Creator's Corner: How to Work (and Play) Well With "The Others" to Succeed

NOTE: Creator's Corner is now being published on Wordpress, so you can access and read all of the columns (past and future) easily at one location. Click Here.

I ATTENDED A GRADUATE SCHOOL WHERE ARTS & BUSINESS STUDENTS WERE BROUGHT TOGETHER--on purpose--to propose, create and apply communications technology solutions as a team to problems. As graduate students of the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), we were encouraged to face our distrust of "the others'" approaches to problem-solving (creative arts vs. business) and collaborate in playful and experimental ways to meet the needs of individuals, groups; local, national, and global communities--artistic, nonprofit and commercial--who we were learning to serve as a workforce. Otherwise, we could not succeed in our studies, projects, or current and future employment.

How Can I Trust You?

WE HAD TO FIND WAYS TO KEEP AN OPEN MIND, TRUST, AND SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER (even if one's primary incentive might only be to get a good grade). Sometimes trusting simply meant investing in the belief that we would do whatever we could to help each other succeed for the sake of that project. Those who couldn't or wouldn't commit, who gave up, failed: they either left the program or flunked out. For those of us who did commit, paths always eventually opened, and some of those solutions we accomplished together were simply astounding. Those collaborations and solutions led to our Information Age and what's coming beyond it.

NOTE: The Interactive Telecommunications Masters Program in Tisch School of the Arts at New York University is going strong. Check out some of the pioneering and innovative courses.

Artwork © Gavin Aung Than 2017

  Column Inspiration:

Akira Jurosawa: The Note Taker

 

How Not To Give Up Before The Miracle Happens

I READ SOME LITERATURE TODAY TO HELP INSPIRE AND MOTIVATE ME NOT TO GIVE UP in areas that I want and need to change in my life (personal and professional). I get tired and discouraged at times. I can't afford "keeping up appearances" (like Hyacinth, the character in the British BBC program) because I've learned the hard way that doing so is incredibly stressful and hurts my health. One quote I read is from an article (AKIRA KUROSAWA: The Note Taker) included in the Creativity & Storytelling 'Zine, Sunday, February 12, 2017 edition is just the right medicine:

"Kurosawa was determined to become a better screenwriter and set about writing one page a day, despite how busy he was as an AD, 'There was nothing I could do about the nights I had to work till dawn, but when I had time to sleep, even after crawling into bed I would turn out two or three pages.' Writing didn’t come easy, but over time the daily struggle became a habit and Kurosawa found that like most creative endeavors, just showing up was the key. 'At some point in the writing of every script I feel like giving the whole thing up. From my many experiences of writing screenplays however, I have learned something: If I hold fast in the face of this blankness and despair, adopting the tactic of Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen sect, who glared at the wall that stood in his way until his legs became useless, a path will open up.'"

      

Column Inspiration:

"Keeping Up Appearances"

SOMETIMES I THINK THAT WE HUMANS SUFFER FROM CHRONIC FORGETFULNESS: we work hard on something, complete it, and then lose our confidence in what we've learned and know: we start from the beginning again--over and over--in uncertainty (a creative-specific conflict forgetting like in the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind--though they choose to forget!). We stick to our endeavors, come through again, and hope we will remember in the future.

THE HEALING ARTIST STUDIO PROJECT BLOG, THE CREATIVITY & STORYTELLING 'ZINE, and all the writing, content curating, posting and tweeting I do is my way of remembering, of continuing the open-mindedness, trust, and collaboration I learned as a high school student at The Team School, and as a graduate student at ITP.

WE ARE NOT IN A PHYSICAL CLASS TOGETHER, AND MAY NEVER MEET, but I choose to believe that I am investing in our creative and business problem-solving success to benefit our world through the practical and miraculous solution we are every day.

MAY YOU DISCOVER MORE CREATIVE ideas and storytelling support now (and in the future) by exploring the Creativity & Storytelling 'Zine, and previous Creator's Corner columns: Lies & Storytelling: Strange Bedfellows in Shades of Gray; Best Storytelling Has Sensory Empathy (or It's Important to Engage the Senses), Get Up To Speed On Quality Do-It-Yourself Storytelling: On a Low Budget, Best Storytelling is Copied, Stolen Content? (or The Lighter Shade of Led Zeppellin), The Joy is in the Story Journey (or Mission Impossible), Best Story Content Grounded In Our Past & Current Life; Conflict Has Creative Value, Learn How To Use It; Card Decks & the Mystic or Visionary Persona, Here Comes Play-Doh, and Sacred Geometry–Visual Storytelling Content: One Of Top Four Creative Trends 2016. 

Dare to shine, be generous, and love this life.

Valerie







************

CREATOR'S CORNER is dedicated to sharing ideas that come to mind after reading and selecting articles for The Creativity & Storytelling 'Zine (as the editor/curator) that may be useful in a professional or personal capacity. Interest in creativity and storytelling as content for usage in arts & entertainment, media communications, marketing and advertising, and as lifestyle choices for businesses, projects and services (groups that have a way of life that may or may not be included in their brand identity), can be relevant to anyone anywhere in the world covering a variety of professions.  

TOP CONTENT | Creator's Corner: Best Story Content Grounded In Our Past & Current Life

NOTE: Creator's Corner is now being published on Wordpress, so you can access and read all of the columns (past and future) easily at one location. Click Here.

I ATTENDED ONE OF THE FIRST "alternate" high schools in the United States in New Jersey. The Team School was innovative and unique at that time because the students, teachers, and parents worked together to determine the courses, type of government to address conflicts and issues, and handled the daily operations. The mornings were dedicated to academic courses necessary for college preparation, and the afternoon courses were electives taught by parents who were professionals in their chosen fields.

