Studies have shown that creative students are disciplined
more often than less creative students even in classrooms where the teacher
says that he or she values creativity. The same holds true for people in the
workforce; creative employees are less likely to receive promotions and raises,
even in companies that encourage their employees to be creative. Creativity
comes with a risk. It’s up to you to decide if that risk is worth it.
Take a Risk
If you’ve decided to take the risk and be creative, that’s a good start because you’ve already taken your first practice step. To be more creative, you’re going to need to take more risks. Your first solution to a problem might solve that problem adequately, but you need to go a little further to see if there’s a better solution. It’s a risk to take that time and the extra step, but it could pay big dividends with a better solution that solves multiple problems.
Take a Walk
The best ideas always seem to happen when you least expect
them. In the shower, in the car, or when you’re on a walk. There are many theories
about why it happens at these times; it may have to do with defocusing on the
problem and relaxing a little, which removes the pressure and stress that can
stifle creativity. Walking has the added advantage of improving blood flow and
helping you be healthier. Plus, you can take a notebook and pen with you so you
don’t lose the idea.
Take It Down
Always have a notebook with you. If you can’t carry a notebook, use your phone to record ideas and transcribe them later. Ideas can strike at any time. If you don’t record them, they will fade away like mist and be gone forever. Keep a notebook by your bed. Keep a waterproof one in the bathroom. Whatever it takes to harness your ideas, do it. The more ideas you record, the more you’ll get.
Start the Project
All of the ideas in the world won’t help you. You need to
start working on one. Choose the best idea, choose the easiest idea, or choose
the weirdest idea. It doesn’t matter which one you choose at first because you
just want to get started on working on something. The idea may morph throughout
the project, but unless you start, the idea will never exist at all. Write
words on the page, put paint on the canvas, make the weld – whatever your
medium, well begun is half done.
Finish the Project
Starting is great. Finishing is better. If you finish a
project, you beat out all of the people who started and never completed their
projects. By finishing the first project, you’ll get a sense of self-confidence
that you can finish other projects. (The other projects may not be easier, but
you’ll know that you’ve finished one, so you know you can finish more.)
Show the Results
This is one of the hardest things for any creative project
and the person who created it. You’ve got to release it into the world. Some
people won’t like it. Many more will be neutral about it. Some will love it,
and some will actively fight against it. Sharing allows you to get your ideas
out there, and it allows you to draw strength from those who will support you.
This is especially important if you’re going to turn your creative efforts into
a business or a way to move forward at your place of work.
Take a Rest
Even the best creators need to take time from their work to
replenish their well. Resting from a creative activity includes doing those
things that will help you create more later. New experiences, reading, movies,
travel… the list is endless. Just give yourself some downtime before you move
on to the next project.
Start a New Project
Hopefully, you don’t stop coming up with ideas while you’re working on your project. When you get ready to start again, you should have plenty of ideas to work on. Choose one and get started again. The more you work on your creativity and your creative process, the more creative you’ll become.
I grew up with Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Growing up with
my mom as my only parent, Mister Rogers provided me with a male role model. I
rarely live up to the high ideals that Mister Rogers set, But I know that’s
okay because I try every day, and it’s the effort and the intention that
matter. Here are eight quotes from one of my childhood heroes that will improve
your world.
There are three ways to ultimate success: The first way is to be kind. The second way is to be kind. The third way is to be kind.
Imagine what our real neighborhoods would be like if each of us offered, as a matter of course, just one kind word to another person.
The more you grow into a helpful person yourself, the happier you’ll find this world of ours is.
Mutual caring relationships require kindness and patience, tolerance, optimism, joy in the other’s achievements, confidence in oneself, and the ability to give without undue thought of gain.
I hope you’re proud of yourself for the times you’ve said “yes,” when all it meant was extra work for you and was seemingly helpful only to someone else.
Whether we’re a preschooler or a young teen, a graduating college senior or a retired person, we human beings all want to know that we’re acceptable, that our being alive somehow makes a difference in the lives of others.
The world needs a sense of worth, and it will achieve it only by its people feeling that they are worthwhile.
You are a very special person. There is only one like you in the whole world. There’s never been anyone exactly like you before, and there will never be again. Only you. And people can like you exactly as you are.
Go out today knowing that you are special and your kind
words and actions can make a difference for the better.
