Originally I had a post that I had been writing on and off during this week which’ll probably be uploaded another time, but for now I wanted to write about an experience I had last year in my second semester studying media.

For one of my classes we had a guest speaker come in to talk to us about his experiences working in the Australian entertainment industry. His identity shall remain nameless but let’s just say that he has done heaps of writing for some Australian music quiz shows, some acting/ stand up and can be seen on a current game show in Australia. After the initial introduction and describing what his career had been like up until now, he went into some detail about more personal things he experienced and little pieces of wisdom which I felt really grateful to have heard.

I think when we see other creatives or owner’s of creative businesses especially online, it can look so easy at times. Yet for the most part building up any business and making decisions around your career ultimately doesn’t come with a handbook. It can go in several different directions and change as you do, which can be really scary in the moment because you don’t know if it’ll work or backfire. I guess all you can do is just give something a try and see how it ends up. Just work hard and be open to things.

So here is a list of things from his talk that stuck with me:

1. Creativity can grow and thrive the most during three distinct moments: Boredom, loneliness and uncertainty in life. So don’t be afraid whenever any of those feelings decide to make their way into your world. If you can, channel them into something good.

2. Have more faith in yourself. A very common piece of advice yes, but our speaker talked about how he had spent a few weeks crafting and writing a script for the quiz show he was working for. When he placed it into the writers tray, happy with the final product, he never heard about the script for a while after that. It was only a few months later that a production manager casually mentioned how the producers felt he had captured the tone of the show excellently in said script, restoring his confidence immediately.

3. Try to have a little fun along the way and be nice to everyone. There will be people you meet who may come in handy when you’re looking for contacts or connections later on down the track. Even if you never hear from some people after you work with them, it is still important to treat them with respect.

4. You will thrive and learn double the amount if you surround yourself with creative people. Pick their brains or to simply have a safety net to test out ideas with.

5. Try out as many jobs as you can, help wherever you can. Because even if it isn’t what you thought you would be doing, it could turn into something that you love.

A shorter post this week, but hopefully some of these points connect to you in some way.

xxx