of collecting your random daily thoughts?

unnamed

 

Creativity – Episode 001

by

In this inaugural podcast episode I am talking about creativity, writing, and the origin of this site and podcast. I am a little weird in that I get excited about writing, but I also LOVE social media and the idea of connecting with people. (That’s how I try to think of platform—connecting with people with mutual interests.) Maybe creativity looks like baking. Maybe it looks like coming up with activities for your kids. Maybe it looks like content creation in the blog world or the professional one. Maybe it looks like writing a novel or a song or a devotional book. Whatever your avenue is, I hope this episode encourages you to embrace it!

Listen on YouTube to Create If Writing – Episode 001 – Creativity

 

 

At a Glance: Confessions & Creativity

  • What energizes your creativity?
  • Do you get more excited about the creative side of art-making or the platform-building side?
  • Sometimes as adults we need validation that creativity and following your dreams is not just okay, but HEALTHY.
  • We are created to be creative. Whether from the Genesis narrative or not, do you agree?

When are we most fulfilled as humans? Answer in the #podcast.
Tweet This
Creativity matters more than we think. Why we should give ourselves permission to create.

Relevant Links

If: Gathering
Re:Write Conference
Resource List (my ever-growing list of helpful links!)
Ted Talks on Creativity

What I Want to Know From YOU

I’m nosy. I want to know all of these things in the comments and I want to know them NOW.

-Whether it’s a job, hobby, or something in between, what do you like to create?
-When do you feel most whole and fulfilled in your life?

 

 

When Fear Comes

by

I say when, not if. Because there WILL come a time in your journey where you are knock-kneed with fear. We should probably discuss how the affect of fear on creativity. If you are like me and don’t like at admit fear, perhaps you cloak if with something that seems less shameful to admit. For me, that less shameful thing is busyness.

“Oh, I will send my manuscript to my agent,” I say. “But right now I am too busy.”

(There ARE times where this is true. Read here to know the difference between legitimate excuses and lame ones.)

I am afraid. But sometimes I say I’m busy instead.
Tweet This

Fear has a sneaky way of disguising itself as just being busy. How to fight your fear.

My busy is sometimes legitimate. Four kids ain’t no joke. But sometimes I KNOW. I know that I am not, in fact too busy. Or, I am too busy but it’s because I take the time that would be writing and editing and I use it to do something else. Like start a new blog. (Or a podcast. Oops.) Or write a NEW manuscript.

I’ll do anything but face my REAL fear. Which is this: that the manuscript I have worked so very hard on is really crap. That my agent will say so. Or that someone will buy it but it will hit the bookshelves and I and every review says I’m a hack. Or perhaps worse: just meh.
I am afraid. But sometimes I just say I’m busy instead.

What do you do when the fear comes? Share your deep secrets in the comments. We will be nice. (Because we’re afraid too.)

Other people talk about the crippling nature of fear. Or why you should embrace it.
(One thing they agree on: use numbers in your post titles.)

8 Habits That Crush Creativity from CopyBlogger
The 7 Deadly Fears of Writing from Men with Pens
4 Reasons Why Fear Is a Creative’s Friend on Life Dev

 

Give Your Inner Critic a Name

by

We all have that inner critic. I don’t mean the inner voice of caution or the healthy sense of conscience. I mean that inner voice who heckles when you try to do something grand. You know the one. Here is my suggestion for how to deal with your inner critic.

Give him or her a name. Preferably a name like Velma or Mortimer.  You want a name that you can pronounce with disdain. (Sincerest apologies to Velma & Mortimer if you happened upon this post.)

 

Then, whenever your inner critic chimes in with the usual “you’re not good enough” or “someone else has already done it better” or even “those jeans DO make your butt look big,” you can stand up for yourself.

“Velma,” you can say, “return from whence you came!” 

Sometimes our inner critic is our WORST critic.

You might feel a little silly doing this, especially if you are in a public place, but I very sincerely mean it. Give your inner critic a name. It is much easier to refuse that inner critic when he has a name. Naming reminds you that you have the power. YOU control that critic. Name her and then tell her you will not believe her lies.

