The Operating System

COCO PROCESS COURSE :: MIRIAM SUZANNE's FUCK THE MUSE :: LESSON 7 :: (RE)THINKING on YOUR FEET

Sometimes you have a great idea for a project, or one aspect of a project, and you throw everything at it, but the idea turns out to be a dud. You can’t ditch the project after putting so much into it, but neither can you force it through. The only way forward is to take a step back.

Chalk Outline

When I started writing this blog series in November, I was in a hurry to post articles right away — ignoring everything I know about good process. I posted a few pressing thoughts, and then tried to write my way through the5-step process from one end to the other.
It didn’t work, and each post is now taking me longer and longer to write, with more frustration than the last. I’ve written this post 4 times now, each time on different topics.
Starting from an outline can be comforting, but it’s not possible to organize material you don’t yet have, and you end up pushing yourself off in the wrong direction. That’s where I went wrong.

Play it Again

I skipped a step, and now I have to go back and do it right.
It’s time to gather all my material and see what I have, generate more ideas, scrap the failures, and rearrange what’s left into articles. This may take some time, but once that is done I should be able keep up a regular posting schedule.

Recycle

Lucky for me, none of my failed posts are wasted effort. They all work towards the goal I should have started with: collecting material. I have a recycling bin for every project — a file or folder to catch all the scraps as I work. Now I have a substantial start on what I need: my very own “Fuck the Muse” shitty pile of shit.
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What point of your creative cycle do you find yourself at? Whether you’re stuck, flying high, or not even thinking of yourself as an “artist” of any medium, Miriam Suzanne’s FUCK THE MUSE creativity catalyst should do the trick — helping you simultaneously appreciate your process more AND take yourself (and the work) less seriously.
The Operating System loves Miriam Suzanne and thinks you are getting a pretty terrific deal for the grand total of ZERO DOLLARS!!!
previously in this series:
Lesson 6: Explosive Growth
Lesson 5: Get Curious
Lesson 4 : Starting from a Seed
Lesson 3 : Creative Modes and Cycles
Lesson 2, Ordinary Tools of Thought
Lesson 1, The Art of Control (and Class Overview)
Or, start from the very beginning (a very good place to start) and familiarize yourself with Suzanne’s unique, inspired perspective and approach in our series introduction, and if you decide you want to participate more actively with Miriam and/or share your responses with our larger community, please email the staff at operator@theoperatingsystem.org.
ONWARD!
Fuck it, be yourself.