As a Penguinator, does it make sense to be critical of
Disney California Adventure (DCA)? No one at the Disney Company is likely to
read this post and think, “Oh, yeah, we did forget that,” or “Schnikey! We need
to fix that ASAP,” especially if I were to leave this post private and for
Penguinators only instead of giving you an advanced viewing opportunity. I
don’t have any Disney employees on my Patreon list that I’m aware of, and I’m
decently certain there aren’t any that visit my blog. Even if there were, the
company is notorious for not accepting unsolicited ideas from outside.
Besides, anything I say has already been said by someone else and probably thought of by the imagineers. Still, as a mental exercise to improve creativity, looking at DCA provides the opportunity to unleash the judge, find what’s wrong with the current park, and figure out how to make it better. Imagineers can talk about the idea of Blue Sky thinking where everything goes and there are no rules, but in the end, they are constrained by the park’s current footprint and the bean counter’s budget, which would include the opportunity cost of any major renovation that would significantly change the park. We have no similar constraints if we choose to offer up possible solutions to the DCA problem. We can truly engage in Blue Sky thinking without reference to financial consequences, thinking only about what’s wrong with DCA and what would make the park better.
Where’s the Theme, Park?
Disneyland changed the amusement park industry by, among
other things, theming itself and its lands. Walt Disney established early on
that spacemen and cars don’t go into Frontierland, and the cowboys stay out of
Tomorrowland. The sightlines were created so that people viewing a building on
Main Street, U.S.A. would see a different roof than they would see when viewing
the same building from Adventureland.
The berm with its train and trees was devised to keep the
rest of the world from interfering with the guests’ ability to suspend
disbelief. When coupled with the negotiated rules that Anaheim passed for
buildings outside the park, guest don’t see anything that Disney doesn’t want
them to see (beyond the occasional plane or helicopter flying overhead). Even
with Tomorrowland’s current shortcomings (there are plenty of them) and the
addition of Star Wars: Galaxy Edge, Disneyland is all about theming – right
down to the dolls making the popcorn in the popcorn carts.
As ill-conceived as it may have been to put a theme park
about California in California when a majority of Disneyland visitors are from
California, DCA was themed appropriately when it opened. The Sunshine Plaza was
upbeat and California themed through and through. Hollywood Backlot Studios had
the glamour of the 1930s. Golden State celebrated the architecture of the Bay
Area, and Paradise Pier took its cue from the Beach and Boardwalk parks. Condor
Flats took on California’s aviation history, and Grizzly River Peak with the
neighboring Redwood Trail were a tribute to California’s north. The park may
not have been good when it opened, but it was themed.
Unfortunately, the theme wasn’t the right one, and the
Disney Company had to come up with ways to get people to spend their money to
go over to their second gate. Bug’s Land was added to appeal to youngsters. Not
really California themed, but it didn’t intrude on the rest of the park, and
there were bug’s in California. “Twilight Zone Tower of Terror” was built in
the backlot; the perfect place for it. As a hotel from Hollywood’s glamor days
of the late 1930’s, the Tower of Terror fit in with the rest of the theme.
When “Monsters, Inc.: Mike and Sulley to the Rescue” opened
in 2006, it signaled the beginning of the end for DCA’s theming. Placed in
Hollywood in the same area as the defunct Superstar Limo ride that lasted less
than a year; Mike and Sulley weren’t (and still aren’t) Hollywood themed. Still
the monsters occupy a prominent place in Hollywoodland as one of the two rides
in the area – the other one being the Tower of Terror.
In 2008, Paradise Pier saw the opening of the beloved Toy
Story Midway Mania. Set within the games of the pier, Midway Mania could be
forgiven its intrusion; even if its story, guests being shrunk down to the size
of toys so they could play the game, didn’t fit with the theme, the game
element of the attraction worked. With Mr. Potato Head playing the Midway Mania
Barker, the Toy Story characters didn’t do much to detract from the theme
though no self-respecting boardwalk would have such a sophisticated game during
the time that Paradise Pier was supposed to reflect. (And let’s face it, Midway
Mania is one of the best attractions in either park.)
Other rides on Paradise Pier were rethemed over the next
three years to include Disney characters. Mickey’s Fun Wheel received a new
paint job and a giant Mickey Head. The Orange Stinger became the Silly
Symphonies Swings and Mullholland Madness became Goofy’s Sky School. Within the
singular concept of the ride, the retheming of the last two was brilliant. The
Silly Symphony Swingers opens up to reveal a painting of Mickey Mouse
conducting the band from “the Band Concert,” which isn’t from the Silly
Symphony series (highlighting the theming problem again). Still, the use of the
whirlwind cartoon on the swings support pole is a great idea. Goofy’s Sky
School is just “plane” fun. The problem is that none of the changes align with
the area’s theming at the time, and these rides are exactly that – rides – not
attractions. These are off-the-shelf, experience-them-at-your-local-carnival
rides.
