10 ways to Creation- the first 3 baby steps

On a writing group I am in, we have been reviewing the top 10 pieces of advice from "famous" authors.

As always, there have been absolute pearls of wisdom buried deeply within dung.

What I found almost insulting were the authors who seemed to approach the task with useless sarcasm.
Did they not realize the purpose was to offer guidance to those who follow?
Did they not care?

Some, in their efforts to appear like mysterious, intelligent, creative artistes, were baffling at best. Simple statements with no clarity gave us much to discuss and almost nothing to bite into. It was, at times, very unfulfilling.

For those of us wishing to learn, it was frustrating to read holier than thou perspectives from authors we'd never even heard of.

It did, however, inspire me to think of what my 10 pieces of advice would be for anyone diving into the creative pond.

So far I have thought of 3 that are imperative to my creative process: be it art, writing or costuming.

1. Research. Do not assume you know. Do not assume your audience does not know. In this age of information, people know more obscure things that we give them credit for.

2. Remember all the rules you've been taught about creating a piece, and throw them out the the window, into a hurricane and watch them blow away. When editing, use them as guidelines. When creating, go with your gut.

3. Be flexible and open to change. Change in your outline or notes. Change in your characters or settings. Change in design. Just allow for a bit of wiggle room. All creations like to breathe and I love to be surprised when they are done.