April is National Poetry Month, and like a lot of other poets, I’m cranking out a new poem every day at my poetry blog Strange and Potent Mixture. Writing a poem a day is a new challenge for me, and by taking on this challenge, I’m honing my skills, refining my voice, and discovering repeated themes in my work.

Creative Skill is a Muscle

Certainly, writing a poem a day isn’t for every poet, but finding ways to challenge ourselves is absolutely crucial to keeping our art alive and well.

Your skills as an artist comprise a creative muscle. In order to keep that muscle in shape and growing stronger, it not only needs to be worked consistently but it needs new artistic challenges, making it work and stretch in new ways.

Creating new, more difficult challenges for ourselves keeps us growing as artists, and it helps us to master our craft.

Yet how do we define appropriate creative challenges and artistic goals for ourselves? How do we work our creative muscle without burning out or injuring it?

Strategies for Working Your Creative Muscle

Here are some strategies I’ve used to create interesting challenges for my work and to keep my creative muscle stretching and growing in new ways:

• Assess where you’re at. Where are you in your development as an artist? Perhaps you’re a beginner or you have decades of artistic creation under your belt. Either way, it’s important to assess your skill level so you’re able to identify a reasonable and appropriate challenge. Also, it’s good to consider your strengths and determine ways to rely on them. So, try making a list of your strengths and consider how they can be used or even strengthened some more by your new challenge.
• Identify your weaknesses. What artistic skills do you need to work on? Perhaps you’re struggling to practice your craft on a consistent basis. Or maybe you’re still learning the basics of narrative plotting.  Regardless of the craft, every artist can identify something they could be better at. So, identify one skill that needs work and focus on it.
• Create a SMART goal. It’s important to make your goal SMART (i.e. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound). Make your goal specific and concrete—one that can be measured in terms of progress. Also, your goal should be attainable and realistic, but it should require you to stretch your skills. Finally, put a time limit on it. Set a date on which you will achieve your goal. And stick with your time table.
• Work out with others. Just like physical exercise, working your creative muscle is more fun with a partner or a group of other artists. While certainly creating art tends to be a solitary pursuit, finding ways to include others in your challenge is worth the effort. For instance, I invited other online poets to join me in my poem-a-day challenge. Every day, we read each other’s poems and offer encouraging comments.  By working with others who are aiming towards the same goal, then I not only have built-in support, but I’m able to share my work with a ready-made audience.  So, consider how you too might be able to recruit other artists to join you in your challenge.
• Make it fun. If you’re not having fun with your challenge, then something is wrong. It’s either too challenging, which breeds insecurities and anxiety; or it’s not challenging enough, which makes for boredom. So, when you’re developing a challenging goal, then make sure it’ll be something you enjoy doing, rather than something you think you “should” do. In other words, let your core artistic desires and passions lead the way.

Reaping Rewards

Tackling a new creative challenge can be highly rewarding. It helps us to grow as artists, to hone and master our skills, and to create a stronger bond with our craft.

But most of all, it’s fun to take up a new artistic challenge. The pleasure we gain through artistic success and risk is the greatest reward of all.

What creative challenges are you working on?

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There was a time when I wasn’t a part of an artistic community, and I struggled in that isolation.

There was no one with which is to fully discuss my art or to challenge me in my skills. More significantly, by not hearing the ideas of other artists as well as not experiencing their creative work, I lacked the creative fuel necessary for artistic growth.

However, over the years, I’ve tapped into several different kinds of artistic communities. And this experience of participating in creative communities has enhanced my artistic skills and challenged me to produce better and more work. More significantly, it’s offered me camaraderie and support from my peers who stimulate ideas, provoke conversations, and generally make creating art a much less lonely pursuit.

The Importance of Community

As artists, we tend to spend our creative time alone and in solitude. While solitude is necessary to creating art, what’s lacking in this scenario is human connection which, in my experience, is absolutely crucial to creating brilliant art.

