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Today’s video is inspired by the book Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon. In the book, the author talks about how important it is to incorporate analog activities back into the creative process. What this basically means is to go old school and create with your hands.

Kleon says that “Computers have robbed us of the feeling that we’re actually making things” because we’re just typing keys and clicking mouse buttons. We’re just sitting and staring; and being in such a stagnant position halts your creativity. He says: “We need to move, to feel like we’re making something with our bodies, not just our heads.” So, whether it be writing with pencil and paper, strumming a guitar, or kneading clay—we need to literally move to get our creativity flowing.

This idea inspired me to surprise my friend with all of these school supplies when we were meeting up to work. We were meeting to brainstorm a story concept for a side project, and usually we have our laptops out when planning. This time, we made it a point to brainstorm with our hands and analog tools like post its, paper, and colored pens. It was pretty fun to get crafty using our tools, and we came up with some good stuff that we probably wouldn’t have created if we were on our computers.

Computers bring out the perfectionist in all of us because it’s so easy to hit the delete key. That makes it easy for us to edit ideas before we even have them. Going analog allows our hands and minds to go to work. It’s just more fun to brainstorm that way; and when you’re having more fun, you’re more creative.

The flow that Kleon suggests is to first create on an “analog desk,” then when you have a solid concept, you take it to the “digital desk” to edit and publish your work on your computer.

I hope this inspired you guys to bring analog activities back into your creative process. I know I’m definitely going to be doing this more often.