A creative kick up the arse.

Hello there, readers. This is my 4th blog of the year. Yep. Only the 4th. Long-term readers will remember that last July, I embarked on a concept called "Project Create", where I did a total of 31 blogs in July alone.

It's safe to say that I've been in a bit of a creative slump recently.

This is where this blog comes in. Last night, my good friend, Dan, said: "From here on out I am committing myself to daily writing, weekly blogs and monthly videos." My first thought was "that's exciting! I can't wait to see what Dan creates". My second thought? "That makes damn good sense".

Some - stuff it, probably most - of the best things I've ever created have been at times where I've forced myself to do so. Everything from the poem Two, to almost half of my YouTube videos (which were filmed during Vlogtober, where me and a handful of friends set-out to vlog every day of October last year). I've always said to myself "you're the type of writer who can't sit and write things; you just have to wait until inspiration strikes!" - but that's bullshit. I just have to work hard at it. I've had a few things that have stopped me being as productive in my creative endeavors this year - a lack of money from being unemployed has made me not gig as much as I really want to, while depression can make me just feel disinterested in any form of creativity on some days.

But, if I look back at the last few years, I could have done so much more. While I occasionally think of great things out of the blue, such as a fair bit of my stand-up, where has that got me? Ultimately, if someone said "Tom, we want you to do a 20 minute set, tomorrow", I'd be terrified at the prospect of that, as I don't know if I have more than 10-15 minutes of material I'm confident and happy with. Compare that to this video of my good friend - and far better stand-up comedian - Pete Dillon-Trenchard. It shows him performing a 5 minute stand-up set that he wrote in the afternoon of the gig. It's not just a set - but a strong set. Granted, very few people can manage to write a strong 5 minute set every, but it doesn't change the fact that he managed to write that purely by putting his mind to it, and telling himself "I am going to write this today". Ultimately, that's how most great things are written - not by casual writers who only "write when I'm in the mood", but by writers who work damn hard at their craft, and force themselves to write often.


The target is to write at least 500 words a day. It may not all be funny, it may often just be ramblings; but this is about getting myself back into the habit of regular writing and creating regularly. There are many things I really want to have done, but haven't managed to summon the motivation to do this year; we (me and Dan) have only done a couple of podcasts this year; I've only done 3 blogs in almost 8 months; I've only uploaded a few videos this year...quite frankly, I've been frustrated at my lack of progress and achievement. This is me putting on a big metal boot, swinging my leg back, and kicking myself up the arse.


See you tomorrow.


Tom.

This is a link to Dan's blog. Go give it a read, because he's bloody brilliant.