While hyped tremendously as a new attraction for the park, Ariel’s Undersea Adventure quickly became DCA’s version of Snow White’s Scary Adventure. At seemingly twice the size and half the fun, this show-stopping, audio-animatronic disappointingly doesn’t carry the story far enough or strongly enough. Still, it’s routinely 5-minute wait time makes it a nice place to take a break from the heat, and it features some interesting advances – the descent into the sea and the Ursula figure. It’s still in the wrong place. The Little Mermaid has nothing to do with California or Paradise Pier.
In 2012, DCA attempted to keep with the California theming
and connect to its mythical beginnings. Missing a golden opportunity to
capitalize on its largest changes, the park turned the Sunshine Plaza into
Buena Vista Street of 1923, the time when Walt Disney arrived in California
with a suitcase and a dream. The Carthay Circle Theater was opened and fit in with
the Tower of Terror in the background, but Cars Land with its decidedly Arizona
feel debuted at the same time. Arizona isn’t California. How is Cars Land a
part of the California Adventure? It’s not, thematically speaking.
In 2016, the popular Soarin’ Over California was replace
with Soarin’ Around the World. California is not the world, and the world is
not California. In 2017, the Guardians of the Galaxy took over the Twilight
Zone Tower of Terror and, in one fell swoop destroyed the themes of Hollywoodland,
Grizzly Peak Airfield and Buena Vista Street. These are both popular and fun
attractions, but popular and fun aren’t a theme, and the original versions were
just as popular and fun.
Pixar Pier
In 2018, Paradise Pier became Pixar Pier. Pixar isn’t a
theme. It’s a collection of (if the Internet is to believed) vaguely related
films with different settings. Even if Pixar properties were relegated to Pixar
Pier, the them wouldn’t work. Mixing the superheroes of “The Incredibles,” the
shrinking you down to toy size of Midway Mania and Jessie’s Critter Carousel,
and the Inside/Out characters of the mind isn’t a theme; it’s a cacophony. Add
to it that Mickey’s Fun Wheel and Flik’s Flyers just received paint jobs, with
no significant changes otherwise, to go along with the Pixar theme and it looks
like Disney has just decided to throw in the towel. They probably could’ve left
Flik’s Flyers alone since it was a Pixar film and the theming would’ve worked
with Midway Mania, but “A Bug’s Life” has other problems when it comes to theme
parks.
Leftovers from Paradise Pier, the Golden Zephyr and Jumpin’
Jellyfish make no sense in terms of theming. They aren’t related to Pixar or
Disney characters and only represent the former California Beachside aesthetic.
With all of the incohesive changes, Disney California Adventure doesn’t really
celebrate Disney or California. Instead, it focuses on providing Pixar a place
to put its movie franchises. Things won’t be much better when Marvel joins the
scene with its own land. Marvel Land will be able to adopt Guardians of the
Galaxy, but this will leave the Red Car Trolley out in the cold and gut the
main attractions of Hollywoodland – the Marvel Meet and Greets.
This mishmash of rides and attractions keeps DCA from
achieving greatness through theming. Instead it’s a great example of what
Disneyland never wanted to be – an amusement park (except DCA is clean and the
cast members are friendly).
Why Bug’s Land Had to Change
While the new Marvel Land may not fix DCA’s theming, it does
address another relatively small problem: the relevancy of A Bug’s Land. Based
on the 1998 Pixar film “a bug’s life,” the land opened in 2002. The land itself
was made to be attractive to the younger set, except the 4D film experience “It’s
Tough to Be a Bug,’ which was terrifying for some adults. It’s environmental
and educational feel was a welcome respite from some of the larger areas of the
park, but there was no way these bugs could survive.
The film itself was not one of Pixar’s best. It earned $363
million at the box office, but without a sequel, TV shows, or a cuddly, iconic
character, the film has no relevance to today’s children. How many people even
remember the film without confusing it for “Antz”? Disney’s classic animation
fare has been able to remain relevant through marketing (specifically, the creation
of the Princess line, which keeps all of the princesses in the public light as long
as new princesses are added every couple of years or so) rereleases and remakes.
These movies hold up even through the changing times, and the theming of the
lands act as a crutch.
