Bonus 3 - The Creative Process

Coming back to this episode a second time and it's SO good and on the ball.

Lord Rancid

Still catching up, but I like the idea of keeping going in your creative process. I don't do writing, but I do like to woodwork. Hand cutting dovetails is a big topic in the community. One of the best pieces of advice I heard was "your arm has a lot of bad dovetails in it. Just keep cutting till you work those all out." More of a physical skill than a creative one, but the same principle applies. Even the pros will do a few practice ones before moving on to the real thing.

Going forward i would love to get more content on this topic. Walking through the process of one of your projects in more detail maybe, or drilling down on one of the sub topics mentioned.

Patrick McGill

Wow this was an excellent bonus episode, a lot of good advice and discussion. Definitely helped to energize my own creative motivations.

Patrick McGill

Hi Chad and Chris, a load of good advice and a view into your creative processes. Thanks

Lars Backstrom

This is probably the most inspiring thing I’ve ever heard. It could be a TEDtalk. Thanks guys!

Alan Ricks

Very inspiring, guys!

Great show! I really enjoy the behind scenes type shows. You did one earlier or at least explained how you guys did the show living in two different places. Maybe a future one about your guilty pleasures of other things you watch/read that’s not weird fiction.

Andrew Buchanan

Don't undersell HPPodcast early episodes guys. You hit the ground running. It was excellent from episode one even when (especially when) these were HP's worst writings. When you guys went behind the paywall and I couldn't follow you there, I had a greatest hits collection and it included quite a few from the first 10. As I've said before, whatever you two (and your extended crew) do in the future, it will be great to see/hear it, so keep it up.

A really good show, gents! I'll go a bit farther with something you touched on (that sounds dirty). Here's where you touched: if you are interested in making movies or stage productions, it is a very good idea to get into a collective where everybody has to make something every week (or month) and show it to the group. Here's where I try to get to second base: It is also very helpful to put restrictions on yourselves. Restrictions lead to breakthroughs. So challenge your group and yourself to a new kind of work for each session. This week: zombie film. Next week: romantic comedy. After that: road trip. Or decide that it has to be in black and white. Or all in one location. Or with all sound recorded separately. Feel obligated to work a bit outside your comfort zone because that's probably where you'll be doing your work in the future. Get good at it. Learn to love it. I think that one of the reasons you gents have asked us what sort of episode we want to hear is that total freedom to make whatever you might like is paralyzing. By all means let us know if you want some straight up direction or challenge in order to work your creative muscles. We really do appreciate you.

Woops, I meant Chad. I'm not smart.

Great episode, even if it has the wrong title. It should be Get to Work, You Little Bastards. Good advice for creatives, this is a discussion everyone should hear.

Joe Webb

Really good episode! I liked your candid discussion about the creative process and it was illuminating to hear you cover a wide range of different creative outlets. I'm also an academic, which leads to a somewhat different style of writing, but the fundamental point about putting in the work definitely holds true. And I love the, likely apocryphal, Hemingway quote. I usually give my graduate students some version of it, along with the fact that as much as they might enjoy writing, they'll probably hate editing and re-writing which, sadly, is a large part of the process.

Jeppe Mulich

Good show, and good insights from you two. I work in research and academia, but like the creative processes for the arts, I agree that the key to achieving proficiency (and hopefully success, but at least satisfaction) is putting the time in and sitting down to work every day. Academia is built on receiving and giving constructive criticism, and I think that point is an crucial element to bring up--it's not enough to get feedback and criticism, but that criticism should be constructive. And I agree wholeheartedly that being precious about ones work is a quick route to frustration and hinders growth. I'm looking forward to more of these kinds of shows!

Ben A

Loved this episode. I've finally gotten to the point in my creative life that I'll just start making shit for the sake of making. Just to bring a concept to life even if it's out of scrap and trash helps me get that much closer to a tolerable end product. And being able to take criticism without defending the creation is a huge thing I think everyone struggles to figure out. Great show guys

Cameron Lee

Chris, are you still doing the outro music to the episodes? If so, we will you eventually make these available? The music for the last several episodes have been really great, especially on the recent Le Fanu story.

I found this episode incredibly helpful. I've been working as a language development researcher the last few months and designing experiments for children requires a surprising amount of creativity and I've definitely had to get used to criticism and acceptance that most of the ideas I think are great won't end up being implemented.

Great episode, guys, both entertaining and helpful! Apropos Stephen King: I don't particularly care for his stories or his style of writing, but when it comes to the hows and whys of writing, I know of very few writers who give advice as valuable as he does.

As an aspiring writer, I found this episode particularly interesting. I'm surprised you never mentioned Stephen King's "On Writing" he speaks about Hemingway quite a bit and said, "the road to hell is paved with adverbs." Best advice ever lol. Good job guys!