LISA SANDERSON'S DAD TAUGHT the creative writing elective, and he drilled into our heads the following regarding story content: Write about what you know, what you are experiencing in your own home environments and communities. You will never go wrong with paying attention to what often goes unnoticed, and how these events and relationships affect you and those around you. 

Nick Lupi and Jimmy Nice, of Spit Syndicate. 
Image Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald. Photo: Nic Walker

Column Inspiration:
"Boho Sydney: Mapping Our Creative Clusters"

MR. SANDERSON TAUGHT US TO PAY attention and mine for gold in our own hearts, thoughts (and those of others), and locations grounded in our daily experiences of life. 

I CHOSE THESE TWO ARTICLES BECAUSE they remind me that there's so much value in the wealth of content in my past and current communities that I used to take for granted before taking Mr. Sanderson's class. As a storyteller, screenwriter, film producer, healing artist, content specialist (and award-winning writer/blogger, editor, art director, and marketing specialist) I know from past experience and successes that unlike Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, I don't have to travel to realize that "there's no place like home" for stories and other content.

FOR EXAMPLE, THE FLASH FICTION STORY, Back Up The Truck, is inspired by a domestic violence true story from my childhood. Many of us grew up in a war zone of domestic violence that impacted our lives in those moments and beyond.

ONE DAY MY BEST FRIEND WHO LIVED next door came running to my house to get my help. His "uncle" was beating his mother and we needed to find a way to distract him. First, we tried to physically pull Uncle Charlie off his mom, but he was too strong. So, we decided to distract him by taking as much of his clothing as possible from his room, putting the clothes into a pile in the backyard, and soaking the clothes with liter fluid to create a bonfire. We then ran back into the house and started yelling "Fire!" It worked!

THE SHORT STORY "GIFTS" is also inspired by a true story about a highly-anticipated first date gone wrong and what happens as a result.

Image Credit: Medium.com

Column Inspiration:
 "Living On The Edge Is A Creative Place To Be"

Creative Strategy: How I See Using This Story

1) USE THIS FLASH FICTION STORY in an anti-domestic violence campaign focusing on how it impacts children. Create a number of story scenarios to drive home this point to attract and engage audience stakeholders.

2) USE THE STORY IN A RAW, EDGY marketing campaign about childhood friendships that survive traumatic situations and endure the test of time that leads to happiness in some form--a product, event, fine arts project, or service they share (an antithesis to the traditional "Hallmark" variety content). My friend and I had to instantaneously come up with an intelligent, creative and practical solution under intense stress. The physical approach failed, so we quickly moved on to save his mom from that attack. We worked together to accomplish it. We were both about 11-years-old. 

THERE'S A LARGER MESSAGE in these stories for us: If two 11-year-old children are capable of these types of creative and practical solutions under this kind of duress, then certainly we can (or can learn how to) access these qualities within ourselves.

THIS STORY IS JUST ONE IN A SLATE that are either already written as short stories (some written under strict time constraints as the creative structure model) that are to become short film scripts or expanded into larger formats for film, television and theater.

MAY YOU DISCOVER MORE CREATIVE ideas and spiritual support now (and in the future) by exploring the Creativity & Storytelling 'Zine, and previous Creator's Corner columns:  How To Work (And Play) Well With "The Others" To Succeed; Best Visual Content = Storytelling Solutions via A&E Professionals, Lies & Storytelling: Strange Bedfellows in Shades of Gray; Best Storytelling Has Sensory Empathy (or It's Important to Engage the Senses), Get Up To Speed On Quality Do-It-Yourself Storytelling: On a Low Budget, Best Storytelling is Copied, Stolen Content? (or The Lighter Shade of Led Zeppellin), The Joy is in the Story Journey (or Mission Impossible), Best Story Content Grounded In Our Past & Current Life; Conflict Has Creative Value, Learn How To Use It; Card Decks & the Mystic or Visionary Persona, Here Comes Play-Doh, and Sacred Geometry–Visual Storytelling Content: One Of Top Four Creative Trends 2016.

Dare to shine, be generous, and love this life.

Valerie







Original Publication Date: May 4, 2016

    ************

CREATOR'S CORNER is dedicated to sharing ideas that come to mind after reading and selecting articles for The Creativity & Storytelling Magazine (as the editor) that may be useful in a professional or personal capacity. Interest in creativity and spirituality as content for usage in arts & entertainment, media communications, marketing and advertising, and as lifestyle choices for businesses, projects and services (groups that have a way of life that may or may not be included in their brand identity), can be relevant to anyone anywhere in the world covering a variety of professions.

Creativity & Storytelling 'Zine (November 9, 2016)

"These topics are so bright, I just have to wear shades!

It's been touch-and-go with my plans to get out a new 'Zine while managing my "life on life's terms" these days; but I did give you a heads-up last month that I couldn't be certain what the publication schedule would be moving forward for "Creativity & Storytelling 'Zine" and The Healing Artist Studio Project blog.. 

As it has turned out, some space has cleared on this unusual and historic Election Day. I guess we all have our own beliefs about whether the campaigns used some of the best practices shared here . . . "
(Read More). 

"CREATIVITY & STORYTELLING 'ZINE" (TOP STORIES)

* Evaluating Storytelling: Where to Start?

* Content Marketing Examples From Top 10 Brands

* The Top 4 Mistakes That Make Business Leaders Awful Storytellers

* A Digital Dozen: 12 Traits Of The Truly Creative CMO

* Why the Marketing Industry Is So Obsessed with Creativity

* 5 Creative Habits Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Novelists

And More!