A Creative Manifesto

1. Our capacity to create is one of the greatest things about being human.

2. If someone says ‘I’m not creative’, they’re in denial.

3. Being in flow is the one of the best feelings; being blocked one of the worst.

4. The more you chase ideas, the more elusive they become.

5. Focus on quantity of ideas and quality will take care of itself.

6. Creativity and evaluation are different processes.

7. We do our best thinking when we’re not thinking.

8. A great piece of creative is a simple truth told in a surprising way.

9. To capture someone’s attention you must break their prediction.

10. In creativity, accidents are gifts and mistakes are never truly mistakes.

11. Sometimes the problem can also be the solution.

12. Lean into your limitations and you may well end up somewhere better than you’d have got to without them.

13. There are two types of people: the overtly insecure and the covertly insecure.

14. The only thing that is truly original is your own perspective: look for what you notice but no one else sees.

15. Burnout comes from forgetting Strummer’s law: “No input, no output.”

16. If you can’t describe your idea in a single sentence it’s not a great idea.

17. Great creative work rewards you for the time you spend with it. If it doesn’t make you feel something it has failed.

18. Sometimes the most creative act is subtraction. Aim for more and more of less and less.

19. The more you enjoy the process, the less the outcome matters.

20. If you’re feeling lost, follow your fascination.

21. We’ll all be dead soon, so what have you got to lose?

With thanks to some of my creative heroes - Joe Strummer, Rick Rubin, Corita Kent, John Hegarty, Marina Abramovic, Karl Ove Knausgård & Dr. Karen Nelson Field, whose own words inspired these.