Trusting the creative process

Instinct = natural intuitive power
Dictionary.com

When I write for my business clients, I usually receive a writing sheet outlining the topic, sources to interview, deadlines, and any background information that can help me develop the story.

When I write fiction, I have no such writing sheet. I usually have to create my own guide about what the finished product will look like. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as long as I have a clear picture in my head. If my end product shows up as a fuzzy, murky picture, then I’m in trouble.

As much as I try to be organized and plan what I want to write, I find the best laid plans often go awry when a new character or plot twist I haven’t thought of shows up while I’m writing. I’m more of an intuitive writer by nature, so I can only plot so much. The rest is up to my creative instinct.

Not everyone is in tune with that creative instinct, however. Maybe you’re one of those people who has to plan every detail of your story to the point where creative instinct is shut off. Or maybe it is there, but you don’t recognize it, even when it’s hammering you over the head with a fresh idea for a story.

What if you are aware of your creative instinct, but you don’t always trust it? How do you develop trust for your own creative instinct? That’s the question I’m tackling in this week’s post.

I learned early on to trust my creative instinct. Whenever it brings forth a new character or story idea, it turns out the character becomes a vital and interesting piece of the story, and the plot twist or story idea is more innovative than anything I could consciously think up on my own

Creative instinct shows up for me at three different times: while I’m resting and not thinking about my current project; while I’m immersed in water, such as doing dishes or showering; and while I’m writing. Creative instinct shows up like an internal voice that gently guides me along the way. At other times, it speaks with authority. It’s even been playful and teasing, like when it appears in my dreams. Its messages are positive, focusing primarily on the creative process and helping me find my writing voice.

Why does it matter that we trust our creative instinct? Because there’s power in accessing your artistic self. Trusting your instinct means trusting your power as a creative person, and it will never steer you wrong.

Instinct is tied to a lifetime of observing and interacting with the world, writes Greg Bradley, Content Director at VShift. Instinct is also tied to trust, such as that feeling you get when an idea is so good, you have to trust yourself to convince others to feel about it the way you do.

“Great ideas don’t just happen on their own—you need to fight for them,” Bradley says. “If you don’t trust it, or you don’t trust yourself to see it through, well, then your instinct should tell you it’s probably not a great idea.”

Author and book coach K.M. Weiland adds that creative instinct comes from accumulating knowledge over your lifetime.

“Creating any type of story is a very complex art form,” Weiland writes on her blog Helping Writers Become Authors. “There are so many techniques and skills involved that you have to master if you’re going to pull off the whole [thing].”

For instance, every time we read a novel or watch a movie, we’re learning about storytelling, she adds. We’re absorbing what it means to create intricate plots, interesting settings, and believable characters. Over time, you develop an innate sense of story that tells you when something feels right or if something feels off, even though you may not understand specifically what is right or wrong about it.

While you don’t want to rely exclusively on your own instinct, it’s important to keep learning and keep listening to readers’ feedback.

“Ultimately, you’re the one who makes all the decisions. So you want to be able to trust your choices when you are creating your stories and your art,” writes Weiland. So what more can you do to trust your creative instinct? Here are a few tips that have helped me.

Tip 1: Write often, every day if possible. The more you write, the more your creative instincts will kick in when you need them. They’re like muscles; you have to exercise your creativity every day for them to get stronger.

Tip #2: Calm your mind. Use meditation, yoga, tai chi, breath work—anything that will slow down your thinking and tap into your subconscious, where your creative instinct lives. Our minds can become too active, too busy with to-do lists and deadlines. We never give it a chance to rest, even at night. So take time to slow down your body, and your mind will follow.

Tip #3: Get plenty of rest and proper sleep. When you’re at rest, your creative instincts can work in the background. I really think that’s what encourages dreams, and from dreams come ideas for our stories.

