Featured Interview
Hugh MacLeod of gapingvoid.com
Cartoonist Hugh MacLeod of gapingvoid.com talks about creative sovereignty, the business of art, and the pursuit of blinding moments of clarity.
For people who haven't read your book yet, can you share one or two of its key themes?
HM: The book's called Ignore Everybody
. I first published it on the blog under the title How to Be Creative. And it wasn't really an instruction manual -- I wasn't telling people what to do. I was talking about the landmines I hoped they wouldn't step on because landmines are expensive to step on.
My main thesis is that when you first have a good idea, there's no one who can really tell you whether the idea is good or not. For it to be any good, it has to be so out there, there's no point of reference. Also, really good ideas, once they're executed, tend to alter the power balance in relationships, and people are very conservative about changing power balances. I think it was chapter 4 where I said that good ideas have lonely childhoods. The initial loneliness of a good idea is to be expected.
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Keri Smith
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Dan Piraro
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Blog
Moving Day and a Tour of the New Digs
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Hi,
If you've visited this site before, you may have noticed a few changes of late. Here's a quick tour of the digs:- You can browse interviews by category, using the menu across the top of the page. You can also use the drop-down menu in the right column to see a complete list of interviews.
- We've added a Community Project Log over in that right column as well, where we're hoping you'll share what you're working on. Below that you'll find a Tip (And Technique) Jar, where we're hoping you'll let us know what works for (or thwarts) you in your own creative adventures. Just below that's a Twitter feed with the latest posts from @aboutcreativity, where I'll be keeping track of new developments in the ever-morphing create-o-sphere.
- We've deployed sophisticated "ShareThis" technology with each article to help you take that urge you may occasionally feel to share an article with a pal, and turn it into action.
- Click on the Bios links to learn more about each artist. Right next to "Bios," you'll find a spot to add article comments.
Big thanks to Chad Capellman, who did fantastic work bringing the new site to life (and whose web-work I enthusiastically recommend). We've got more tweaks and a few more features in the works so if you have any feedback on changes you'd like to see (or any questions about what's where), I'd love to hear from you at: dbrodnitz at gmail dot com.
Thanks for dropping by and diving in,
-Dan
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