CMB 058 : Stephen Altrogge On How To Truly Be Creative

The Christian Music Blog Podcast: Christian Music | Songwriting | Worship | Creative Productivity | Music Business

Stephen Altrogge’s book Create: Stop Making Excuses and Start Making Stuff, is a must read.

I’ve followed Stephen for some time at his blog The Blazing Center and was eager to get this self-published book.

It’s a wonderfully refreshing book on what it means to be creative in light of the gospel. When it was released, I immediately got it and read it in one day.

In today’s podcast, I asked Stephen to give us his insights regarding the life of a habitual creative.

When it comes to writing great songs, producing great art, or anything creative, there are no shortcuts or quick-fixes to creating quality stuff. There is no such thing as overnight success.

We simply do the work. We get our butt’s in the chair and discipline ourselves to start.

Stephen does an excellent job addressing the heart first. He often talks about identity and the freedom that we have in Christ, as we grow in both confidence and humility in making art consistently.

Here are the highlights from our conversation

• Stephen’s story growing up in a creative family
• The reason the book was written
• Why creativity is needed everywhere
• Being okay with being okay
• The freedom for creatives from the gospel
• Understanding the season of life you’re in, and how that affects your creativity
• Receiving criticism
• How the local church is vital for Christian creatives
• Top books for creative people
• Read until your brain creaks
• Overcoming fear

Stephen’s Links

• The book – Create: Stop Making Excuses and Start Making Stuff
• Other books by Stephen
• The Blazing Center blog
• Stephen on Twitter
• In A Little While (Album with Mark and Stephen Altrogge)

Other Items Mentioned

• On Writing (Stephen King)
• Bird By Bird (Anne Lamott)
• On Writing Well (William Zinsser)
• Wordsmithy (Douglas Wilson)

A must watch for artists

I also mentioned the Ira Glass quote, which Stephen also references in his book. Here’s an awesome video taking the audio of his quote and giving it an engaging video backdrop…. Enjoy!