Documenting (& Sharing) Your Creative Process
In the world of creative pursuits, the journey is as significant (if not more) as the destination. Here are some ideas on how to effectively capture, reflect on, & share your creative process:
1. Start with a Journal or Sketchbook: Begin with a dedicated journal, whether physical or digital, and keep all of your notes and sketches in one place.
2. Capture the Spark: Document your ideas! Keep ongoing lists of project, content or medium ideas. You never know how they will evolve or become useful in the future.
3. Outline Your Vision: Break down your project into phases, outlining key concepts and themes, as well as potential deadlines or milestones.
4. Visualize with Moodboards and Sketches: Create visual representations to convey your aesthetic or style and save them to share or document where you started.
5. Capture Progress: Regularly document the evolving stages of your projects with photos or text snippets. You can keep things like this in places as simple as your notes app on your phone!
6. Reflect on Challenges: Note obstacles and articulate how you overcome them, turning challenges into learning experiences.
7. Note Inspirations: Document external influences shaping your creative decisions. Save screenshots of things that excite or inspire you. Take photos of people, places or things that give you creative energy or ideas.
8. Collect Feedback: Seek and record feedback from trusted peers or mentors to gain valuable insights. Show people what you are working on!
9. Celebrate Milestones: Acknowledge and celebrate achievements during your creative process (and reward yourself with a little treat!)
10. Conclude with Reflection: Reflect on lessons learned, challenges overcome, and personal growth experienced.
11. Share Your Process: Consider sharing your documented journey to inspire and connect with fellow creators.To those who may not identify as "creative," I think it’s time to take a look at your own unique way of thinking and understand that it’s more creative than you think. Creativity is not always about visuals, colors or music: it’s about solving problems and bringing things to life that wouldn’t otherwise exist!