Ep. 53: Lauren Coulson - Making Time for Your Art Each Day Now so You Can Do it Full Time Later

Lauren Coulson always knew she was going to be involved in the creative arts: She wrote her first book in the second grade, produced short films through middle school, and even had a painting of hers displayed in a show at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore. She was lucky enough to earn a full visual arts scholarship to UMBC, and studied film before moving on to graphic design. Her final in her first design class won an international poster design contest and was exhibited all over the world! Lauren is currently in Oklahoma City, where she is employed as a graphic designer at Oklahoma City University. In her spare time she write novels and is neck-deep in the publishing process. She has about more than 12 manuscripts so far! It’s her dream to be able to write full time and spend her life crafting stories.
TWEET: Lauren Coulson - Making Time for Your Art Each Day Now so You Can Do it Full Time Later
For Lauren Coulson The Arts has been a passion since childhood. If you’ve ever had the idea that creative people are naturally creative, Lauren Coulson would give you ample reason to believe you are correct. Lauren has been working in some form of the arts since she was very young - art, writing, poetry, and much more. As an adult she’s leveraged her interest in the Arts into graphic design, novel writing, and even website design. On this episode Lauren shares her journey, why she pursues so many things at once, and how she keeps it all straight in her own head. It’s an amazing conversation that will inspire you to chase your dreams, so be sure you listen.
Writing more than one book at a time is actually a form of creative leveraging. As Aimee chatted with Lauren Coulson on this episode she discovered that Lauren actually works on more than one novel at a time. When asked why she does it that way it became clear that when she hits a creative roadblock on one book, she’ll make the switch to another to get the juices flowing again. The practice enables Lauren to keep writing and to get a break from the things that are blocking her at the same time. That’s just one of the amazing tricks Lauren has found to make her more productive and to keep her creativity flowing. You’ll want to hear this one.
TWEET: Writing more than one book at a time is actually a form of #creative leveraging
Daily habits are vital, even if they are small ones. Never underestimate the power of a check box. That’s what Aimee said after she heard the simple way that Lauren Coulson uses small goals throughout the day to keep herself on track. Writing 500 words at a time. Sketching out a drawing or idea for a logo. Jotting down an idea from one of her dreams in a journal. Those are just examples of the many things that enable Lauren to stay on track as she accomplishes them and move her creative projects forward. You can hear much more from this accomplished creative on this episode of Chasing Dreams.
You have to make a conscious effort to chase your dreams. Lauren Coulson has made a life out of chasing her dreams. She’s an author, and artist, a graphic designer, and more and has made a life out of chasing her dreams. When asked what advice she had for dream chasers, Lauren quickly said that you have to make a conscious effort to chase your dreams. Nobody’s going to tell you when to do it and nobody’s going to keep you going. It’s yours to do. Be creative and find a way to get there.
TWEET: You have to make a conscious effort to chase your #dreams - on this episode
OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE: [0:46] Aimee’s introduction to her friend Lauren Coulson.
[3:10] How Lauren got started in art and writing as a child.
[5:59] Lauren’s beliefs about whether she’d ever have to pick one discipline over another.
[9:00] How Lauren decided to illustrate her own book cover.
[10:28] The learning curve of self-publishing Lauren has gone through.
[14:21] What it means to “kill your darlings” as an author.
[18:10] How Lauren has made the choice of what to...

Lauren Coulson always knew she was going to be involved in the creative arts: She wrote her first book in the second grade, produced short films through middle school, and even had a painting of hers displayed in a show at the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore. She was lucky enough to earn a full visual arts scholarship to UMBC, and studied film before moving on to graphic design. Her final in her first design class won an international poster design contest and was exhibited all over the world! Lauren is currently in Oklahoma City, where she is employed as a graphic designer at Oklahoma City University. In her spare time she write novels and is neck-deep in the publishing process. She has about more than 12 manuscripts so far! It’s her dream to be able to write full time and spend her life crafting stories.

TWEET: Lauren Coulson - Making Time for Your Art Each Day Now so You Can Do it Full Time Later

For Lauren Coulson The Arts has been a passion since childhood.

If you’ve ever had the idea that creative people are naturally creative, Lauren Coulson would give you ample reason to believe you are correct. Lauren has been working in some form of the arts since she was very young - art, writing, poetry, and much more. As an adult she’s leveraged her interest in the Arts into graphic design, novel writing, and even website design. On this episode Lauren shares her journey, why she pursues so many things at once, and how she keeps it all straight in her own head. It’s an amazing conversation that will inspire you to chase your dreams, so be sure you listen.

Writing more than one book at a time is actually a form of creative leveraging.

As Aimee chatted with Lauren Coulson on this episode she discovered that Lauren actually works on more than one novel at a time. When asked why she does it that way it became clear that when she hits a creative roadblock on one book, she’ll make the switch to another to get the juices flowing again. The practice enables Lauren to keep writing and to get a break from the things that are blocking her at the same time. That’s just one of the amazing tricks Lauren has found to make her more productive and to keep her creativity flowing. You’ll want to hear this one.

TWEET: Writing more than one book at a time is actually a form of #creative leveraging

Daily habits are vital, even if they are small ones.

Never underestimate the power of a check box. That’s what Aimee said after she heard the simple way that Lauren Coulson uses small goals throughout the day to keep herself on track. Writing 500 words at a time. Sketching out a drawing or idea for a logo. Jotting down an idea from one of her dreams in a journal. Those are just examples of the many things that enable Lauren to stay on track as she accomplishes them and move her creative projects forward. You can hear much more from this accomplished creative on this episode of Chasing Dreams.

You have to make a conscious effort to chase your dreams.

Lauren Coulson has made a life out of chasing her dreams. She’s an author, and artist, a graphic designer, and more and has made a life out of chasing her dreams. When asked what advice she had for dream chasers, Lauren quickly said that you have to make a conscious effort to chase your dreams. Nobody’s going to tell you when to do it and nobody’s going to keep you going. It’s yours to do. Be creative and find a way to get there.

TWEET: You have to make a conscious effort to chase your #dreams - on this episode

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE: [0:46] Aimee’s introduction to her friend Lauren Coulson. [3:10] How Lauren got started in art and writing as a child. [5:59] Lauren’s beliefs about whether she’d ever have to pick one discipline over another. [9:00] How Lauren decided to illustrate her own book cover. [10:28] The learning curve of self-publishing Lauren has gone through. [14:21] What it means to “kill your darlings” as an author. [18:10] How Lauren has made the choice of what to publish (she’s written so much). [22:01] Recharging through various things in order to get more done. [26:10] Daily habits and a great app Lauren has discovered to keep her on track. [30:59] Why Lauren works on more than one novel at a time. [33:12] Working on her own websites and the tools Lauren uses to do it. [34:06] Time to herself, a social life, and life outside of her projects. [36:43] The possibility of screenwriting? Not really. [38:03] Lauren’s recommendation to Dream Chasers. GUEST RECOMMENDATION:

You have to make a conscious effort to chase your dreams. Nobody’s going to tell you when to do it and nobody’s going to keep you going. It’s yours to do. Be creative and find a way to get there.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Website (design): lcoulsondesign.com Website (books): laurencoulsonbooks.com Dribbble: dribbble.com/lcoulson LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lauren-coulson-a8b00024 Joanna Penn - Million Dollar Outline NaNoWriMo Habit RPG TWEETS YOU CAN USE:

TWEET: For Lauren Coulson The Arts has been a passion since childhood. Meet her on this episode

TWEET: Daily habits are vital, even if they are small ones - on this episode of #ChasingDreams