In my experience and opinion, great art is fueled by our experiences, by our relationships with other people, and by the world around us. These are our sources and resources, and it’s important to connect to them.

Other people in general and other artists in particular provide important feedback and support. This feedback and support comprise the much-needed fuel for creativity. Moreover, they can motivate us to stretch our skills and to produce more and better work.

So, how do you tap into a creative community? How do you find the sources and resources to improve your skills, produce better work, and enjoy the camaraderie of other artists?

Tapping into Communities

Here are some simple ways in which I’ve tapped into and become of a part of various creative communities, providing me with the means to meet and learn from other talented artists:

• Visit artistic venues. Depending on your creative field, you might want to participate in a poetry or music open mic, go to an art opening, or attend plays. The key is to find social venues in which to participate in artistic events, meet other artists of your ilk and converse with them.
• Take a class or a workshop. Taking a class or attending a workshop in your creative field is a great way to meet other artists and also learn new skills.  At the very least, you’ll have an opportunity to connect with a teacher or facilitator who can be a valuable artistic resource and mentor.
• Join a critique group. A critique group provides an intimate setting in which to really dig into one’s work and the work of others in the group. The experience of being in a group geared towards critiquing and strengthening one’s work and skills can be absolutely invaluable to helping you stretch and grow as an artist. Moreover, you’ve got a ready-made group of peers and colleagues with which to develop social relationships.
• Join an online site. There are so many social networking sites geared towards sharing and discussing art, and they provide opportunities to develop online relationships with other artists. Run a search and see if you can find a site through which to share your work and interact with others.
• Create a blog. A blog is an easy and fun way to share your work and interact with readers and other artists.  The key, however, is to find ways to find readers. So take the time to build a readership by visiting other art and creativity blogs and leaving comments and by promoting your blog on larger social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter.

The Benefits of a Community

Becoming an active participant is an artistic community is a lot easier than you might think. It’s simply a matter of reaching out, being friendly, and perhaps taking a few social risks. But it’s well-worth the effort.

By joining an artistic community, you can network and potentially discover new opportunities, promote your work, enhance your skills, and become motivated to produce better and more work. Most significantly, you might just make some important and lasting friendships with other artists.

Are you a part of an artistic community? How has it enhanced your art and your life?

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There have been various times in my life when I sabotaged my best creative intentions.

I procrastinated and failed to complete creative projects. I missed important deadlines. I focused on negative experiences rather than on positive ones. And I generally failed to do what I desired to do in order to gain the rewards of my efforts.

If this sounds like you, then you’re probably sabotaging your creativity and your creative pursuits.

And if so, then you’re also probably frustrated and dissatisfied with your creative work and with yourself as an artist. More significantly, you may be deeply unhappy and even believe that you’re incapable of being creative in effective and skilled ways.

So, how do you stop being a saboteur of your creative work, start succeeding in your artistic pursuits, and find the happiness and satisfaction inherent to creativity?

What is Creative Sabotage?

Creative self-sabotage is not the result of a lack of skills, knowledge, desire or even effort.

Rather, it’s the result of how we think about ourselves as artists and how we view our creativity and our creative work.

Self-sabotage feeds off of bad creative habits, such as perfectionism, a reluctance to take risks, negative thinking, and self-deprecation. Also, it stems from a range of uncomfortable feelings such as fear, sadness, and anger. And it tends to highlight low self-esteem and our insecurities as artists.

Despite the tenacity of these problems, I’ve found that there are ways to shift sabotage to success, and it’s a lot easier than you might think.

How to Stop Sabotage

Here are some ways I shifted my thinking and habits in order to stop sabotaging my efforts and to succeed creatively:

Claim your creativity

Not claiming your creativity and your identity as a creative person is one way you sabotage your efforts as it’s difficult to take yourself seriously enough to place the time and energy into creative success. If you create art and love doing it, then taking up the mantle of “artist” is as simple as saying: “I’m an artist.” And you can further internalize this identity by telling those closest to you. By sharing our creative identities with others, then we empower ourselves to claim our creativity and do what we need to do in order to succeed.

