Creative Mindshift

POV: No Longer Editing Yourself and Trusting The Process

What stops you from getting to the end is the constant rewriting and redrafting in the process instead of letting yourself and your work be.

Perseverance, resilience, and bettering ourselves are all things we strive towards. Yet, I'm learning these skills develop in trusting the process not immediately found at the finish line.

As a creative, what has stopped me in the past from truly enjoying my creative works and processes is editing in the drafting stage. We all have that desire to edit ourselves in the process, don’t like this - kill it. Can’t stand that about yourself, pretend it isn’t there.

But this castrates us off our potential to grow, give ourselves grace, and make intentional decisions to reach our better potential.

I am learning to trust myself again and the timing in this growth and personal change process. I would suggest any frustrating moments you are experiencing in your setbacks, creative work, etc. trust the process and yourself to arrive at a conclusion that works for you.

Creative Strategy

Is Hashtagging Dead In 2024? What I'm Finding Instead.

After accidentally posting a post without hashtags I was surprised at the results!

Compared to my posts with hashtags I realized the ones without were garnering more likes, follows, and engagement. At first, I thought it was a fluke however after experimenting with a few more hashtagless posts I saw this wasn't the case. So, I searched is hashtagging dead in 2024? Well, not quite.

I'm finding that if your content is authoritative, helpful to your audience, and easy for the algorithm to understand, you don’t need to RELY on hashtagging for content views. Keep in mind, that social algorithms are shifting towards promoting authentic and informative content. If your numbers are stagnant on social try one post without a hashtag on your authoritative content. The algorithm may shock you.

Creative Highlight

Why Mines, Mazes, and Labyrinths Are So Popular In Creative Fiction?

As a writer, I'm intrigued.

Anyone who knows me knows me knows I'm a huge LOTR fan, and as a writer, I love the journey through the Mines of Moria.

It features genius writing, great tension, and world-building. Historically, labyrinths, mazes, and mines have been popular destinations for writers. As someone who loves reading about these structures, I wanted to know why.

Theoretical mazes, mines, and labyrinths are amazing spaces to develop character growth, worldbuilding, and storytelling in a mystical background. Once a story is taking place in the spaces the possibilities are endless. Navigating, a labyrinth or maze involves many routes while a mine is a narrow path. Information is revealed in crafty ways such as Daedalus' Labyrinth' in Percy Jackson and explores character decision-making like Harry in The Maze in Globet of Fire. ​

I believe these structures are so popular in fiction because they are a great avenue for wrapping the highs/lows into one location. I love watching the fellowship battle against unnerving new creatures and learning about Dwarven and Orc history, and ancient evils during the Mines of Moria sequence.

In the same, for the Mandolarian ‘Mines of Mandlore’, this episode arc was a great way to break the current pace of the show, revealing the history behind the Mandolorian order, and upping the stakes for Mando more.

When done correctly, I learned that using mines, mazes, and labyrinths as a backdrop can do wonders for your creative work. It’s an effective way to transport audiences to a new space and can set tones of awe, wonder, or sheer terror simultaneously.

The next time you're in a kink with creative work imagine navigating through one of these fantasy structures. Even if it's purely experimental thinking through what it would be like to navigate these pathways could unlock possibilities you didn't know were there.

While you are here enjoy some comfort mazes, mines, and labyrinths on your way out :)