You will have enough hecklers from outside, so learn to manage your inner critic first. I would not suggest speaking to your outer critics the way you talk with your inner critic, but outer critics are a different animal for a different day.

Do you listen to your inner critic? Or tell him/her to shut his/her dirty mouth? Share with civility in the comments.

Some agree with me and some think you should give that critic your ear.

5 Immediate and Easy Ways to Silence Your Inner Critic by Lynn Newman
Dealing with Your Inner Critic from Tools for Revolution
Tips on Dealing with Your Inner Critic from the Self-Help Hipster

 

Twitter Is Not Simply Shouting into a Crowd

by

Sometimes when people start out on Twitter, they feel as though they are shouting into a crowded room. I think this is because people are accustomed to the easy Likes tossed around on Facebook and we aren’t thinking about how Twitter works. We expect Twitter to act like another platform. Almost every single thing you post on your Facebook (profile, not page) will have at least a Like. On Twitter, people do not give away favorites, replies, or retweets so easily, which can lead to a sense of isolation.

But it is not hard to build connections on Twitter. You know how I know?

Because Vanilla Ice once retweeted me.

 

Though it was likely Vanilla Ice’s assistant, that moment was the unimagined culmination of so many of my 7th grade dreams. It also illustrates this great fact: Twitter makes the world small. It is a tool for connecting that reaches people in a way that email and Facebook cannot.

If you feel like Twitter is shouting into a crowd that doesn’t care, chances are that you are ACTING like Twitter is a crowd and you are shouting. You shout with links to your content and with a photo of your breakfast and more links to your content. You may be ignoring how Twitter works.

Perhaps this is because you have heard that you should post your content multiple times a day on Twitter. (You should.) But you also need to interact. You need to retweet Vanilla Ice or (a better idea) the people in your field. You need to reply to Tweets that resonate. Let Twitter make the world small. 

The first way to do this is to find great people to follow and then share their content without expecting anything in return. Be intentional and share things that are relevant to the audience that you want to build.

If you are not sure what kind of audience you want to build, this is the time to stop, get a sheet of paper and do some brainstorming. Without intentional goals, you may not make connections or build the wrong kinds.Are you building the right kind of audience on Twitter? How to build lasting connections with your tweets.

As with all social media platforms, you want to be a creator of content and a curator of content. The first is obvious: if you have a blog or an online space, share links to that content. Your email list signup. Your latest blog post. Old blog posts. Your Instagram photos. Your Pinterest pins. Your books on Amazon.

 

 

Want to get my workflow for using Twitter in 15 Minutes a Day?


As a curator of content, think of yourself as the person in charge of hanging paintings in a gallery. You want to give a variety, but each gallery has its own vibe and sense of space. Don’t be one-note, but there should be a sense of wholeness. A theme. Something tying all the shares together.

You don’t simply want to be a robotic retweeter. Share with spice. Be yourself, or at least, be the persona or brand that you want to portray online. I consider my persona an authentic but edited version of me that best fits with my online goals. I try to pepper my feed with tweets that contain no links: questions, observations, smart aleck remarks.

In the same way, I like to share a mix of scheduled content and live content. A few times a week I sit and do a batch of auto scheduled tweets, sharing from lists I’ve created on Twitter. (Read more on my process in this guest post on Jane Friedman’s blog.) Some relate to writing, some relate to social media, some relate to food, and some are just people I think are interesting or funny.

To make connections, sometimes you have to forge them. This is much less work than it sounds. Respond to interesting tweets. Say thanks when someone shares your content. Be a PERSON. Not that hard, right?

Twitter still has a different level of interaction than Facebook. Each social media platform has its own personality. Don’t expect something from Twitter that it won’t give.

Do you feel like Twitter is a crowded room that isn’t listening? Or has it made your world small? Share your Twitter thoughts in the comments like a civilized human.

Oh, you wanted me to give you tips? Here are some fabulous people for that. 

The Twitter Smarter Podcast with Madalyn Sklar
50 Tweetable Tips from Hubspot
5 Ways to Increase Your Twitter Interaction from Social Media Examiner
7 Counterintuitive Twitter Tips from Buffer
3 Myths about Social Media for Authors from Tim Grahl

 

 

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Listen on Apple Podcasts!