Let your core desires guide you

Focusing on what we feel we “should” do, rather than on what we love creatively and what we feel passionately about is another way we sabotage our creative pursuits. Try not to focus on what you believe will sell or be well-received. Avoid what you think is the “hot” trend or what publishers or editors want. Focus on your own creative desires and let those guide you towards creative success.

Create realistic expectations

While setting goals can be helpful, striving towards unrealistic ones is a sure way to sabotage your creative efforts. Instead of goal-setting, try focusing on creative intentions. Set an intention and work diligently towards it. If you work better with goals, make them SMART and doable and work towards achieving them incrementally. By taking small, realistic steps, then you’re more likely to get things done and succeed creatively.

Develop your inner coach

Every artist possesses an inner critical voice, which drives us and give us direction and guidance. However, when that voice is negative and even downright mean, then we’re unlikely to feel motivated. Listening to this voice of the inner critic is another way we sabotage our creative efforts. But by developing a positive, nurturing inner voice, what some call an “inner coach,” you’re more likely to feel motivated and much more likely seek creative success.

Focus on past and current success

Worrying about future success or past failures, rather than focusing on our success is another way we sabotage our creative efforts. How have you succeeded in the past? What successes have you enjoyed? What are you doing now that works? By focusing on our successes rather than our failures or our worries about future failure, then we’re much more likely to get things done and to feel successful when we do so.

Seek support

Finally, creating art can be a very lonely experience. Staying isolated in our craft is a sure way to become mired in our problems and worries. Rather than isolate, try to reach out to others who may be able to offer support. In some cases, this may be as simple as sharing your work with your friends and family. Or you may want to seek out an artistic community either online or offline which nurtures you and your art. There are so many different ways to share your work and to reach out to others for the support that you seek. By doing so, you create a context in which you can feel supported, understood, and not so alone, which translates into creative success.

There’s No “Correct” Way to Succeed

Creative success comes to us in many different forms. Also, there’s no “correct” way to succeed creatively. So try not to worry about doing things the “right” way and trust your own artistic impulses and intuition.

If you’re sabotaging yourself, you’re not lazy or incapable.

Rather, more likely, you’re actually hard-working and highly capable. However, artists with this temperament tend to be really hard on themselves.

So, try easing up some and see if you start succeeding artistically rather than sabotaging your best creative efforts.

Do you sabotage yourself? What methods do you use for creative success?

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Recently, I started a new blog Strange and Potent Mixture, which is titled after my demo CD and features my original poetry, spoken word pieces, and other writings.

For many years, I resisted the urge to share my creative writings online.

Two main questions crowded my mind: What were the potential negative repercussions of sharing my creative work with random strangers without making them pay for it? And why would I bother?

Some Obstacles

Most artists already work without getting paid for our creative labor. And for the vast majority of us that “big pay-off” will simply never come. That’s the hard truth about making a life and a living from art.

And for poets especially, making a living entirely from one’s publications rarely happens. Most professional poets must teach and do paid readings and speaking engagements in order to pay the bills. Or find other creative ways to earn sources of income. There are some exceptions, of course, but that’s the reality for most of us.

So, given there’s already little money to be had from publishing, is it wise to post one’s creative work online in a way that actually gives it away for free?

Another problem with posting one’s creative writing online is that most journals and presses aren’t interested in “previously published” work, and yes, they sometimes count that poem posted on your personal blog as “published.”

Finally, the nature of the internet makes it difficult to keep tabs on who may reproduce or distribute your work without your knowledge.

And the idea that someone may steal your work and put their name on it is absolutely ghastly for any writer. Moreover, the dreaded notion that someone may even go so far as to make money off your stolen work is terrible enough to keep most writers from taking even the smallest risk around this possibility.

These were the main dilemmas I faced when considering whether or not to post my poetry and other creative writings online. So, what changed my mind?

Re-Framing the Problems

First, I truly believe that with increasing technology, writing in general simply cannot sustain old ways of being reproduced and distributed.

