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Reading: A Major Key to Most Creative Blocks

showmedmani
Jan 20, 2016
5 min read

For those of you who don't know I started a magazine 3 years ago. When I began, all I knew was that I had a love for literature, writing, fashion, photography-I just knew I had a love for art.

Since the fifth grade I've dreamed of owning a magazine and one day I told myself, "If you not finna be about it then stop talking about it" and I started my magazine, just like that.

While walking the walk is certainly more effective than talking the talk, let me tell you where I went wrong. I moved into this venture extremely too fast; I had no game plan, a very basic branding/marketing plan and as far as my buget, *sings*, hell nawl to the nawl nawl nawl-yeah I didn't have one.

Because my game plan was so lackluster I spent most of this venture learning the basics of the magazine industry along the way and when I say I learned them the hard way, boy! I suffered financially and most of all creatively; I grew exhausted trying to teach myself the basics of design,photography,marketing and creating content simultaneously.This was also exhausting because I didn't have a solid team, just my sister and I, making due with what we had.

Anywho, I'll save that subject for a later date, as my journey as a magazine editor continued I grew artistically and business wise. I'd just started my PR courses and began to implement my newfound knowledge into my literary baby.

One very important thing that I missed the mark on with my magazine was bringing my vision to life, having a standard and singing *hell nawl, to the nawl nawl nawl* when those standards weren't met. It wasn't until my last two issues that I was adamant about making sure my visuals could compete with established publications. I also learned how important visuals are to my audience, sounds like a no brainer, right? Well for some reason I jumped into this thinking I could worry about the quality of my visuals once I could afford it and focus on quality content-WRONG, (again, saving that for another time).

My latest issue, 'Melanin Is Magic,' one of many issues that will be dedicated to empowering women of color and celebrating their beauty, was by far my best work. The issue was an issue I could be proud of, an issue I took my time with an issue where I DID NOT settle and it was all because I changed my mind. "How so?" you ask. Well it's all because I opened a book titled, Change Your Mind by Rod Junkins.

This book came at the right time; after many failed attempts of rebranding my magazine and creating the aesthetic I imagined I loss confidence in my creative abilities, but this book helped me regain that confidence.

Some of the best advice I took away from this book were:

Don't be scurred- While this is a simple ideology, most people aren't honest with themselves about why they aren't succeeding, the truth is most of us are scared. I am always fearful of people's critiques, of working for months on an issue and people reading it singing *hell nawl, to the nawl naw-yall get it lol*. Fear held me back from so many opportunities, from networking, it held me back artistically, fear was my kryptonite and this book helped me realize that once I let go of that fear I could accomplish so much more.

Connect With Like Minded Individuals- As a creative individual, it is impossible to grow creatively without surrounding your slef with like minds. You block yourself from inspiration, constructive criticism, networking opportunities, you even miss out on great collab work. This is where my fear often came into play; I used to have a desire to reach out to certain people but would stop myself because I didn't feel good enough, I felt they were out of my league, I just wasn't confident and so, I never reached out to other creatives but once I did it opened my eyes to so many things. Connecting with other individuals who are just as passionate as you about something can feel exhilerating and can be powerful at the same time. I finally let go of this fear when putting together my last magazine issue and by releasing this fear I got to feature amazing talents in my issue; such as Numa Perrier, co-founder of Black&Sexy TV (now shown on BET), Will Catlett, lead actor on the hit web series, FIrst and celebrity fashion stylist, Shannon Marie. Not only was I proud of this issue but my viewers were too, people even paid to read it lol (that was a big deal for me).

Later that summer I met the founder of 50 Shades of Black and one of my favorite photographers (who inspired the graphics for 'Melanin Is Magic') Dex Jones (best known as SIRDEXRJONES on Instagram) at their 'Naturally Beautiful event' and my bestie and I got to have an in-depth conversation about his creative process, finding inspiration,etc....and what do ya know, his advice was engrained in my head and I kept his words with me during my creative process, much like the profound words I kept with me from Will Catlett. Had I kept this fear, I would have never reached out to these people and been inspired to KEEP GOING. Since then I've connected with so many more amazing individuals but I'll stop there lol.

Don't put yourself in a box-Once again, fear played a huge part in this. I was always worried about what people what think or say if I stepped off the roads I normally traveled and ventured into something else. For instance, I've always wanted to venture into film, but those cowardly thoughts kept me from doing so until I connected with a talented friend, Rashawn Cash (young Atlanta film director) to create a short film. The short film was something I was proud of, I also got to meet other creatives and had I remained fearful and never reached out to Cash, the film would still be a thought to this day.

You need help, ask for it- Okay, this getting redundant but yes, fear often had me putting together season long projects consisting of photoshoots, writing, blogging, layout design, marketing,etc. al by myself. While I am very talented in most of these areas it's impossible for anyone to put a 100% into multiple areas at once, you are destined to fall short in one area, which is why working with a team or collaborating with others is important so they can make up for your weak spots.

Please yourself not others- I stopped worrying so much about what my "target demographic" wanted and I decided to create content that I-a young,black,woke lover of all things art, wanted to see. Conveniently, there were a lot of individuals who wanted to see the same thing; women of color represented in high-fashion, think pieces on black culture and cultural insights, etc. Whatever your art is, make it for you because you can always tell when one's work lacks passion.

Honestly, there were so many amazing chapters in this book; so many things that are necessary for any creative to think about, I could go on all day but should Rod Judkins ever read this all I want to say is, you da trillest.

To those of you reading this, sitting at a dead end road on a street named, "F**k This Sh!t" I advise you to make a U-turn and veer right onto "I'll Come Back To It" and bust a left on "Read a Muhfu**in Book" and your destination titled, "It's Lit!" should be on the far left. You welcome :)

Below is a gallery featuring the amazing book itself, photos the book ultimately inspired and a few of the people I reached out to after reading it.