creativity/inspiration etc.

[spaghetamine]

for those of you who engage in creative pursuits - how do you stay motivated to keep making stuff while also having to deal with the messy and tedious business of real life shit? I dabble in music and visual art and always seem to end up berating myself for not being productive enough but being in full time work means at the end of the day I'm more often than not completely zonked and don't have the energy to create.

Back in the day I used to get random bursts of inspiration and I'd end up staying up all night working on a tune or a painting or whatever, that still happens occasionally but there's far less opportunities for me to do so. A lot of my inspiration seems to come when I'm bored, I end up writing a lot of lyrics while I'm sat in the office and I'm constantly doodling but it can be hard to actually translate this energy into anything when I'm off the clock. All this stuff used to come so effortlessly to me when I was younger but these days it can feel like a real challenge. I'd be interested to know your thoughts on this sort of thing.

[Magnum Valentino]

I feel the same boss and I'm fairly confident the correct answer is "just do it". My favourite of the usual idioms is that you can't edit a blank page, but it can be so hard get into the physical or mental space where you have the opportunity to do that when life is busy. But nothing's getting written unless I sit down to fucking type it, you know?

I'm onboard for this thread, a wee bit of inspiration, some new way of looking at the same problems.

[Mister Six]

for those of you who engage in creative pursuits - how do you stay motivated to keep making stuff while also having to deal with the messy and tedious business of real life shit?

I mostly don't, but when I'm successful at it, it's because I've forced myself to get up a couple of hours before work (having forced myself to go to bed early the night before) and scribble on a notepad/tap on a keyboard several times a week, as part of a routine, usually alternating with morning gym visits to boost energy and fight off mental stagnation and depression.

TBH I work better at night, but I like to spend time with Mrs Six of an eve, so that's mostly out.

I know that this rather spoils the idea of having wonderful sparks of inspiration at random moments, but giving myself that mental space on a regular basis, and forcing myself to use that time to think creatively rather than piss about on my phone or whatever, helps once I'm in the groove.

And once you're following that mental rabbit down the hole, your subconscious will keep up the chase even when you're at work.

Doing boring cardio exercise at the gym or walking the dog with no podcasts or anything to distract is also useful for letting the subconscious get to work.

It's all definitely harder now I'm 41 and tired and have more stuff of all kinds occupying my thoughts. I wish I'd put in the elbow grease when I was a single twentysomething with free time to burn, but there's no point regretting what you didn't do yesterday- focus that energy on what you can do tomorrow.

I'm actually getting back into a healthy groove of gym work and creative work after a crushingly exhausting year now, and I regret not doing that sooner.

[Mister Six]

Oh, and if you can find a creative partner, that helps. It's easier to let myself down than someone else, and bouncing ideas off one another can be really useful.

[PlanktonSideburns]

If I don't do it I feel like shit, so it's more of a crutch for me

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

I echo setting aside some time to do the thing. Literally schedule it and don't beat yourself up if you don't get much done (otherwise it becomes both a chore and something to feel shame about).

[Jockice]

Most of the time I have to be up against it and have to get something done in a particular time frame. I hate it though but if I have plenty of time to do something I keep putting it off until I have no other choice. It's the way my brain works unfortunately.

[flotemysost]

for those of you who engage in creative pursuits - how do you stay motivated to keep making stuff while also having to deal with the messy and tedious business of real life shit? I dabble in music and visual art and always seem to end up berating myself for not being productive enough but being in full time work means at the end of the day I'm more often than not completely zonked and don't have the energy to create.

Back in the day I used to get random bursts of inspiration and I'd end up staying up all night working on a tune or a painting or whatever, that still happens occasionally but there's far less opportunities for me to do so. A lot of my inspiration seems to come when I'm bored, I end up writing a lot of lyrics while I'm sat in the office and I'm constantly doodling but it can be hard to actually translate this energy into anything when I'm off the clock. All this stuff used to come so effortlessly to me when I was younger but these days it can feel like a real challenge. I'd be interested to know your thoughts on this sort of thing.

