Ideas are about confluence. I believe it’s Neil Gaiman who said that. I can’t come up with quotes like that. That’s because I don’t typically insert ten-dollar words like confluence into my everyday speech.

And that’s despite the fact that I live in Kuala Lumpur (which literally means muddy confluence in Malay), but I digress.

Anyway, in my spare time, I watch sketchbook videos so I can fancy myself an artist. That’s when I came across this talented Singaporean’s video and found myself upon a confluence.

Chroma Moma’s (who shall henceforth be known as CM) thoughts on art mirrored mine on writing, and that was how this post was born.

1. Take charge of your own writing (0:27)

There comes a point in your art when you’ll need to be specific with your progress. Which is why you’ll have to chart out a path like CM did.

In his sketchbook, he laid out goals like ‘study environment’ and ‘film composition’. For you, it might be ‘improve dialogue’ or ‘comedic timing’.

But what exactly should you learn? He answers this well at 5:50, which is to learn everything. Yes, this includes things like fan fiction if that’s your cup of tea. And no, it’s not a cop-out answer.

Because you’ll never know if that knowledge will be useful in your artistic journey until you actually learn it. But so what if it doesn’t? At least you’ll have acquired a new tool in your craft.

For instance, I enjoy sitting at Starbucks and ‘sketching’ with words the scenes I see or hear. Have I benefitted from the practice? I don’t know.

And I’ve yet to find a use for descriptions like ‘brows so prominent they left his eyes permanently in the shade’ or ‘she wore so many bangles that it sounded like she had a dozen belled cats in tow’.

But I guess I just did. See? Confluence.

2. You don’t create good art on your first try (10:40)

I enjoy watching sketchbook videos because I like seeing how artists approach their art.

It’s the equivalent of them solving a math question, with the sketchbook demonstrating the workings they used to get to their end product.

I love it when CM said that the first drawing is never the best-looking drawing. “The idea is to make an ugly drawing to understand what it is you’re looking at, and then later on you can do a better drawing.”

That’s how you should approach writing too. The first draft is never the final product. It is, as Pratchett says, just you telling yourself the story.

3. Push back the fog of war (22:45)

Anyone who adds video game references to their content always gets a plus in my book. And while the arts isn’t a video game you can finish, the thought of pushing back the fog of war is a great analogy to end this piece on.

We each have our own map which we use to inform our art. And every skill we learn uncovers that map just a tiny bit more.

Sometimes, we don’t need to approach the arts with a laundry list of objectives. Sometimes, we can make art with the sole purpose of learning the lay of the land.

Because sometimes, knowing where certain things are on the map is enough. Then the next time you venture out, it won’t feel like uncharted waters anymore.

And who knows? You might even discover a confluence or two.