Motivation and Inspiration for Creatives (and Everyone Else!)

Once upon a time, there were two very sinister storytellers, and their names were Fear and Self-Doubt. Fear and Self-doubt were very prolific, and the world was flooded with their stories, which all had common themes:

they were about the actor that doesn't show up for the big audition

they were about the elevator pitch that doesn't get made even though you run into a TV executive or producer

they were about the great idea of the century that doesn’t get expressed

they were about the screenplay that doesn't get submitted to a big contest

they were about the social media connection that doesn't get made

they were about the thread comment on social media that doesn’t get posted do to fear of ridicule, although you possess the knowledge to help

they were about not living your best life as a creative.

That is quite a list.

But this doesn't have to be YOUR story: there are two essential ways to counteract the stories that Fear and Self-Doubt are putting into the world and that's to keep Motivated and stay Inspired, despite the fact that there is plenty of rejection, disappointment, frustration, and defeats when you walk the Creative Path.

As I said in yesterday’s article, “The Role of Creatives in Tumultuous Times,” one of the keys is to set daily tasks.

https://joeymadiastoryteller.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-role-of-creatives-in-tumultuous.html

Here’s some things that have worked for me, and I bet they’ll work for you as well.

BLOG SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK

Writing blog articles between 1,000 and 2,000 words is a great discipline to exercise your writing muscles, your communication skills, and share your knowledge with and expand your network.

I started with a book review blog 15 years ago. It not only keeps my analytical skills as a writer start, it has led to book deals, teaching gigs, commissions to write for additional blog sites and magazines, networking with publishers and publicists, building a network of fellow writers, and analyst and story doctor jobs, some of which have led to screenwriting and playwriting contracts.

https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blog/posts/4251448967151806689

The blog you are reading now is part of my storyteller series, where I not only share my creative work and talk about my services—I provide how-to advice for writers, actors, and directors. It has been a great way to advertise my talents and passion to Industry professionals.

NETWORK EVERY DAY

Three things are essential:

1.      Make a new connection every day

2.      Share projects in process and news about your work every day on social media

3.      Find a new outlet for your work every week

For more on the art of networking:

https://joeymadiastoryteller.blogspot.com/2025/03/practicing-art-of-networking-is.html

DON’T PIGEONHOLE YOURSELF

Try new things. Storytelling is storytelling. Only emphases change in different modes of storytelling.

Here are a few of my articles, with practical examples, about how I applied the principles of screenwriting and playwriting to Escape Rooms and about writing for different genres:

https://joeymadiastoryteller.blogspot.com/2025/02/escape-room-design-and-consulting.html

https://joeymadiastoryteller.blogspot.com/2025/03/working-storytelling-muscles-by-trying.html

FIND QUOTES THAT KEEP YOU MOTIVATED AND INSPIRED AND PUT THEM WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM

Three of my favorites are:

“Don’t wait for the iron to get hot. Make it hot by striking” (William Butler Yeats)

“Do what you can with what you have where you are” (Teddy Roosevelt)

“Try again, fail again, fail better” (Samuel Beckett)

I have never liked “Fake it until you make it” so I have revised it as “Earn it so you own it.”

BE AUTHENTIC. IT’S HARD, BUT IT’S ESSENTIAL

This means putting yourself out there honestly, truthfully, and genuinely and letting what happens unfold. I am not everyone’s cup of tea, but if I am Authentic, I shouldn’t be. For everyone that loves my Passion and Energy, there are others who turn from it. So be it. I would rather be Me all the way through than lie or make inauthentic promises to get the job.

It always go badly in the end.

Not everyone is going to like or hire you. Not everyone is going to “get” your work. That’s okay. It has to be. What we do as Creatives is super subjective after you’ve obtained a basic competence.

As Dr. Brene Brown says, Show Up and Own Your Story. I’ll offer more on Dr. Brown’s work in tomorrow’s blog about books and documentaries to Motivate and Inspire Creatives, but here is her breakthrough TED Talk, “The Power of Vulnerability,” which has 67 million views:

https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_the_power_of_vulnerability?language=en

A recent article I wrote maps my journey to Authenticity as a neuro-divergent Creative:

https://joeymadiastoryteller.blogspot.com/2025/03/the-quirky-workings-of-my-mind-journey.html

FOLLOW YOUR BLISS

The wise words of Joseph Campbell. Find your Passion. The thing you want to spend as much time doing as you possibly can. Don’t expect it to be easy. But I promise it will be Fulfilling.

For more on this and about Joseph Campbell’s life and work, see my essay “The Lightbulb or the Light”:

https://joeymadiastoryteller.blogspot.com/2025/02/the-light-bulb-or-light-of-joe-campbell.html

PUT IN YOUR 10,000 HOURS. THEN PUT IN 20,000 MORE.           

Malcolm Gladwell wrote about this in his book Outliers. It’s not a magic number where you are suddenly Competent. But I trust you get the point.

The mathematics of 10,000 hours is 10 years at 40 hours a week.

I have been at this for 35 years, and I work a lot more than 40 hours a week.

My YouTube video on which this article is based: