Creative Practice

A couple years ago I read a Mo Willems story about how adults should draw more.

My writing partner started a Draw Something game with me because she says it is good creative practice because 1. You draw things, sometimes multiple things. 2. you get to pick what you want to draw but you can only choose from three things. 3. You get to see your friends drawing and see what techniques work and learn new tricks.

And I was like well Mo Willems says people should draw more.

I never really stopped drawing. As a matter of fact when my friends kids were younger and I did more babysitting one of my favorite things to do was draw. When the kids were two and three they thought it was pretty cool that I could draw a fire truck, dinosaur, or Grumpy Bear.

So my new Creative Practice thing is Draw Something. I try to get all my creative type friends to play because it is good to draw or doodle.

I've noticed that since I've started playing I've become better at drawing or sketching out ideas for people. My drawing has improved- OK so I'm really just drawing on the iPod/iPad screen with my finger but still I've come a long way from the stick figures of a few months ago.

I've become more courageous in my creativity. One of my co-workers often asks input from other people about my drawings. Not because they are awful but because this friend isn't the best at pop culture stuff which I totally rock at. So not only is the person guessing my drawing seeing it but a few other co-workers might see it too. Somehow the fact that several people might see my creative endeavors on the iPad has made me feel bolder in other parts of my creative life.

Are there any games or things you've found to help your creative/writing life?