Attractions at Disneyland also remain relevant through the
sheer size and scope. The Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash
Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad are iconic, beloved attractions
that create their own atmosphere and fans. Flik’s Flyers? Tuck and Roll’s Drive
‘Em Buggies (which were not bumper cars)? Francis Ladybug Boogie… Does anyone
even remember this ride? These were all rides with no real creation to them and
without a Dumbo to keep them aloft. Only Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train seemed to
make an effort to provide something akin to a new place to visit.
With nothing new on the bug front, DCA needed to come up with something new. Marvel provided the answer. As long as they stay away from the now deceased Iron Man, the land will remain relevant for the next few decades.
World of Color’s and Incredicoaster’s Footprints
The World of Color, which debuted in 2013, is arguably the
best show in DCA. The fountains are spectacular, the water screens are amazing,
the pyrotechnics are amazing, and the show is flexible enough to be changed
almost on the fly to advertise new movies subtly and include new animated
sequences. One Christmas show featured the magic of snowflakes a foot in
diameter that floated up into the sky. Even the dining options and the viewing
areas that go with them are incredible.
The investment in the equipment that Disney made and the
popularity of the show make changing the venue area around the show basically
impossible. Imagineers are constrained by the World of Color’s space needs.
Just as constraining is the space required for a lesser
attraction, the now-called Incredicoaster. Wait times for this attraction hover
around 25 minutes, but it is still large enough and technically advanced to
warrant protection by the bean counters. It’s change over from California
Screamin’ is also an advance in storytelling, especially when it comes to
roller coasters.
By Any Other Name
When it first opened, the park was called Disney’s California Adventure. Ironically, it didn’t include Buena Vista street, but was more the company’s interpretation of what California was. Wine country, the Bay Area, the Redwoods, these were all represented. Yes, critics wondered why people would want to see the Disney version of the Golden Gate Bridge when it was just a seven-hour drive up north or a 2-hour flight. Still, that’s what Michael Eisner and his team came up with.
It changed its name to Disney California Adventure in 2010. Linguistically,
this could mean that this park is an adventure in California Disney-style. Something
along the lines of “have yourself a Disney California Adventure.” It doesn’t
have to have the California theming in order to work, except it’s already
associated with its first incarnation, and the California parts haven’t been
drummed out of it. Choosing another name might work better as far as managing expectations,
but it doesn’t change the fact that the park has no cohesive theming.
People come to Disneyland and its related theme parks for the cleanliness, the wonderful cast members and the theming. In its effort to cash in on its acquired IP, the Disney Company has forgotten about the theming at least as far as Disney California Adventure is concerned. Maybe they’ll get it fixed sometime in the future, but for now DCA will suffer from its continued lack of relevance and inability to inspire people to come for more than a day.
It’s our turn for Blue Sky thinking! What could Disney do to
make California Adventure better?
Vision can be the way you perceive things. No one sees the
world exactly like you. Your life experiences have given you a unique way of
viewing situations. The only way that anyone can begin to understand what you
see in the world is if you share your vision.
A vision can also be the goals that you want to achieve or
the way you see the future. You might look toward a utopia. You might see
problems with the drainage system and possible solutions. You might have the
key to opening up a new discipline. But this only happens after you develop
your vision and show it to people. If you aren’t able to tell people about what
you want to achieve on a grand sale, you are unlikely to achieve it.
You can use your vision to drive toward your vision, and creativity should be an important part of that drive. Walt Disney saw that there were no places where adults could enjoy spending time with children. He sat eating peanuts while his daughters took rides on the carousel in Griffith Park. His vision was a park that parents and children could enjoy equally together. Without either sense of vision, we wouldn’t have Disneyland or any of the other theme parks that came after it.
Teamwork makes the dream work! By joining our Patreon before July 31, you’ll be pushing me to write more about creative. For a limited time (the next 7 days), I will write an additional article on creativity for every 5 people that join our Patreon.
The creative process is often more collaborative than is
portrayed in the stories we’ve been told. Even if someone creates something in
a studio with no one else around, that person has interacted with others who
have shaped him or her. The idea came from somewhere. What Isaac Newton said
about science (a concept traced back to Bernard of Chartres) is just as true
for art: “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
As part of our team, you are allowing Jenya and I to be more creative and to create more – books, stories and penguins. You will also be getting articles about becoming more creative. The Secrets of Creativity series on Patreon is for Patrons only. There are supplements to the series on my blog.
If you join at the $5 level, you even get to ask any question you want about the creativity process, what it takes to be more creative, and how penguins jump so high out of the water (or whatever other topic comes to mind). One article is already waiting to published August 14! Join now, bring your friends, and let’s get dangerous… creatively speaking.
