The rules of being creative were written by Hugh MacLeod, a published author, brand consultant, copywriter and cartoonist. They are straight forward and in my opinion very inspiring. I’ve chosen the lessons that particularly move me and I feel are concepts that can also help and apply to all of us in the wonderful business of weddings. Enjoy!
1. Ignore Everybody: The more original your idea is, the less good advice people can give you. Good ideas come with a heavy burden. Which is why so few people have them. So few people can handle it.
2. The idea doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be yours alone. The more the idea is yours alone, the more freedom you have to do something really amazing.
3. Put the hours in: do it for long enough and magical, life-transforming things happen eventually.
4. You are responsible for your own experience: Nobody can tell you if what youʼre doing is good, meaningful or worthwhile. The more compelling the path, the lonelier it is.
5. Everybody is born creative; everybody is given a box of crayons in kindergarten: If you try to make something just to fit your uninformed view of some hypothetical market, you will fail. If you make something special and powerful and honest and true, you will succeed.
6. Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity:If youʼre creative, if you can think independently, if you can articulate passion, if you can override the fear of being wrong, then your company needs you now more than it ever did. And now your company can no longer afford to pretend that isnʼt the case.
7. Everybody has their own private Mt. Everest they were put on this earth to climb: “Admit that your own private Mount Everest exists. That is half the battle.”
8. The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props: A fancy tool just gives the second-rater one more pillar to hide behind. Which is why there are so many hack writers with state-of-the-art laptops.
9. Don’t try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether:Your plan for getting your work out there has to be as original as the actual work. Thereʼs no point trying to do the same thing as 250,000 other young hopefuls, waiting for their chance to succeed.
10.Never compare your inside with somebody else’s outside: The more you practice your craft, the less you confuse worldly rewards with spiritual rewards, and vice versa. Even if your path never makes any money or furthers your career, thatʼs still worth a TON.
11. The most important thing a creative person can learn, professionally, is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not: When somebody is “suffering for their art,” itʼs usually a case of them not knowing where that red line is, not knowing where the sovereignty lies.
12.Don’t worry about finding inspiration. It comes eventually.
xo, Leila Lewis, Wedding PR
Thanks for sharing this! You can get so overwhelmed with the business side that you forget about being more creative and unique on what you do. Will definitely print this out!
This was excellent! Things to keep in the forefront of our minds in this creative business.
Oh, wow, that’s exactly what I needed. I’m sending this to Joy. Big projects going on at Garrett Nudd Photography and Cobblestone Rue. This post could not have come at a better time. Thanks ladies!