#creative help

I have an OC blog that I would love to post more art on, but I have a hard time thinking of how to draw them in a way that I haven't already done.

My biggest tip is probably just to keep trying to fill up your creative tank?

- watch new shows and movies, read new fiction or even nonfiction, Google things you don't know about, seek out more art to look at, go to new places, add variety into your daily routine sometimes, remember enrich yourself mentally, maybe try new hobbies even if you don't stick with them? Learning stuff and giving yourself more is always good as a whole but it'll also build up your creative mental energy, if you only ever keep trying to make without breaks or self care you'll run dry. Talk to other people, take time to just not do anything and let your mind wander, listen to music, go down mental rabbitholes, ask other people for ideas or suggestions.. Sniff candles at the store, try a new food.. Read fanfiction, look at fanart..

- take a critical look at the stuff you have and stuff you already see. What do you like? Why? What don't you like about it? What if you made the same thing? What if you reimagined it? Do mental exercises. Do art studies. Trace sometimes (for learning purposes!). Stare at a piece of media and break things down. Find the details. Look into how your favorite media was made. Think about how they got there. Make media analysis, even. Make a small essay. Comment on things. Discuss with people. Disagree with people. Ask yourself why. Agree with people. Ask yourself why. Figure out what it is that you think, prefer, don't prefer, like and dislike and how you tend to create. And why. Every creative is different in how they do things and where they stem from, even down to how we write words or draw lines. What kind of characters we tend to make and stories that we tend to tell. Look for patterns and ponder them. Diversify.

In short!

- FILL UP YOUR TANK!

- EXERCISE YOUR MIND!

Updated my Strawpage to include a link to a little community for creative help. If you need a space to pitch your cool ideas in a safe environment, come join us!

The last couple of months I've been drawing my own tarot cards

After the pandemic started I've lost all inspiration

This can be a very scary thing. Especially to newer writers. But it doesn't have to be.

Rejection is a normal part of creating anything.

Everyone has their own opinions and views. Some people believe that their views is the only way people should think. Some people just share their rejections of whatever they don't like for example vampires.

Theres many reasons someone could reject what you've done.

Someone could reject it because someone ate peas.

Don't let the rejection get to you. If it doesn't seem to be a rejection with helpful tips by kinder rejections it doesn't require your attention.

Focus instead on those who like it. On your target audience.

You wrote it for a specific reason. Not to please every single person in the world.

Prepare for the rejection and know it's a part of anything you'll do.

If it helps I'd like to share an example that one of my teachers told us. Even Harry Potter was rejected by a bunch of places before it got accepted. Now we won't always gain that amount of popularity but there will always be people who enjoy what you wrote.

You can post online or get it published. That is up to you.

Currently I post online. I feel it's good practice and can get opinions from people. You can even stay under a username. I do plan to publish a book at some point though I want to be ready plus find the best place to do so at. Though if they reject the book I'll find another place.

You may have to go through a bunch of publishers but don't give up hope. Remember even famous books have been rejected by many publishers.

You can do it. Power through rejection. Don't listen to the harsher comments.

If you need to talk to someone or need support through it you can find someone. Or find a place to post online about it. How you do it is up to you.

Do you have trouble remembering plot for your ocs?

Do you have an idea but can't write it down no matter how bad you want to save the idea for later?

Do you have original storylines you want to use but don't want to forget or muddle the facts when repeating?

Well do I have the solution for you!

Sit down with a bud or two for focus testing/audience reaction

Set your phone to record (or your laptop, etc)

Rattle over the plot.

Allow small intervals to let your friends talk about how they feel about a certain point or plot element.

Good morning/afternoon/evening angels!!! Wherever you are, I hope you’re having a beautiful day (it’s nice and sunny here, I squee).

I’ve been having so much fun in my creative writing class, and I thought it might be neat to share anything that may be helpful to fellow artists!!

Yesterday I ended up writing something I was genuinely proud of, because it was completely on the spot & done without thought (perfectionists can I get a whoop whoop??) It was challenging but exciting, and I’m definitely going to use this again to get my creativity flowing! Whether you’ve heard of this project or not, my hope is that you give it a try regardless. You will be surprised what your pretty minds come up with.

Give each project at least one line. You should open the poem with the first project, and close it with the last, but otherwise use the projects in whatever order you like. Do all twenty. Let different ones be in different voices. Don’t take things too seriously.

Begin the poem with a metaphor.

Say something specific but utterly preposterous.

Use at least one image for each of the five senses, either in succession or scattered randomly throughout the poem.

Use one example of synaesthesia (mixing the senses).

Use the proper name of a person and the proper name of a place.

Contradict something you said earlier in the poem.

Change direction or digress from the last thing you said.

Use a word (slang?) you’ve never seen in a poem.

Use a piece of false cause-and-effect logic.

Use a piece of “talk” you’ve actually heard (preferably in dialect and/or which you don’t understand).

Create a metaphor using the following construction: “The (adjective) (concrete noun) of (abstract noun)…”

Use an image in such a way as to reverse its usual associative qualities.

Make the persona or character in the poem do something he/she could not do in “real life.”

Refer to yourself by nickname and in the third person.

Write in the future tense, such that part of the poem seems to be a prediction.

Modify a noun with an unlikely adjective.

Make a declarative assertion that sounds convincing but finally makes no sense.

Use a phrase from a language other than English.

Make a nonhuman object say or do something human (personification).

Close the poem with a vivid image that makes no statement but that “echoes” an image from earlier in the poem.

So, I'm wanting to use the elements from Digimon Frontier to give me a guideline of what kind of Digimon I need to create. The elements are:

Fire

Light

Ice

Wind

Thunder

Earth

Wood

Water

Steel

Darkness