The Walt Disney Company traditionally rereleased its
animated classics to theaters about once every seven years. Even as video
cassettes were becoming popular, Disney kept its animated classics “in the
vault” and off the shelves. Rereleasing films was profitable because Disney
could fill out its movie slate for the year with a film that had no additional
production costs. The money from the rereleases was almost pure profit minus
the advertising budget.
With pent-up adult demand for something from childhood that
they could share with their children and the importance of introducing the
characters to a whole new generation that would then want to see those
characters in the parks, Disney’s rereleases were more than just profitable.
They kept the company in the news, and they made the attractions in the parks
more relevant to children who otherwise wouldn’t have seen the movies.
The rereleases, in essence, drove profits at the box office
and at the parks, especially during some of the Walt Disney Company’s rougher
periods. It wasn’t enough.
When Michael Eisner took over the company, things changed
drastically as he followed through on Ron Miller’s (the then defunct CEO) plan.
For the first time, Disney classics would be available in their entirety on VHS.
The video series reaped immediate cash rewards and provided a much need capital
input into the company while possibly sacrificing future profits and relevancy
in the process.
Eventually, Disney would return videos “to the vault.” The
announcement would increase demand for the videos because they would no longer
be available for purchase though they would remain on video rental store
shelves until the videotapes wore out. Videos would also be released in
different versions and levels, including Masterpiece, Gold Series and Platinum
series. This strategy kept the profits flowing while also keeping the films and
their characters relevant. It still wasn’t enough.
To drive further interest in its intellectual property and
keep the park characters relevant, Disney offered up direct-to-video sequels.
Unable to rerelease the classics to movie theaters on a wide scale, (Who would
go see “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” on the movie screen when they could
stay at home and see the same movie with the family at a much cheaper price?) the
new videos were often inferior in quality and storytelling, but they were effective
for the price and benefits reaped. On television, other characters made it to
Saturday Morning. “Tailspin,” based on the Jungle Book characters, and “Timon
and Pumbaa”, based on the Lion King characters, were relatively successful and
kept the spirit of the shows (and their related tie-in profits) alive.
Still, Disney needed a way to produce box office profits and
buzz with as little risk as possible. Remaking the classics has accomplished that
in spades.
In 1994, Disney had a moderate hit ($44 million) with a live
action “The Jungle Book” starring Jason Scott Lee, Cary Elwes and Lena Headley.
In 1996, it had a much more successful live action film ($320 million) in the Glenn
Close vehicle “101 Dalmatians.”
While some may classify Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland”
as a remake, it is really a retelling. It has many elements similar to the
animated classic but is different enough to rate its own story. Still, it’s $1
billion box office take certainly didn’t deter Disney from the remakes. “Maleficent”
($758 million) is another live action film, based on Disney’s telling of “Sleeping
Beauty,” but still different enough to be its own story. Even “Pete’s Dragon” didn’t
stick strictly to the script of the original. “Christopher Robin” (not quite
$200 million) and “Dumbo” ($352 million on a $170 million budget – whoever authorized
that budget didn’t understand why the firs was released) had different
storylines compared to the originals and were considered flops as they didn’t
score highly with critics or at the box office.
“The Jungle Book” (2016), which almost made $1 billion,
featured groundbreaking cinematography and stuck close to the original animated
feature. “Beauty and the Beast” was a lot like the original, too, and this may
be the beginning of the downfall because it brought in $1.2 billion. Why write
a new script if you can just use the old one?
Enter the ultra-busy actor, producer, executive producer, director,
chef and whatever else Jon Favreau. Favreau is responsible for directing “Iron
Man” and for starring as Happy in several of the Marvel films. He’s taken part
in the “Star Wars” movies and shows Disney has/is creating. He is also the producer
and director of “The Lion King” and “The Jungle Book” (2016). He made a cooking
show in his spare time “The Chef Show” because he missed the time that he spent
with the chef that taught him how to cook on his movie “Chef.” Look up his IMDB
and be amazed, and then understand the problem.
Favreau’s box office dominance isn’t in question. His
ability to be original is. When someone is so busy with as many projects as he
is, it’s inevitable that he or she will take the easiest road. Adapting “the Lion
King” from the old script and giving it originality, in addition to wrangling
the photo-realistic “not” animation, would’ve have been too much if it were the
only project on his plate. After all, “The Lion King” made almost $1 billion.
