A map of everything I discover
The Bold Types: Exploring the art and science of creative living
Hi, I’m Nikki Vallance. I write novels, podcast, and speak about creativity, why it matters, where it shows up, and how it shapes our lives.
I always have creative adventures on the go: some planned, some spontaneous, and some that started with one idea and ended somewhere completely unexpected! The Bold Types is not really about my creativity though, it’s about creativity itself, as a fundamental part of being human.
I already write about my adventures (you can find those stories of my creative life over on my blog) and there are already many great how-to guides in the world. So instead this publication charts my exploration and the discoveries I make along the way.
I investigate all of this through any lens that might help. Anthropology, neuroscience, philosophy, culture, lived experience, artistic expression; anything that sheds light on the topic. Each essay marks a point on the map and helps me nudge forward my understanding of what it means to live a creative life.
For now, I’m thinking of organising everything as:
Curiosity Files — long-form essays that track my findings
Field Notes — fragments of ideas, real-time thoughts, observations and inspiration
The Story Cabinet — short stories, poetry, character sketches, maybe even deleted scenes from my novels
Signposts — links and notes on articles, ideas and people worth knowing about
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At its heart, this is an exploration of how creativity sustains us, by bringing meaning, new ideas and adaptability into our lives, when things are shifting all around us. I can’t promise you certainty or perfection because I have no idea where my investigations will take me. I will give you a living record of what I find. This is an evolving exploration, where every discovery leads to another aspect of creativity waiting to be revealed.
I also host The Creative Switch podcast—where I encourage the ‘sensibly successful’ to switch on their unexpressed creativity and reconnect with their creative selves. And as I meet them, I’m building a Creative Pit Crew, the people I know and recommend, to support anyone ready to take that leap into a creative life.
And of course, as I mentioned earlier, I write fiction, and explore creativity in many forms: singing, sewing, baking, tango-dancing, knitting, and whatever else calls for my creative attention.
This Substack publication is for the bold types, those living creatively and wanting to understand what that really means. If you are following your creative intuition, if you’re striding out, allowing your creativity to lead the way, but also want to build and sustain a creative life, why not explore with me? We’re setting off without a map and I’m inviting you to join me on the expedition. Let’s investigate creativity together, one question at a time.