Unclogging Our Creative Flow
Creative folks have the tendency to have multiple projects simmering at the same time. This is not problematic, unless completing any of them rarely happens. It is hard to properly focus when our energy, time and attention is constantly being diverted in multiple areas. This does not mean that it isn’t possible to write in different genres or have more than one artistic pursuit simultaneously. But when our motivation to write begins to dwindle, we need to first identify, then flush out what's clogging up our creativity.
Set aside a few hours to reflect on every current work-in-progress. For each, try to answer:
- When did I start writing this piece?
- What was the initial goal or purpose for this poem, short story, memoir etc?
- Could this project be simpler?
Often, the remedy to wrapping up works we have been mulling over for months—or even years—is working smarter rather than harder. For example, I have to juggle producing multiple pieces of content on a weekly basis. I have book and article deadlines looming, in addition to having materials to create for courses I teach and videos to film for a client’s YouTube channel. However, not all of these are a priority every day. Batching, in particular, is a technique I frequently use when I need to get videos done. I try to plan and capture enough material to divide into at least two or three clips every time I shoot. This allows me to edit in batches too. Once I have several segments ready to be posted, I can now dive back into the nonfiction book manuscript or next set of food reviews for several weeks with my creative spark much less divided—and depleted.
Having too many “to do’s” can subtly sabotage successes we are striving for. In a recent lesson module on Lit!Commons, I asked subscribers to do the following personal assessment to gain clarity on if—and how—they might be shrinking their ability to make steady progress:
- What type of writing (format, genre, etc) flows easily for me at the moment?
- Am I regularly making time to read? If so, is it helpful, inspirational, distracting, ’fill-in-the-blank’...?
- Where is my time and energy really going?
- Where, what and/or who triggers negative thoughts about my writing (or me as a writer)? How do those thoughts affect me?
- Are there behaviors, people, places and/or resources which could potentially help generate more time (and energy) for me to write?
- How does writing make me feel? Do I "feel" like an author? A poet? A screenwriter?
- Do I allow myself to create to my fullest potential?
- Am I only 'kinda interested'—or 'fully committed'—to my current goals? What do I need most to make that shift?
- What is one BIG audacious dream I have in terms of publishing or selling my work?
Developing healthy writing habits does not have to be arduous. Sure, there will always be traffic jams of verses or plotlines stuck in our consciousness. Or other detours in our lives that crop up along the way—which may result in needing to press ‘pause’ on a specific goal or deciding to pursue different publishing opportunities than we initially planned. How I eventually signed with an agent, or got any of my book deals thus far, all happened much different than once I imagined. Yet it has still been spectacular! And none of it would have come to fruition without the most important part—sitting down to write, then writing even more, until the stories become more alive on the page than when they began in my head.