How it Works

PROGRAM OUTLINE

PHASE 1: SET YOUR SCOPE
2 Weeks of Preparation

PHASE 2: WEEKLY QUESTS
26 Weeks of Projects + 4 Rest Weeks
30 Weeks of Intentional Growth

  • 1 - Set Your Scope

    Before we begin making stuff, we’re going to prepare a simple foundation. By defining our creative constraints up front, we eliminate 6 months of tiny decisions. This scope answers questions like what we make, how we make it, and why we’re making it.

    From above hands of unrecognizable woman rubbing aromatic spices into piece of raw meat over parchment paper

  • 2 - Letter Quest

    Once we have set our constraints, our output, and outlined a rough process, we will spend 26 weeks executing within that scope. Each weekly project will be based on a different letter of the alphabet: the A to Z of topics relevant to your scope.

    Homemade pork sausage made with jalapenos and cheddar

  • 3 - Better Quest

    Creatively pushing yourself for 6 months is a demand, so each week you will receive a digital care package full of things designed to replenish your mind. The aim of regular mental nutrition is to allow you to unlock your potential in a way that feels energising - not draining!

    Close Up / Preparing red meat on the barbecue grill.

PHASE 1

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PHASE 1 ⋆

SET YOUR SCOPE

Before we make art, we’re going to make decisions. Preparation is the sole focus of our first week.

Here, we’ll define the constraints and parameters that our art will adhere to, such as medium, style, and size.

There are 3 main reasons why we’re doing this:

1. It eliminates 6 months of tiny decisions that would otherwise exhaust us

2. It creates cohesion between each piece, so our efforts add to something greater than their parts

3. By putting our motivation for making stuff into words, our spark becomes much easier to find and feel again when we inevitably lose it

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

- Abraham Lincoln, American Hall of Fame Wrestler

The Constraints

  • Medium

    First, we define our core medium (e.g.: claymation), and our communication medium that best serves our work in an online world (e.g.: short videos)

  • Aesthetics

    Next we’ll set stylistic guidelines, both broad (e.g.: sonic instrumentation, or colour palette), and specific (e.g.: only draw in the margins of old romance novels)

  • Output

    Define a “unit” of artwork that can be made start to finish in one week, including both the artwork and whatever additional work it needs to be best shared

  • Theme

    Finally, we pick our topics! These topics will be informed by two things: a theme, and 26 subjects that relate to that theme each starting with a different letter of the alphabet.

Download the Worksheet to begin Phase 1

  • The Scope Worksheet is a 4 page document. You can print this out, do it digitally, or recreate the questions in your notebook. The only requirement is that you have access to your answers.

  • For best results, schedule 3x 2 hour sessions over a 2 week period.

    Breaking the Scope Worksheet into 3 sessions will give you time to reflect and process.

  • If you struggle with decisions and commitment, this task will feel daunting at first. But this is the point. We’re removing that daunt from Future You.

    It’s natural to feel anxious when planning the future. If you’re worried about making a mistake when you set your constraints, treat the constraints as a fluid document that can be tweaked after every 4 weeks.

    If you’re struggling to put words around your goals, that is totally normal! Creativity is nebulous and definitions aren’t. It’s a weird concept. But weird concepts tend to look very simple with a few real world examples. The examples (see below) are designed specifically to bridge that gap.

  • Check out the Resource List.

    Here, you’ll find 5 filled out example Scope Worksheets, as well as some other tools to help you if you’re stuck.

next we get into the
Weekly Groove!

PHASE 2

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PHASE 2 ⋆

LETTER QUEST

With our scope set in Phase 1, it’s time to execute on our plan.

While execution is the most time consuming part of the Alphabet Superset, it’s arguably the simplest part.

Each week:

• you pick your new topic, based off a word that fits with your theme that starts with that week’s letter of the alphabet

• you use that topic as the final part of your brief (the rest of which was set by you in advance)

• you create your project

• you publish your project

Inter-Vowels:

• The weeks after the letters E, I, O, and U will be a spare week with no output requirements

• This is to accomodate for the natural ups and downs of life. Some weeks are hell, and the last thing you need is to feel guilty or behind

• So every 5 weeks - after the vowels - you’ll have a chance to catch up, get ahead, or just rest

BETTER QUEST

Creativity, like any effort, needs to be sustainable to truly grow.

Plants need sunshine, cars need petrol, and artists need inspiration.

Given the jarring nature of the modern internet, finding inspiring stuff often comes at the cost of sifting through clickbait, reading angry comment sections, and generally seeing the worst content you’ve ever seen in your life.

So I’ve decided to take it off your plate.*

Each week, you’ll receive an email with a bunch of good stuff:

  • podcasts to listen to

  • art to check out

  • habits to employ

  • journalling questions

  • and more

This will be the fuel that not only keeps you going, but helps you grow, and break through to new creative heights.

Consuming this stuff specifically is optional, but intentionally feeding your head with good inspiring stuff is not.

*If you have something that would inspire a group of creative people that you want more people to see, please share it on Discord :)

“The secret ingredient is... nothing.”

- Mr Ping, Father, Chef, Goose

To start Phase 2:

  1. Download the Progress Tracker

  2. Sign Up to get the Better Quest weekly email

  • The Progress Tracker gives you a bird’s eye view of the 6 month period. Here you’ll have each week presented as a tick box, alongside a summary of your Scope.

  • For the progress tracker, allow 1 hour to familiarise yourself with it.

    For the Weekly Projects and Weekly Growth, the time you schedule for each of these will vary person to person, and will be set from previous exercises. The amount of time is less important than the fact the time is scheduled.

  • There are countless mental traps bound to pop up throughout this project.

    Some will be mild. Consistent creativity is far more boring than it looks from the outside.

    Some will feel huge! Pushing past limiting beliefs often leads to an inconvenient demand for emotional reconciliation with your past. Damn.

    And lots of blocks will fall somewhere in the middle. It can be exciting to start a project, and just as easy to abandon it when that excitement inevitably dips. What do we do then?

    I believe that every mental block is a green flag that you’re on the right path. They are not bugs in the creative process; they are the creative process.

    This is the gig.

    Everything in the Alphabet Superset, from the Weekly Growth to the communal nature, is designed to help break through these barriers.

  • Check out the Resource List.

    Here, you’ll find 5 filled out example Progress Trackers, as well as some other tools to help you if you’re stuck.

community & the spark

You don’t have to do it alone!

To make sure this feels alive and human, and to create a network of support, we’ve built in a few ways to connect with people, to help people, and to bring the project to life!