Echoing lots of these thoughts/insecurities. My brain is infuriatingly often at its most alert during some ungodly hour of the night, so against all the medical wisdom to not look at blue-light-emitting devices when you're struggling to sleep, I have hundreds of notes on my phone where I've jotted down stupid nascent ideas I've had in the wee hours (which is also quite a useful litmus test for when you revisit them in the cold light of day and see if they're actually any cop).

(And I've tried using an old-school analogue notebook and pen, but the beauty of a digital device, for writing at least, is you can edit and tweak as you go, which is something I'm constantly doing, despite what my shoddy rambling typo-laden posting calibre on here might suggest. Also my handwriting's an illegible scrawl when I'm scribbling stuff down quickly)

The "carving out time" thing is a struggle though, for sure. I frequently feel overwhelmed by the anxiety that there aren't enough hours in the day for just fitting in normal life stuff in general (despite spending an inordinate amount of working hours doodling/daydreaming etc. as per OP). I suppose in my case some of the "creative" bobbins I'm into is by nature stuff that involves other people, so inherently you need to have a scheduled time and place for it; for more "solo" creative ventures though, as others have said, I guess you need to set aside that time yourself.

Figure out what environment suits you best (in my case, I have an oddly specific sweet spot where I don't want total silence and I like having other people around me, but not actively disturbing me) so a quiet-ish pub or cafe is perfect for me; but obviously everyone's different. Find out if there's any writing/creative meetup groups near you (if being with others helps), or if you find it easier being at home, think about what helps to get you in the right mindset (background noise, seating etc.).

And as depressing as it is, it's also worth remembering that free time, privacy, access to certain environments, and having a serene worry-free brain are all privileges that not everyone has - we don't all have the same 24 hours in a day - and any of these hindrances don't mean you've failed or you're a less worthy/productive/creative person. Best of luck anyway, and interesting thread idea.

[Stoneage Dinosaurs]

In answer to your initial question, I don't generally, and suffer from most of the same stuff that you do. My laptop and phone are full of little musical ideas which I periodically revisit and want to do stuff with, but finding the motivation to actually sit down and flesh something out into a proper song is almost non-existent unless I'm really feeling it.

This is also compounded by the fact that while I'm reasonably good on the guitar and piano (and by extension synths and that), when it comes to stuff like drum patterns, production, lyrics, working my way around Pro Tools - basic stuff for any kind of song-based music - I still need to improve quite a lot, and it often feels like I shouldn't be trying to create songs at all until I've mastered all that stuff. I've tried just doing the minimum to make it all sound half decent, just so that I've got the bare bones of a song that I can twiddle around with and flesh out but very often I'll just not be able to get it to sound right at all and it'll just put me off the whole business. Often it's a case of 'all the correct elements and things I like in music are here, but it sounds shit' - and what do you do then? Other than deleting the whole thing and starting fresh

A few people in this thread have mentioned doing creative stuff with others and I reckon that's the key yeah. I think I need to sack off the whole bedroom guitar pop thing and actually start/join a band of some sort. Just have someone or someones to bounce some musical ideas around with, maybe someone who's good at producing stuff or can do drums, and maybe shoulder some of the creative burden a bit. Course that would involve socialising with people which is a pain in the bollocks in itself. Worth a try though. Anyone on here up for doing a band?

[Emma Raducanu]

I'm really uncreative. I grew up surrounded by friends who were photographers, painters, making their own music etc. Myself, I never felt had a creative bone in my body and subsequently spend my free time walking/cuddling my dog or gym. I also set aside a couple of hours on a Saturday to spend in the garden with my daughter.

Nearest to being creative I've been was when I discovered a love for cookery back in my early 20s. But even then, I just amassed a growing hoard of cookery books I follow without much straying.

I've considered learning piano/painting but have a feeling I've started subjects on those things over a decade ago here so doesn't look like that will happen.