Creativity

Writing, Publishing, and What’s Next

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Bundling up my columns here as my Xenofact Xines (yes, I’m sticking with Xine not zine) was both an artistic endeavor and an experiment. It was an artistic endeavor as it seemed fun and creative, something to do as it was neat not out of some calculation and coordination. It was also an experiment to see how that helped me reach out to, connect with, and communicate with people. As a writer under several names, a good experiment keeps you from falling into a rut.

I was thrilled when one of the Xine readers said they had sat down and read the whole thing, taking notes. While talking on the phone they had so much to tell me, to ask, and to speculate on. However they had a question.

“What do I do now?”

Was the phone right? An email? Should they write in their own blog? Should they post things to my website? My answer was simple.

“I don’t know!”

This was an experiment! I wanted to mess around, reach out to people in a different way, and see what happened. Well, what happened was one of my friends felt inspired and wanted to communicate more. I figured we’d work out the fine details eventually, but at least something was happening.

Experiment successful – something happened.

Experiment ongoing – we’re still figuring out what to do.

So many times we get stuck in one creative way of communicating. We do art in one medium, publish our written works only as ebooks or only as blog posts, and so on. So many of us fall into habit, into expectation, and into doing thing “the right way.”

But communication is about connecting and reaching people. It must by it’s nature be experimental because everyone is different and every communication is new. To over-organize it is to make it less communicative and more rote – data without information.

So, my friends, I invite you to look at your creative communications – art, writing, blogging, podcasting, publishing, costume, whatever. I challenge you to try something different as an experiment (it may also be fun). See what happens when you use a different medium, publishing method, or, well, anything.

Let’s see what happens.

(Oh and you can get a PDF of my first Xine here and here, or a print copy here.)

– Xenofact

A Pamphlet Of Rebellion

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Recently I created a pamphlet for the Dobbstown Mirror, a SubGenius* newsletter. This simple c-fold creation had the best quotes of the Church founder J.R. “Bob” Dobbs so my fellow members had easy access to them.  What was a simple creative effort became more when I held the print run in my hands.

Here was something published made for love, not money – in fact I spent money on it.  I write as part of my career, but also write as a kind of side business/hobby where I do charge for books.  But here was something I deliberately “lost” money on as opposed to losing it on writing something no one wanted.

Here was something that was what I wanted to do.  There were no requests, no market calculations, nothing separate from my own creative drive.  It was what I wanted to do, to share with others – they didn’t even have to like it in a way.

Finally, this pamphlet was created to be distributed with a newsletter.  It was not thrown up on a website or entered into a marketing stream. It was part of something intimate, a newsletter that was part of a community.  You tossed it into an envelope and sent it to folks.

I felt many things, but one that stood out was a sense of rebellion.

I’m so used to things being written for money, hearing about audience calculations, and reading about distribution optimization.  Instead, here was something I spent money on in a giant “what the hell, this seems fun.”  Creativity that’s not part of the endless cycle of acquisition and capitalism we’re all too used to (and trapped in).

Such an experience is making me think about creativity outside of the profit motive, creativity for fun, for community.  I had been missing something, and this helped me understand how rebellious it can feel to just do something for people for fun.

Now I should note that in no way am I against people making a profit from creative works.  I want people to be able to make a living on their creative efforts.  I want artists of all kinds supported – and am glad to support them.  It’s just nice to get out of the endless cycle of profit-seeking and optimization.

Oh and you can print your own – get it and other Dobbsaganda here.

– Xenofact

* If you don’t know what the church of the SubGenius is, visit http://subgenius.com/ or just buy The Book of the SubGenius.  Trust me.