Creative Basecamp

Why Wait? Start Your Dream Project Now

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8 years ago, Jake (the other co-creator of Meager Quest) and I set out to make an animated series. It was something we had both always wanted to do and we were ambitious and starry-eyed, not knowing much about what went into such a production. It was called Burmont High, a humorous coming-of-age story about 3 unlikely friends and the zany high school they attended. We dived head-first into the first episode. Then, for a number of reasons, we stopped.

At the time I was an art major, going for a BFA in graphic design. As I continued learning more at school, I realized there were better ways to do things than the methods I had been using on Burmont High. I also started to see how time consuming it was and figured I didn’t have enough time to make it happen. I started to think that I shouldn’t continue to work on it. What if I get better and then my style changes and I want to do it a different way? What if that ruined my continuity and made me want to start all over? Better to wait, I thought.

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Edit Your Brain’s Programming

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In my previous article, I wrote about the possibility of changing the way we think. I call this “reprogramming” the brain. We each have a wealth of experiences, both good and bad, which shape our outlook and in turn shape our behavior. When we procrastinate our important creative projects, we’re usually letting ourselves be controlled by fear. If you haven’t already, I’d recommend reading that article because it forms the basis for the one you’re reading now.

Having a productive mindset when it comes to your creative endeavors will go a long way toward your lasting success and fulfillment. If you believe you will fail, you likely won’t even try. Adding to that, if you’re paralyzed by the thought of failure itself, this only compounds the issue. I’ve struggled with these unproductive mindsets in the past, and I know that they lead to a whole lot of inactivity and a whole bunch of projects scrapped before they get their chance to shine. This repeated failure to commit and follow through actually makes the problem even worse as we may begin to believe that we’re not even capable of finishing anything. We may start to think that we’re fundamentally flawed in some way. I’m sadly speaking from personal experience here. Life is too short and your potential is too great for all that mess, I say. Is it possible to change the way we think, or to reprogram our brains? YES! And to great effect.

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Stop Procrastination – Reprogramming Your Mind

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The human mind is such a bizarre thing. It’s what allows us to think deeply about things, to make sense of the world around us, and to create. It’s pretty amazing for basically a hunk of fat. Without it we wouldn’t have any of the awesome works of art, stories, or products we enjoy. Without it we wouldn’t be able to enjoy or comprehend them at all even if we did have them somehow.
Clearly he’s less smart than I am, but he’s a handsome guy so we keep him around.

Speaking of which, sometimes my dog will sit and stare at the TV, and I often wonder how he makes sense of it. Based on the way he tilts his head back and forth, I have to imagine he has no idea in the world what’s going on. He certainly has never created anythinghimself besides a huge mess of shredded tissues, so there’s my case-in-point for the human brain being so great, I suppose. [Read more…] about Stop Procrastination – Reprogramming Your Mind

Train Your Focus, Get More Done In Less Time

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Sometimes I let the number get really high because I know it bothers my wife.

We live in a time where we’re always connected. A constant barrage of messages from friends, notifications from apps, and the hottest trending news dings, flashes, pops and otherwise yells for our valuable attention. That attention is a commodity advertisers pay top dollar to secure. In a time like 2017 it feels harder than ever before to get anything meaningful done. [Read more…] about Train Your Focus, Get More Done In Less Time

Create Every Day

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What are you working on? Whether it’s something concrete like an animated series (that’s us!) or whether it’s less concrete like building the life you want by attaining your goals, we’d love to hear about what you’re involved in!

Whatever it is you’re working toward, what have you created or built today that has gotten you closer to your end goal? What have you created this week? This month? Have you created something even within the past year that you can look at and be proud of?

Creativity is Essential

Your creation can be a work of art, a story, or music. It could even be a more toned physical form or a habit of eating something healthy every day. I include all these things in the category of creativity because by building something meaningful to us or by making ourselves or our lives better in any way, we’re being active agents in our own lives. We are creating our reality rather than letting outside influences create it for us. In this sense, creativity is absolutely essential for human beings to be truly happy and fulfilled. To consistently create everyday is the only true recipe for success, no matter what it is we’re trying to build or achieve in life. [Read more…] about Create Every Day

The Power of the Side Hustle

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For years, I’ve wanted to make a cartoon. It’s been a dream of mine ever since childhood. Like many of you, I’ve done my fair share of daydreaming about the things I might create one day. I think this is common for people who have creative minds. It feels great to dream.

The prospect of having some amazing project under your belt is an exciting one. The stories we have yet to tell, the products we have yet to create, and the content we have yet to publish has the potential to impact the world. There is the possibility that hundreds or thousands of people sharing our similar interests will love and appreciate the work we do. Making something amazing that people enjoy opens doors for us that would otherwise remain closed.

Dream, Meet Reality

Unfortunately, we all have real lives outside of the amazing things we want to create. We clock in at 9 and clock out at 5, day after day. Bills need to be paid, chores need to be attended to, and important relationships aren’t going to nurture themselves. Our bodies and minds are quite unforgiving when they don’t get the sleep and sustenance they need. Go too long without exercise and you start to put on the pounds. The important ideas in our heads start to feel ever less important as we consider that working on them doesn’t keep the lights on or put food on the table. These things take a lot of time, and we don’t have much left in the day after other obligations are met. So they get put on the mental backburner, waiting for that magical day when money somehow becomes a non-issue, when time grows on time-trees and a hungry audience suddenly shows up at the doorstep, excitedly demanding us to create and throwing fistfuls of money at us.

Of course, logically we know that this will never happen! But either way, we keep busy day to day. Songs remain unsung, books remain unwritten, games remain unprogrammed, and canvases remain blank. In my case, cartoons remained unanimated in favor of more “important” things. [Read more…] about The Power of the Side Hustle