Tip #4: Practice freewriting. Sit down at a desk or wherever you feel comfortable with a pen and paper. Then begin to write with whatever comes to mind. You keep writing for a set time or set number of pages. The key is not to take the pen off the paper, to not pause to rest or think of the next thing you want to write. You simply write whatever crosses your mind, even if it’s to write “This is a stupid exercise. I don’t understand why I’m doing this. Blah, blah, blah…” You get the idea. Think of freewriting as a warm up session to spark your creativity.

Tip #5: Repeat some affirmations for yourself. There’s an old saying, “Garbage in, garbage out.” The same holds true for positive, optimistic feelings. Infuse your mind and body with positive messages, in time, those positive messages will help churn out some pretty amazing stuff. For example, try the following messages or create one of your own:

* I trust my creative instinct every time I write.
* I feel powerful when I create something new.
* I envision the best outcome for my creative process.

Tip #6: Keep learning about your craft. Writing is more experiential than anything else. It’s a culmination of everything you hear, see and experience of the world around you. Keep an open mind and trust the journey.

Most important, when you write, trust your creative instinct.

For the past two years, I’ve been plugging away at a novel that is nowhere near finished. I started with a bang, writing the first draft in four months. Then the editing phase began, where the real writing begins, so the experts say. I’m still muddling through the novel after starting over several times to make sure those first few chapters are “just right.” It’s much like starting to put together a giant jigsaw puzzle, but all you have are the pieces.

Some of that is, admittedly, my perfectionist tendencies. The rest is learning to trust my creative instinct. I have found that the deeper I go into writing my novel, the more I need to realize that there is a process to all this muddling through. The more often I get stuck in my current WIP, the more I realize I need to trust the process. The process, so it seems, knows more about my story’s natural progress than I do.

From my experience, I’ve found that there are several moments in one’s writing practice when it’s necessary to trust the creative process:

When you begin to doubt yourself
When you get stuck in a writing rut
When you’re not sure where to go with the story next
Whenever you face a blank page

There might be other moments too that I have not listed. You’ve probably noticed them yourself. It’s at those times when trusting the process is a necessity, not a luxury. When you forget about trusting the process and push on, that’s when things tend to go off the rails.

Everybody’s creative process is different, of course. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to writing. The hardest part for most newbie writers is figuring out the best process for your work-in-progress. That may require some experimentation. (Hence my multiple attempts at writing that oh-so-critical opening chapter). But once you figure it all out, getting to The End is much easier. (At least, I hope it is.)

So what does trusting the creative process look like? For me, it was:

1. Starting a writing project with only a vague idea of what it will look like in the end. Or conversely, …

2. Having a clear vision of how the story will end so you begin writing, trusting that your story will end where it’s supposed to.

3. Writing a little bit every day, knowing it might be crap but also understanding that something truly beautiful and valuable could emerge.

4. Knowing you have a gift for writing and knowing it’s what you love to do and want to do. People may tell you that writing is a waste of time, but you write anyway.

5. Writing for the sheer pleasure of it, knowing it may never achieve recognition or publication

6. Understanding that every story idea goes through a gestation period. It has to simmer on the back burner until you are ready to put pen to paper.

7. Not waiting for inspiration to begin writing. You write regardless if you have a clear idea what you want to write about. You gotta start somewhere.

8. Understanding that story ruts happen. See them as signs that you need to adjust the plot or introduce a new character. You know if the story isn’t going anywhere, it’s time to make something happen to move the story forward.

9. Knowing that a solution to your plot or character problem will show up if you are present enough to recognize it. The solution may come in the form of a webinar you attend, a conversation with a fellow writer, or a podcast.

10. Recognizing that writing can be a messy process. Sometimes there are no neat paths to completing your project. There are times you simply have to muddle through.

11. Recognizing that writing is scary – and doing it anyway. It’s a part of yourself that you are putting out into the world in the hopes that people will like it.

12. Taking time to appreciate your accomplishments, no matter how small they may be. From small accomplishments come larger ambitions to create something new.

So the next time you feel stuck in your writing, or you stare at a blank page or someone doubts the wisdom of your career choice, that’s when you may need to trust the creative process.

Tag: Trusting the creative process

Learn to Trust Your Creative Instincts

Learning to Trust the Creative Process

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