15,000 views and creative flow

My little blog hit 15,000 views yesterday, which is very cool.  I looked at bit at the stats, which show that I am on the whole getting more traffic as time goes by, but there is distinctly a connection between how many or how steadily I am getting miniatures painted and how many people want to check out the blog.
I am also reading a book with the unfortunate title "Kick Ass Creativity" with the subtitle "An Energy Makeover for Artists, Explorers, and Creative Professionals."  First I have to say that, in my own somewhat starchy way, I despair over unnecessary profanity, particularly in a professional work with ones own name on it.  That's not to say I refrain from profanity entirely--I don't--but it seems cheap and desperate to employ it in such a context.
But the book caught my eye not because of its title but its content, namely its attempt to help artistic people be able to create a better creative flow in their work.  I'm one of those people who sometimes struggles to maintain that flow.  I get sidetracked, work and real life bog me down, I lose interest or become disheartened when projects hit snags.  And I would love to conquer that, to enjoy this hobby of mine, and to be more productive, to experience the flow more often.
So, with that in mind, I'm going to take one of the exercises from the book and do it here, namely by asking the question, what is the model for your own experience of the creative flow?  Do you experience it in the evening, the morning, or some other time?  Do you have a particular place?  Are there elements to the environment that facilitate this experience, like listening to music or having no one else around?  What makes it work for you?  Feel free to share in the comment section.

Comments

  1. My creative flow???? Ideas. I get one and go with it...the reason why I can´t stick to any theme or period for long...I can come back to a period or them but as my to do or finish project list shows...there´s more ideas than time (or money)
    Most creative times?? mostly evenings but it comes and goes
    Cheers
    paul

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  2. Heya

    Have to agree with Paul on that...take an idea and run with it, the trick is to complete it before the next new idea hits :) As to where the ideas come from well that's much more tricky to pin down but in general - everywhere.

    How to keep momentum, well for me i either have to change whatever i'm doing when i feel myself stalling, painting,scenery, fantasy sci-fi. Have multiple projects running simultaneously, especialy some that need no real effort. EG, drybrushing on large scale just to feel like one's done something.

    For me though i think the real secret is seeing my own progress, if i feel like i'm getting a good return to time spent i'll stay motivated. If i've spent several weeks and have nothing to show for it, i'll loose interest and then avoid it and the hobby by default.

    Unfortunately i don't think there's a quick fix :(

    Happy reading.

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  3. My momentum petered out last summer. I really haven't finished a figure since last June. However, I'm starting to get itchy to paint some more.

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  4. I have to agree with the first two posters. It's the idea. I generally get inspiration for some project and try to bang it out before life or some other new idea throws up too many interferences. Also been very busy working 2 jobs, so energy is kind of an issue anyway. I oftne pick one small thing to do, and just try to do that. A case in point recently was a billboard from Proxie Models. Painted it up and printed a sign and attached it. Not much, but actually completed.

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  5. I mostly paint in the evenings. That is also when I play my dulcimer. (not enough of that lately)
    Just signed up to follow. I live in KC, and game with a group here. I am currently painting 28mm Seven Years War.

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  6. If you all are looking for new members, let me know. I'm currently without a group here in Lawrence.

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  7. We would be glad to have you come, but its a hike from where you are. We meet at a guy's house on the East side of Independence. Actually, we are meeting tonight. We game every Thursday evening. We usually get there between 6:30 and 7, and game till about 10.

    We also are going to be doing a weekend thing in May sometime if you are interested. We tend to play simpler rules. We play VSF, old West, various things. The guy whose house we play at has a blog: http://www.baronvonj.blogspot.com/

    That will give you some idea of what we do.

    Bill

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  8. I am probably a bit more into historical gaming than they are. I am in the South-central area of KC. I am still working on my 7YW armies. The rules I am working toward is another Bob Jones (author of Piquet) effort, called Die Fighting. Its kind of an old school game where units are rated for the number of dice they are worth. Those dice go into a pool and get used for movement, fighting, morale, etc. When all of your dice are gone, you lost. It looks like fun. If that doesn't work I will amalgamate my figures into larger units and use something like Charge. Basing isn't critical in Die Fighting, so I am basing them individually and will use movement trays.

    Bill

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