In our From Scratch for 50 Days: A Creativity Challenge, we are challenging you to do something creative and share it with us every day for 50 days. To get you all sorts of pumped up and inspired, we're bringing you fellow creators' words of wisdom. Read, enjoy, and get creating, Wellers. Our next words of wisdom come from Tom. Tom is a creative force: he's an incredibly talented writer, director, and filmmaker…and that's just me glossing over what he does. In the past year, Tom has written and directed three feature films (and produced a fourth), and has, creatively, been very busy. All the while he makes himself available to friends and loved ones as if he had all the time in the world. I feel very lucky to call Tom my friend, and am thrilled that he is participating in our quest for creativity!

What is creativity?

Creativity is that uniquely human trait of trying to build a space for our ideas and instincts to exist. We might make a mess of expressing ourselves, or we might just paint the Mona Lisa. EIther way, it feels good to get it out.

When do you feel the most creative?

I'm creating something pretty much on a daily basis. Not all of it is fit for consumption, but I'm not very good if I'm stagnant.

Do you consider creativity a necessity or a bonus?

It's a necessity for me personally. But on a wider plain, I think most people need to find some sort of expression, so I would assume I'm not out of the ordinary. It's just whether they choose to do it or not, and being consistently creative is much, much easier than having to get the momentum going from a near-zero start. Fear of failure can be scary of course, but fear of never shining a light on an idea that is dying to be shared, that's much more intense.

More about Tom and his projects here.

We start February 19th. You in?