Plan, Practice, and Patience!
Plan
Something amazing is buzzing through your head, and you are compelled to create it. This is the part where you jot your awesome idea down. Here are a few suggestions that have always worked for me in the past:
Art/Crafts – make a few quick sketches
Writing – make an outline of the basic premise
Graphic Design – piece together a diagram.
Now is the time to figure out what your idea’s purpose is. This is the most important stage because everything that comes after it builds up to your project’s meaning. How will the story end? What feeling do you want your painting to evoke? What message is your graphic design ad/cover/logo getting across? Asking those basic questions opens your mind to a huge flow of new ideas.
Let them come. They will improve upon your initial idea. Sure, there’ll be some doozies that fall flat, but they will only help you sharpen and forge your idea.
Practice
This stage is straightforward and doesn’t need much explanation. Remember that annoying phrase, “Practice makes perfect?” Draw multiple sketches to hone your design in. Incorporate some of those fresh ideas from the planning stage and see what works best.
Write a few quick scenes to get a feel for your characters (they don’t have to be a part of the final story, just write them to get the creative juices flowing). Revise that outline. Play with different colors, fonts, shapes, and themes for your graphic design piece.
Keep doing this until your sketches and scenes begin to look and/or feel refined.
Patience
Now that you’ve figured out your end game and have a few sketches, scenes, or [insert your brand of genius here] under your belt, you’re ready to sit down and build your creation. Don’t rush it. Create another draft if you have to. You want this thing to pop.
Once you finish it, resist the urge to declare that it is done. Resist the urge to post, publish, or send it in. Patience is a virtue that is hard to tame. Set it away for a day, two days, or even a week. When you come back to it, you’ll feel as though you have a fresh set of eyes. I’ll go into more detail about this in my next post, So Edits, Many Drafts, Such Work.