Traditional publishing is not dead…yet, and it may never die, but it certainly has to compete with the broader range of offerings made available through the relative ease of self-publishing. Print technology is not dead yet either, but it will continue to compete with e-books and online journals.

The internet and its accompanying technology have changed the game significantly for publishing, distributing, and profiting from one’s creative writing and will continue to do so.

However, a book, even an e-book, remains entirely different from a blog or a web page. Readers who want to buy a book, whether in print or digital format, will buy a book. When I considered the tenacity of book buyers, I let go of the notion that somehow I’d never sell my chapbook if my work were available online, and I put that problem to rest.

More significantly, my income doesn’t come from publishing. Rather, my main sources of income are from teaching poetry and from live performances of my spoken word. In other words, I mostly make money from selling experiences that can’t be reproduced.

But what about getting published by a traditional publisher or journal? How to get by the “previously published” obstacle?

First, I don’t post all my poems to my blog. I’m selective. I hold back ones that I think I may be able to place in a print or online journal. Plus, many of the poems I post are early drafts, which I’d significantly revise for publication.

More significantly, it turns out that many print journals don’t consider a poem posted to your blog to be “published”—it just depends on the editorial policy. Finally, there are plenty of other poets who share their writing online and also publish chapbooks.

So, I weighed the option of “waiting to get published” versus making my work immediately available to others, and immediacy won.

Finally, it really is dreadful to think that someone might steal your work and distribute it. But copyright laws remain in place, and my work remains solely my work. Though I haven’t done so, you can also get a Creative Commons license for sharing your creative work online.

So I considered this fear of being ripped off, determined that it is unlikely to happen, and weighed it against the sense of personal freedom that comes with sharing my work with others.

Freedom won out over fear.

The Big Pay-Off

Given all these obstacles, you might wonder why I bothered, why I finally worked through them so I might begin posting my poetry online.

The main reason is quite simple: I wanted more interaction with my readers.

And posting my poetry to my blog where readers can leave comments lets me make immediate, consistent, and ongoing connections with those who enjoy my work.

But the pay-off for the risks I’m taking by sharing my poetry online is actually greater than I imagined it would be.

What I’ve found is a whole community of online poets who share their poetry and who read and offer critiques for other poets. The discovery of an online community that extends beyond my off-line relationships with other poets has been rewarding and invigorating, challenging me to write better poetry and to write more often.

Finally, regardless of how it’s done, it’s just plain fun to share your poetry with other people—to get feedback, to hear or read how your words speak in some way to another person, how they may offer some meaning for someone else. It makes a poet feel not so alone in the otherwise solitary world of writing poetry.

Applying Faith

As with most decisions related to my creative work, I’ve applied quite a bit of faith to this situation—faith that the very real and immediate positive rewards will continue to far outweigh the potential for any negative repercussions.

My creative work is enhanced and given meaning by sharing it with others, and the happiness I feel in my creativity is amplified when I’m able to share it with another person.

And all that creative synergy lays the foundation for opening up creative possibilities for everyone. If I share my creative work, perhaps you’ll share yours as well. And that’s a good thing.

Do you share your creative work online? Why or Why not?

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Flickr photo courtesy of artist Jef Safi who shares his incredible art online. Thanks, Jef!

Some pursue happiness, others create it. ~ Unknown

I’m happy. Not because my life is perfect and wonderful—it’s far from it.

No, I’m happy because, on a daily basis, I get to do what I love the most—write poetry and create art.

Yet my happiness hinges upon something else as well. Something that’s bigger than my own personal pleasure. Something that makes me feel connected to others and to my world.

The Joy of Creating

Writing eases my suffering…writing is my way of reaffirming my own existence. ~ Gao Xingjian

I believe most writers write, first and foremost, for themselves. I know I do. The pure delight of language and playing around with words and meanings keep me going back to the page day after day.

