Work from the Heart - Lessons from Marc Chagall and Neil Gaiman

2/10/2013

What happens when you let your head rule the creative roost?

Chagall is not the only one of my creative heroes with a heart-centred attitude. I recently listened to a BBC interview with one of my favourite authors Neil Gaiman. He told a story from his early life that caused him to adopt an approach like Chagall's.

As a young journalist in his 20's, Gaiman got the opportunity to write a biography of the pop group Duran Duran - a topic which he had no interest in but which looked promising financially. The book was a major success.

Gaiman was counting up his prospective royalties and waiting for the second print run when he heard that the publishing company had gone bankrupt. He never received a penny.

From this point on, Gaiman decided that he would never do anything purely for financial gain. He reasoned that if he focussed on creating things he loved, even if the project went pear-shaped, he'd still have a piece of work he was proud of.

In my own life as a creative entrepreneur, I've had similar experiences. Whenever I've done anything purely for financial motives, it has ended up being more pain than gain. Like Gaiman and Chagall, I've ended up feeling it's simply not worth it.