Writing Strategy from a Graphic Artist

You know how it is. Somehow you come across a surprisingly interesting webpage or video, and you have no idea how you got there. So, I ended up on a YouTube video by a Blender guy. Blender is a free app, as in open source software, that allows talented users to design 3D models. You can make your own movies if you want or, more realistically, for one person, create some beautiful images. I tried Blender some years ago and decided that I am very far away from being an artist. Anyway, back to the video. The guy’s YouTube ID is “Blender Guru” but I discovered via another video he gave that his name is Andrew Price.
What was he talking about? In the first video, Too busy to learn Blender? He discussed how an artist can work, and it was clear that it also applied to writing. He made four points:

  • Set a pre-determined project deadline. After the deadline do not touch your work again.
  • Look for 10 minute windows to work in. Big blocks of time never eventuate or you may be distracted.
  • Choose to do one small thing. Draw a single line, write a single word. One thing leads to another and it is often the resistance to starting that is the biggest hurdle.
  • Recognise the net gain in happiness. You will gain greater satisfaction from doing this than the brief feeling from being distracted.

The second video, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Artists, was given to a group of other Blender artists at a Blender conference. Briefly his 7 habits were:

  1. Daily work. Large planned blocks never eventuate.
  2. Volume, not perfection. Perfection undermines your growth.
  3. Steal. Find your idols and steal from them. From the book, “Steal Like an Artist.”
  4. Conscious learning. Practice does not make perfect it also requires intelligent learning.
  5. Rest. Let you subconscious work on problems.
  6. Get quality feedback.
  7. Create what you love.

Item 3, Steal, isn’t quite what it appears. Don’t just copy, but understand the ideas and use those, and thereby celebrate the original artists. He breaks it down this way:

Good TheftBad Theft
honordegrade
studyskim
steal from manysteal from one
creditplagiarize
transformimitate
remixrip off

Any writer will recogise these issues as common to their own work. For me, the things that stand out, i.e. my flaws, are 1, 2, and 5. More if I was more honest.

Peter, 02 Dec 2022.