It’s an elusive thing, isn’t it, what we call the “creative process”. Sometimes it eludes us altogether, and we don’t create as we should, as much as we should, or create at all. A while ago I came across three simple points that, to me, lay out a fair starting point for any creative process.…
Brilliant Ideas
I’m not the only one who holds on to ideas I think are brilliant, waiting for the right moment or place to do something with them. I fear letting them go from the safety of my mind, thinking there’s always a better way to bring the idea to life, there’s going to be a better…
Write Stuck
Sometimes the words come easy. Sometimes they don’t. That’s not an excuse to stop writing. Athletes don’t just play when the sun is shining, when their body is in perfect condition, when they feel like playing, and when they’re at the top of their game. They play because they must. They play even when the…
Bookworms
People who love to read are sometimes called bookworms. I wonder why. Maybe it’s because they seem to burrow their way through mountains of books. Maybe it’s how reading is an intensely reclusive act, as if the reader is “underground” to the world around them. Maybe–but probably much less often–it’s a derogatory term aimed at…
Doubt
Doubt never leaves the persistent writer. Always the questions come and linger painfully, tauntingly. Sometimes for hours, weeks, years, a lifetime. They may suck the life out of one’s work, out of one’s existence, out of one’s joy and fulfilment in the act of creation. Am I doing what I’m supposed to? Is this any…
Contemplation
Somewhere amidst the hectic and heady digital world lies the calm and contemplative Analog Sea. An “offline publisher of printed books,” its one-page website has but a logo, a total of forty-one words, and two mailing addresses. No other information is offered—not social media links, no contact form, no email address. At a time when…
Vividness, Brevity, and Specificity
“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” ― Anton Chekhov There is a somewhat overused and underapplied (or as is often the case, misapplied) phrase in writing that speaks to vividness: “Show, don’t tell.” Simply telling the reader who did what how, when, why, and where…
The Perfect Writing Place
Somewhere there’s a room with bay windows; brilliant sunlight streams in through satin curtains. A glorious vista–trees and mountains and streams–lies just beyond it. There’s an ancient bookshelf filled with well-loved books; walls tastefully decorated with pictures and quotes; piles of books and magazines beside the typewriter on the polished oak desk. Perhaps there’s even…
A Solitary Activity
Writing is, by very nature, a solitary activity. We may be writing with others within the same room, or even collaborating on a project with other writers; but when we put the pen to paper or our fingers to the keyboard, we are alone. Completely and horribly alone with our thoughts, our emotions, the empty…
Distilled Thought
I like to think of writing as a form of distilled thought. The act of writing forces us to organize and present the impressions and ideas within our minds into something more tangible than simply “thoughts.” Words by its very nature, being symbols human beings attach meaning to and communicate with, restrict the “fogginess” that…