Ask the Author: Kim Piper Werker
Answered Questions (2)
Kim Piper Werker
To be honest, Marissa, that's how I felt for most of my life. But it bugged me, you know? Does it bug you? I felt like I *wanted* to be creative and different and boundary-pushing, but I wasn't comfortable doing that and I didn't even think I *could*. What I ended up realizing, which I wrote a bunch about in Make It Mighty Ugly, is that all I had to do was, well, whatever I actually wanted, without worrying much about what's normal or abnormal or creative or exciting. And then I had to take the next step of accepting that certain things I did regularly actually are creative, even if they didn't involve things I thought of as traditionally creative. Like, I wasn't an artist or a poet or a musician. But I was a heckuva problem solver and a pretty good writer. Those things are creative, even if they aren't romantic.
Eventually, I just started making stuff (sometimes ugly on purpose). I still don't make things that are particularly ground-breaking, but I know I could if I wanted to. And I still love to follow other people's instructions and patterns, but I also know I can come up with my own if I want to.
Which is all to say, do you enjoy following the rules? If you do, then why change? But I can tell you this with absolute certainty: If you're bugged by feeling "too normal to be creative", then you're not very normal. Because "normal" people aren't bugged by being normal. So if you're bugged, know that you're still not alone.
Eventually, I just started making stuff (sometimes ugly on purpose). I still don't make things that are particularly ground-breaking, but I know I could if I wanted to. And I still love to follow other people's instructions and patterns, but I also know I can come up with my own if I want to.
Which is all to say, do you enjoy following the rules? If you do, then why change? But I can tell you this with absolute certainty: If you're bugged by feeling "too normal to be creative", then you're not very normal. Because "normal" people aren't bugged by being normal. So if you're bugged, know that you're still not alone.
Kim Piper Werker
Whenever I'm blocked about anything – writing, crafting – I just go with it. If I fight it, it gets worse. If I think too much about it, it gets worse. So instead I just do something else, where that something else is something I enjoy quite a lot. And I continue doing that till the block has lifted (it doesn't take too long!).
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