More importantly, it’s beloved by millions of fans the world
over. If he had messed it up by taking a risk to make it more original, he
would’ve seen his career with Disney take a dive. Favreau had no choice but to
fulfill expectations and keep the animals looking live-action rather than
animated. Follow the script and no one gets hurt, except those parts that
living animals couldn’t literally do – like dress in drag and do the hula or
march in fascistic fashion.
Favreau was out in a no-win situation. In order for the “not”
animated “Lion King” to have been a better film, he would’ve needed to cut some
of the fluff (literally and figuratively) out of the film while concentrating
on character and using human expressions to get the animals to show emotion. He
would’ve needed to take a risk in the same way that the gorgeous and expensive
Broadway show took a risk. He would’ve needed to lead the innovation and story
team to bring something new to the screen that would’ve added to the film’s
legacy. He didn’t have the time to do what he needed to do to make the film
better, so rather than create something new, he took the safe road to
profitability. And we’re all creatively the worst for it.
Marc Davis is one of Walt’s Nine Old Men, who worked many of
the early films designing characters that included animals from Bambi and
Maleficent. When Marc Davis came over to WED, he brought his sense of humor
with him. He added humorous scenes to the Jungle Cruise and was one of the main
designers of the Pirates of the Caribbean.
When he was brought on to the Haunted Mansion project, he
had to struggle with Claude Coats and his design preferences. The two men were equals
in the office. Coats wanted a scary Mansion; Davis wanted something funnier. A
compromise of sorts was reached, and Coats’ influence can be seen at the
beginning of the attraction with Davis’ scenes becoming stronger in the end.
“I think that’s the whole thing with creativity is if there’s
something new out there, why not give it a try?” said Marc Davis (Disney Family
Album). Use Marc Davis as your motivation and give something new a try.
You can also find more articles about Disney, Disneyland and creativity at our archive website, www.penguinate.weebly.com, and on our blog. If you would like to get even more articles about creativity, join our Patreon and become a Penguinator.
The penguins are out of the box (even if the cat is still in it). A creativity storm is coming, but it can only happen with your help! For every 5 people that sign up at any level for our Patreon, I will write an additional creativity article. If you want to know more about creativity, this will get you there quickly!
Our current schedule looks like this:
August 1: The blog email list – this is open to anyone who has signed up for our email list at Penguinate.com and should include a summary of all the articles that we released on my blog.
August 2: I will post a copy of the blog email and add some tasty tidbits to it like a creativity tip.
August 14: Creativity Post 1 – What do 1980’s ‘Popeye,’ criticism and creativity have in common? This will be released on Penguinate.com with a reminder on Patreon sent the next day.
August 18: Our Patreon Anniversary!
August 22: Penguin of the Month photo
Join us at Patreon to make sure that I have to write something about creativity every day! The more people that sign up on or before July 31, the more articles you’ll see.
For every 5 people who join our Patreon between now and July 31, 2019, I will write an extra creativity article for Patreon members (Penguinators) only. So far, I write one article a month on creativity for Penguinators. The articles have included “The Secrets to Creativity” series, with supporting articles on Penguinate.com. You can read and work on:
The Real Secrets of Creativity: By the Books
The Secrets of Creativity: Paradox
The Secrets to Creativity: Deep Thinking
The Secrets of Creativity: Seeing for Penguinators
The Secrets of Creativity: Play
Those are the most recent posts, along with a breakdown of
our success in June at comic conventions and with my books.
In August, I have already scheduled the first article I am
writing for the creativity storm:
What Do 1980’s ‘Popeye’ and Criticism Have to Do with Creativity?
It will be released for Penguinators only on August 14. If you want to read it, you’ll need to join our Patreon at any level, even $1! Get four of your friends to join and I’ll write another creativity article! For as long as you’re a member, you’ll have access to all of the articles, great discounts at our events, and funny photos of stuffed penguins! Join us today!
It wasn’t too long ago when I would get up early on a
Saturday, sneak down the stairs with my favorite stuffed animal, Chrissi the
Lion, and turn on the TV. I’d keep the volume on low so as not to wake my mom,
who worked the night before. It didn’t matter what was on the TV because I
would run back upstairs and grab a couple more stuffed animals to sit with.
Then I would go to the kitchen and get some cereal. Most of the time, it would
be something sugary like Mr. T Cereal, Cap’n Crunchberries, or Lucky Charms.
One time it was Corn Bran; my grandpa had brought a case of the cereal with him
during a visit, and they were surprisingly good in spite of the name and the
fact that there was no surprise inside.
Penguinate! Positive Creativity 