Whether it’s a fascination with what words can do or the motivation created by how it feels to express our experiences, opinions, and observations, ultimately, writers write and artists create because we have a deep need to do so. Without that deep need and passionate desire, then I imagine one would simply get bored and abandon the pursuit.

Creativity gives the artist joy and a sense of purpose then. The process of writing and creating art tells us who we are and what we’re meant to do on this planet.

The Importance of Sharing

Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to yourself and others. ~ Buddha

The personal pleasure and benefits artists receive from writing and being creative are great. But I’ve found that happiness is enhanced and increased when we share our creative work with others.

Sharing our writing and creative work can make us feel connected to others and to the world around us. And it can make us feel that we’re actively participating in the creation of culture and history.

At the very least, sharing our creative work can give us ways to receive feedback from others. And that feedback is important to feeding our souls as artists. It tells us that we have some impact on others and on our world and in some cases, that we’re changing hearts as well as minds.

Why Share?

Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions. ~ His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

The twin desires to create and to share our artistic work with others birth and sustain creative happiness.

Yet, what if you’re shy or insecure about your work? What if you fear negative feedback? And what to do if you actually receive it?

These are common concerns for artists, especially beginning artists who haven’t yet learned to take calculated and well-thought risks for sharing their creative work.

But risk, whether large or small, is necessary for art.

Without it, there’s simply no way to achieve the creative success we seek, and ultimately there’s no way to actually create, as the act of creating is itself always a risk of sorts.

Moreover, sharing our work with others empowers us to hone and master our craft. Like all living things, art needs the kind of sustenance that can only come from outside itself.

Improving our skills is easier when we dare to share our work with others who can offer the kind of feedback necessary for our growth as artists.

How to Share and Be Happy

To be happy with yourself, you’ve got to lose yourself now and then. ~ Bob Genovesi

Still, I know from experience how difficult it is to overcome personal insecurities in order to share one’s work. So, how do you overcome your fears and insecurities in order to share your creative work with others and gain the happiness that comes from that sharing?

Shift your frame of mind.

First, overcoming any fear or insecurity requires a shift in perspective, a kind of reframing of experience, in which the potential rewards outweigh possible negative outcomes.

Instead of obsessing over all the potentially negative consequences of sharing your work, dwell instead on the inevitable rewards—feelings of success, connection with others and with your world, and the opportunity to hone and master your craft.

Take small, calculated risks.

Early on, it’s important to share your work among those you trust the most, such as friends and family members. Then, once you feel ready, you can take some larger risks and share your work with others through different means.

Try playing your music at a small, friendly open mic. Start a blog for your photography and invite your friends and acquaintances to visit it. Take a painting class. Join an online writing site. Or submit your work to a journal. There are so many ways to share your art and with some forethought and planning, you can easily find incremental ways to take risks and share your creative projects.

Let your work speak for itself.

Perhaps, though, the biggest part of sharing one’s creative work is letting it go and allowing it to speak for itself. As I’ve asserted in a previous article, we are not the products of our creative labor.

It’s important not to confuse your ego, or your sense of self with your artistic creations.

Once you draw a boundary between your work and your ego, letting your work speak for itself, or stand on its own legs so to speak, is much easier.

Let go of failure.

The success or failure of your work says very little about who you are as a person or as an artist. Instead, its success or failure speaks to the work itself. And while all of us want to hit that artistic home run every time, it’s just not possible to do so.

More significantly, there’s really no way to fail at creativity. Creativity just doesn’t operate within the terms of success and failure.

Rather than focusing on potential failure, embrace your creativity for what it is—an inherent and perfect part of who you are.

Light the Path

When you write from the heart, you not only light the dark path of your readers, you light your own way as well. ~ Marjorie Holmes

So, if you’re seeking to enhance your creative happiness, then share your work with others. Put it into the world and let it shine there. You never know who may desperately need your words or your art. You never know the amount of happiness it might provide another.

So, let your creativity and artistic work illuminate a path of happiness not only for yourself but for others as well.

What makes you happy in your creativity?

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Flickr photo courtesy of Illuminaut