Start Ugly: The Unexpected Path to Everyday Creativity

The poet Goethe is credited as saying, "What you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it, and the work will be completed!"
If only it were that easy.
In any creative effort, the beginning is the hard part, filled with fears and procrastinations, and---often most of all-the paralyzing desire to get it right on the first try (which almost never happens). Creativity is evolutionary; it begins with bad ideas and crappy first efforts and the moment we embrace this idea, not eschewing the ugly beginnings but mining them for possibilities, our everyday creativity flourishes.
Start Ugly is a celebration of the messy creative process and a call to face the obstacles of that process with mindfulness and humanity. This is a book for anyone who has ever wished they were "more creative." It's a plea to stop looking for the muses and inspiration before you do your best work. Equal parts needed encouragement to dream big and practical advice for getting your hands dirty, START UGLY is a soulful, at times irreverent, reminder that creativity is more the stuff of hard work and courage than it is the stuff of magic. And if there is magic at all to be found, it's in starting.

Author: David Duchemin
Publisher: Craft & Vision Press
Published: 07/17/2020
Pages: 160
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.40lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.00w x 0.37d
ISBN: 9780991755790

About the Author
Duchemin, David: - David duChemin is a best-selling author of 32 books, award-winning photographer, and leading expert in the field of creativity. His podcast and book, A Beautiful Anarchy, help him share his message with tens of thousands: a rich and fulfilling creative life is for everyone-not just artists. David spent the last twelve years travelling the world as a humanitarian photographer and creativity workshop instructor on all seven continents. His adventures have taken him through winters in Russia and Mongolia and a summer on the Amazon, as well as months among nomads in the Indian Himalaya and remote Northern Kenya. Drawing on a previous twelve-year career in comedy, David brings a dynamic and engaging presence as a presenter in workshops, on camera, or on stages for corporations like Apple and Amazon. His expertise has been profiled in magazines and podcasts including Overland Journal, Elephant Journal and The Accidental Creative. You can find David at davidduchemin.com, on Instagram and Facebook as @davidduchemin, and you can listen to his podcast. A Beautiful Anarchy is a heart-felt kick-in-the-pants podcast for everyday creators and anyone who's ever mud-wrestled with their muse. These 15-minute episodes are an honest and sensitive exploration of the joys and struggles of the creative life. Let's talk about it. Listen on iTunes or aBeautifulAnarchy.com.