We've all read a debut novel or heard a debut album or watched a debut film that we adored, only to be severely disappointed by that artist's followup effort. And since the publication of The Great Lenore, I have seen how easily that can occur.
Creativity becomes work.
Creativity becomes a task.
Creativity becomes a burden.
Not because anyone else has made it these things for the artist, necessarily, but often because the artist makes it these things on their own.
To be quite honest, the main reason I have hidden from my website over the last month-plus since I returned from the book tour is this: I have not been fit to write on here.
Over the last couple years, I have used this site as a platform from which I can encourage and give life and advice to fellow writers - to aspiring authors who will someday drop the "aspiring" from their titles. But lately, I have not been in a right state of creativity to provide anything useful to others.
But now, I have returned.
And I return to you with a few thoughts on creativity. Maybe I will expand my exploration of these ideas over the ensuing weeks. Or maybe my mind will carry me elsewhere. We'll see.
But that's exactly the point: We'll see. And that's what creativity is all about.
Here are three things I am learning are vital for shaping the creative mind…
1) Immerse yourself in creativity
When you are building your creative mind, you should constantly immerse yourself in creativity - even in areas that do not pertain to your particular passion.
2) Live creatively
Even when you are not creating directly, you should be "efforting" toward a constantly creative life and lifestyle.
3) Create
And lost in the noise of both immersion in creativity and constant creativity in your life is the fact that you should still make time to create. Don't procrastinate. Sit down every day, and give the paper (or the canvas, or the camera, or the guitar, or the microphone, or the whatever-else) your best shot. You might miss that day, but at least you're fighting forward, forming beauty from chaos, birthing something from nothing. Shaping your creative mind.
[be a pal. follow me…]
*on this website*
*on twitter*
*on facebook*
Glad to see you back. I appreciate your honesty. Creativity is hard when you're exhausted, spent, and otherwise overworked.
ReplyDeleteI like suggestion #3 and am ready to whip out my phone and take photos while I go out for a walk, once it cools down from this 95 degree weather out in So. California.
My wife and I were having a conversation similar to your post the other day. She used to draw and paint and is starting to get back into it. She asked me if I always felt inspire when I sit down to write every morning. I told her no. She responded by saying she didn't understand how I could write without inspiration. I thought about it and told her I've made a habit of being creative.
ReplyDeleteI think teaching ourselves a habit of creativity is a big part of the process of creation. Without that habit we'll always be waiting for inspiration to come, and they may or may not happen. If inspiration doesn't come we'll be left with empty pages, empty canvases, or even an empty life. If we make a habit of creating then we'll always be creating.