F*ck the rules - there are no rules in art

Creativity is about originality and invention, so why would you try to do it the same way as someone else?

There are certain ways that things are done, and, until someone does them differently, everyone just accepts that this is the way it has to be. Except, with pretty much everything, eventually it does get done differently, and after a while the new approach becomes pretty standard.

So, I can’t help but wonder, why are creatives, of all people, so keen to follow rules and guidelines?

Today, I’d like to encourage you to throw the rules out the window, if only as an experiment. What can you create if you say, as a great man once said, “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me”?

Hey, just a quick reminder that we’re gathering live on Zoom for a Creative Wellbeing session on Thursday 30th January, 7pm UK time.

We’ll spend an hour with creative activities that support mental wellbeing - this month, we’re focusing on our stories of “success”.

For paid subscribers, this workshop is FREE. For everyone else, it costs just £5 - get your ticket here:

Shifting boundaries

Storytelling was once purely an oral artform. Then someone - shock horror - decided to write a story down. Socrates was firmly against this - he thought writing was an ineffective way of conveying an idea, and that it would weaken people’s brains if they didn’t have to remember information. But writing took off. Stories were primarily written in poetic verse, though, until narrative prose became popular (it didn’t really get going until the 18th century).

Visual art has similarly evolved. Once paintings had to be religious. Then they could be of anything, but they had to look like the thing. Then they became gradually more abstract, and artists began to mix their media, and now we have whatever the hell is going on with The Turner Prize.

Art is, after all, about creativity. The very definition of creativity is imagination, original ideas, innovation… to make art is to make something new and different. Yet there are so many books and courses telling you the “right” way to do it. How can that be?!

There can’t be one right way to be original - that is a contradiction in terms. Making art means breaking rules, finding new approaches, showing the world a unique perspective. But there are so many people who dream of being writers and artists that an industry has evolved to cash in on them. You can pay hundreds or even thousands of pounds to be taught how to write a brilliant novel or how to make a painting, and many, many people sign up to those courses. And therefore there are many, many people churning out creative works that follow the same blueprint. Do you want to read 20 novels that follow the same formula? Or put 10 artworks on your walls that have a similar look? I certainly don’t.

There’s no doubt that you can learn something from people who’ve been there and acquired themselves some fetching merch, but you don’t have to listen to any guru or influencer who tells you there’s a certain way to show up, a certain way to create or certain markers of success you have to hit.

I’m here to give you permission to stop trying to follow someone else’s approach and to start being yourself. That other person’s way of doing things is out in the world already. It might work for them, it might produce great art. But it’s been done. We don’t want another person following their rules, we don’t need a copy of their perspective. We want your unique perspective.

The world needs you to show up purely as yourself.

“Rules direct us to average behaviors. If we’re aiming to create works that are exceptional, most rules don’t apply. Average is nothing to aspire to.”

Rick Rubin

Letting go of expectations

To that end, I’ve got some exercises for you to help you let go of “shoulds” and expectations - other people’s or your own - around how you should create.

Before we get to that, though, if you are someone who doesn’t fit into the traditional creative mould and you don’t get along with standard creative guidance, then you might enjoy this:

Divergent Creatives

This is a three-month online programme to support neurodivergent people in building a regular and productive creative practice.

There will be weekly email prompts or exercises for you to work on in your own time and monthly group coaching sessions via Zoom, as well as a private chat space to share challenges and solutions, and to support one another.

There are only 10 spaces available, and registration closes on 31st January, ready to start the programme on 3rd February.

Ok, time to get creative. Ready?