A lot of people have asked me questions like, “How do you write so good?”, “How do you come up with these melodies?”, “How did you come up with this?”. I mean, sometimes when going through some of my old lyrics, I ask myself the same questions.
I do not consider myself to have attained Professional level in writing (yet), but I’m way past amateur (humbly). I don’t know if I’ve put in 10,000 hours yet, but I’ve sure put in up to 2,000 hours in my creative work. Bragging rights, please (drops mic but picks it up again).
Without much ado, I want to give what I call the five touches of creativity. These are the five things you must be in touch with to be more creative and better at whatever aspect of creativity you specialize in.
1. You must be in touch with your Higher Power: This is going to sound controversial, but you don’t even have to believe in God Yahweh, as I do, to be an excellent creative. Though I would strongly advise you to do so for reasons I can’t cover in this article, you can believe in whatever you choose to, as long as you ascribe absolute sovereignty and power to it, be it Mother Nature or the conscience. This is because there has to be a source of inspiration, something or someone you can draw from even when you feel empty, a source of hope.
Every creator was created by The Creator - Phire D
Do you feel disconnected? You can still create art, using it as a map back to your Higher Power. Without Him, there’s no creation. Only the created can create.
2. You must be in touch with your emotions and self: This is one of the most important. As a creative, you must have immense emotional intelligence and self-awareness. This is because you are writing from your experiences, not only in the physical world but also in the metaphysical (spiritual, emotional and what not). If you are not aware of yourself, what the hell are you writing about? Know when you’re sad or down, and convert it to art. It’s inspiring and liberating
3. You must be in touch with your environment: Your environment is an extension of you. If you are not aware of your environment, your art will always come out disjointed and out of sync. Once in a while, take time and walk around. Observe. Breathe and drink water. Say hello to a stranger. Notice what’s happening that you hadn’t noticed before. This is what great art is made of
4. You must be in touch with art from your field: You have to draw inspiration from fellow art makers like yourself, especially upcoming artists/artistes like you. This will challenge you to push your boundaries further. For example, for writing, I read Shespeakshermind247 and The Refining Potter’s Wheel. For music, I listen to Khadyyy, Tyrik Tell and Tai Verdes. This is not for the purpose of Comparison (see last article) but to see what you can learn and implement to improve your art.
5. You must be in touch with your skillset: Last of all, you should be in touch with all the skills you need for your art journey—writing, melody, dramatics, comedy, meditation, etc. Never stop learning, never stop improving, because the day that starts, you start dying in your artistic journey. Keep rejuvenating. The best way to do this is to keep creating non-stop, at an alarming rate. Of course, you should take breaks to avoid burnout and do whatever works for you but no matter what, just keep creating. You may pause, but never stop.
At the end of the day, the bottom line is, just be you and keep creating only authentic art. You deserve it and the world deserves it too. So keep pushing. Let’s get to creating.
P.S: The release of the pre-announced single has been pushed back to allow for adequate promotion. STRONGER will now drop on the 22nd of September, 2023
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