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Hey there!
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It's been a crazy week in Janaland! We made a flying trip (literally) to see my family in Missouri. It was great (family). It was awful (my youngest gets horrendous air sickness — fun).

*** Aside: I have the urge to practice storytelling right here, but I'll spare you the gruesome details. (Please forgive me, Ann Handley and Jay Acunzo.) Let's just say six of the air sickness bags were used. ***

Now, I'm just trying to catch up (but really it's so I can watch Taylor Tomlinson's Netflix special).

In one of our last newsletters, I shared about the relaxing family time we had when I left paints out on the table. At my oldest kid's request, we tried this when our extended family gathered at my parents' house. Soon, everyone was either coloring, painting, or drawing while watching the Super Bowl (Go Chiefs!).

Success!

Carole Alalouf vs Creative Block

Last time, I wrote about how working with constraints can inspire deeper creativity.

But what if those constraints stifle your creativity? Holding back the story simmering in the back of your mind just waiting to reach a rapid boil and burst out onto the paper? We've all felt it when we're on the verge of something epic.

My advice? Ignore the constraints. Drive right through those boundaries and do what you want.

That's what I encouraged the founder of award-winning whiteboard animation company Exaltus (and one of my favorite people), Carole Alalouf, to do. We skipped the usual Q&A format to free up space for her to share her story of creative paralysis, patience, and persistence.

Would you please tell the folks about a time you were creatively stuck and how you pushed through to get your creativity pumping again?

A few years ago, I asked Seth Godin, whom I’d long admired, if I could turn some of his work into a whiteboard video.

Seth generously offered me some of his notes from his upcoming book, The Practice. The passage was magical. I could not have been more excited to get started.

But then Seth said something that would eventually send me reeling. He challenged me to produce something inspiring instead of being too literal.

The thing is… whiteboard animation is a literal medium. That direct link between the spoken word and what’s being drawn? That’s a key part of what makes whiteboard animation so powerful for breaking down complex information.

Also, Seth’s passage was about creativity. What if what I produced wasn’t creative? What if it was boring? And how do you draw “creativity”, anyway?

Basically, I got alllll up in my head about it. And for the first time in my life, I almost dropped the project entirely. In fact, I did drop the project. For three months.

And that’s when I stumbled onto Paul Graham’s essay, “Early Work”, and realized that this paralyzing fear I was experiencing is actually very common among creators:

And so I picked up the Seth Godin project again, this time determined to bet on myself and trust my gut.

Here is the result:
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I’m pretty proud of it. And I think Seth must have thought it was okay, too, because he narrated it for me and then added my little video to his web page.

A few bits from me:

Creative quick tip: Be bored. It's a strategy lauded by the likes of authors Agatha Christie, Margeret Atwood, and singer Kate Nash. Author Neil Gaiman said on a talk show, "Ideas come from daydreaming, They come from drifting." So, stare out a window from different perspectives: a child on one of your first plane rides an angsty teen staring out the rain-freckled passenger window of a car driving through the night a burned-out birder trying to ID the bird out your office window instead of entering numbers on an Excel sheet ​ Whatever it is, I hope you find what you're looking for.

Fun find: This week's feeling of Can't stop, Won't Stop hasn't left me as much time to explore as usual. I've seen a lot of hoopla for a SaaS product called ButterDocs that's supposed to save you writing time (perhaps that you could spend on other creative pursuits). ​ Roy Sarkar brought up a good point in my LinkedIn post comments, it sounds a lot like Scrivener. ​ My questions are: If it's trying to replace Google Docs, does it integrate with it at all? Most of the clients I work with use Google Docs. At the very least, can I copy and paste my words from ButterDocs into Google Docs without reformatting? Is it worth paying $100+ per year? As a freelancer, I try to keep my overhead low. Google Docs does most of what I need for free. ButterDocs had better be amazing for me to shell out money when the widely-used alternative doesn't cost a thing. Have you used it? If so, what do you think?

My creative work: This week, my creative work was centered around experiencing. It was experiencing things for the first time or things I don't do often. Existing above clouds and city skylines (never gets old) Trying beets (fail) Walking on a frozen lake (amazing)

Because of this newsletter, I have fascinating discussions with guests. As Carole and I discussed her Seth Godin project, she said stepping away from the project helped because she usually muscles through. But reading Paul Graham’s essay was the catalyst for finishing the project. Carole said she realized that we don't feel lesser than because we ARE lesser than. Most of us go through this feeling, after all (Isn't that what imposter syndrome is all about?). Instead, we need to have a bit of faith in ourselves and push past The Fear. "That essay is powerful to me. Because I used to get that panic a LOT during the early stages of a project. Graham's words felt like more than a "you got this!" pep talk," Carole said. "It normalized the feeling as just a part of the creative process. A stage you need to push through like so many others do." With that, this week I challenge you to do two things: Find time to be bored. Power through the beginning-of-project panic and do the scary thing that's waiting for you. I'd love to hear how it works out for you, so hit that reply button when you get the chance. ​ All the best, ​ Jana Later, gator. 🐊 Was this forwarded to you? Get your own subscription here.

P.S. Want to support creative research and this newsletter? ​ I've crafted blog posts, case studies, and email sequences for LEGO Education, GaggleAMP, Veeqo, Omniscient Digital, Hopin, OpenPhone, and Sprout Social. ​ How can I lighten the load for you and your team? Hit reply or contact me here.

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