I recently led a discussion on sparking creativity in writing, as part of an advanced writing workshop for members of a public relations association. This got me thinking about being a writer -- I’ve always identified myself as an artist, not a writer, yet I write far more than I paint.
I think that by not identifying myself as a writer, I am free of the ‘tyranny of perfectionism’ that strangles so many people who want to express their creativity. If I’m not a writer, I don’t have to worry about being good. This strange logic allows me to write prolifically and without anxiety. The important thing is to have something meaningful to say.
John Kehoe (author of Mind Power ) once told me that when he’s working on a book, he writes down what he wants to say, then gets a good editor to clean it up. This really helped liberate me as a writer, and when I had my first two essays published, it was inspiring to have editors improve my work (mostly by trimming the fat).
Here are some writing tips for both seasoned writers and people who want to get started.
Try a New Genre
When author Michael Ondaatje met film and sound editor Walter Murch, while they were working on the set of The English Patient, they began a conversation about the making of films and books that continued over two years. Ondaatje subsequently published The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film .
He notes in The Conversations , "After working on my first long book, The Collected Works of Billy the Kid I needed to turn away from words, from my own brain’s vocabulary. So I made a documentary film. I’ve done that a couple of times—worked in film, or theatre or dance—so I would eventually come back to literature with a refreshed sense of language. A new voice."
In the process of exploring film through the eyes of an editor, Ondaatje discovered parallels between the two art forms. "I tend to write the way other people film. Things are out of sequence and things [are] not necessarily in the order they finally appear." Ondaatje in describing his script writing process says, "I stand to edit, I lie down to write. I take a little tape recorder and … go into a light hypnotic trance. I pretend the film is finished and I’m simply describing what was happening." He finds this a safe way for budding ideas to develop before the voice of judgement sets in. (Source: The Georgia Straight 2002)
Changing art forms, or genres within an art form, is a good way to reboot and refresh. For example, switch from non-fiction to fantasy, or from stream of consciousness to sonnets. If you tend to be long winded, imagine writing your message in the form of a classified ad (where every word costs you $10). In painting when I get lost in abstraction, I switch to realism. To break through writer’s block, write out of sequence. Edit later.
Connecting Dots
Arthur VanGundy has written over ten books on business creativity. To spark new ideas, he says, "I select a topic, such as leadership, and list what the major concepts are. For instance, in Fast Company Magazine , there is an article on half-truths in business—one being the heroic leader. That made me think of all the Greek and Roman mythological literature and folks such as Ulysses. I then started wondering how I might develop an exercise in which small groups create short stories about heroic figures and then apply them to solve different types of organizational problems."
Please yourself, and you Please the World
Success in any art-form occurs when deeply personal expression has universal appeal. Nick Bantock, author of the best-seller Griffen and Sabine , said "I think that’s one of the true ironies of creativity. Creativity is a matter of play. It’s important to play without consideration for the end result, for example, the success, the limelight, or the money. You do it because you need to do it or there’s some kind of passion within which requires you to do it. Sometimes we play but completely miss because creativity is so highly personal. And sometimes we accidentally stumble onto something that has some form of universality. That’s what happened to me. I didn’t go searching for it, it wasn’t a matter of cleverness, it was just circumstantial."
Find Another Voice
Bantock said he wrote Griffen and Sabine ,the first of a trilogy "purely as an exercise of fun or therapy." A bout of jealousy over someone's letter, sparked him to write a series of letters and postcards as a correspondence between two people. He invented his characters out of his own sense of dividing his personality into multiple selves. (Source: www.griffinandsabine.com/ )
Replenish your Creative Stock
Julia Cameron author of the Artist's Way, contends that "In order to create, we draw from our inner well. This inner well, an artistic reservoir, is ideally like a well stocked fish pond... If we don’t give some attention to upkeep, our well is apt to become depleted, stagnant, or blocked... As artists, we must learn to be self nourishing. We must become alert enough to consciously replenish our creative resources as we draw on them — to restock the trout pond, so to speak."
She advocates filling three pages a day with spontaneous writing, letting thoughts emerge without censorship. She also advocates taking two hours out of the week, to give yourself an "artist’s date" to engage in whatever strikes your fancy. In other words, get interested in something , and have fun. Creativity, play and learning go hand in hand.
These two activities will have a profound effect on overcoming creative blocks and sparking creativity in any art-form, including your work. Yes, work can be a work of art.
Linda Naiman coaches people who want to develop their creativity. Linda is an associate business coach at the University of British Columbia. She is a pioneer in applying arts-based learning to leadership development and is co-author of "Orchestrating Collaboration at Work" (Wiley 2003). Her work has been featured in "Artbased Approaches" (Chemi 2006), The Vancouver Sun, The Globe and Mail, ProfitGuide.com, CBC Radio, National Public Radio, and TU Danmark (TV). Please visit www.CreativityatWork.com for details.
Copyrights
Linda Naiman. Creativity Tips for Writers. Copyright 2006 Creativity at Work.
