Writing

Creativity

It’s a bit like giving birth.

“That’s the gift of creativity. It never abandons you. The trick is to not abandon creativity.” ~ John P. Weiss

This is a good message for me. Lately, I haven’t felt much like writing. Too many other things pressing on my life. I’m somewhat ashamed to say that carving out time to write each day hasn’t been a top priority.

John goes on to say:

“Make time for your creative passions. They will surely reward you.”

Zing!

John is a sketch artist and a writer with many years of experience in both art forms. He knows what he’s talking about. You can find his blog post here.

His message came to me in my email Saturday morning. I’d signed up for his weekly newsletter a few months ago. But I must confess, I haven’t read many of them; however, the above lead got my attention. I put it on my list of things to read, and this morning I read it.

He says the most important thing we can give another is silence — a listening ear. I would add to that an appreciative, reading heart.

It is important to use our time well. As I get older and see more friends in the obituaries, I’m becoming increasingly aware of the fact that our lifetime is finite. We need to use each moment well and not waste time on frivolous activities.

Let me hasten to add I don’t consider writing to be the least bit frivolous.

John quotes from a book by Sean Tucker titled Meaning in the Making:

“The days we’re making a mess of our artwork what we’re really doing is discovering what our voice doesn’t sound like.”

What occurs to me as I read this is that to make a mess of our artwork, we have to be doing something, perhaps trying something new. Sometimes the new thing turns out well; often, it does not. But we’ll never know unless we try.

God made us in His image. He made us to be creative. If we forsake our gift of creativity, whatever form our art takes, we forsake and disappoint God. I definitely don’t want to do that, and I’m sure you don’t, either.

In a way, writing is like a pregnancy. First there’s the conception — the formative idea and research stage; then comes the labor — the writing; and finally the birth — publication.

Conception

In this first phase, we are collecting information and formulating an idea to write about. This may come in a flash or take hours, days, or even weeks or months. I know some writers who’ve been working on novels for years.

It doesn’t matter how much or how little time is involved if the result is a quality piece of writing. But, as all writers know, spending more time on a piece does not guarantee a better result. Sometimes the opposite is true.

Labor

In the second phase, we are sitting alone writing. We grab thoughts as they come and translate them into words and sentences. We see them on the screen or page and tweak them a little (or sometimes a lot).

One thought inspires another. If we stick with it, a story emerges.

When we’re satisfied with the result, we submit it to a publication and wait. Sometimes a little more tweaking is required. Sometimes it doesn’t fit one publication and we have to submit it to another.

Sadly, a few good stories die at this stage. A stillbirth if you will. We lose interest in the story or don’t feel like the revisions are worth the effort. Or maybe we are just too stubborn to make the changes.

The pain is not like that of a mother giving birth or losing a child at birth, but there is pain involved. That maxim — no pain, no gain seems to apply.

Birth

The final phase comes when the story is published. The birth.

I love that feeling of accomplishment that comes when I complete a story, do the final edit, and deem it ready to send out into the world. I bet you do, too.

That’s where you, dear reader, come in. You read and comment on this jewel I’ve created. I love to read your comments. I love to see what you highlight. I appreciate your claps. We all do. It’s what keeps many of us here on Medium slaving away month after month despite the menial earnings.

If we are wise, we make it a point to respond to all comments made. (I’d respond to claps and highlights, too, if there were an easy way of doing that.) As it is, I simply return the favor.

This work (responding) is like nourishing the infant. If we provide proper care and feeding, the baby grows and flourishes.

I know I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. One of the beauties of Medium is that it allows readers to comment on what they read and it allows authors to respond to those comments.

I love the dialogue this makes possible. It leads to the creation of many interesting and enriching relationships. I know many of you feel the same way because you’ve written about it. This is truly the care and feeding of the infant story.

I seldom read a story without commenting. I figure if it was worth the author’s time to write and my time to read, it deserves a comment.

For me, the commenting feature here on Medium has somewhat spoiled my reading of traditional books and magazines. When I read a book or article, I often want to contact the author and leave a comment. I want to tell them about something I liked or ask them a question or two. I think they would like to hear from us readers, too.

Some traditional print writers are brave and include contact information at the end of their book or magazine article, so sometimes there is a way to communicate with the author. To be honest, I’ve never done that. Have you?

For some reason Medium gives me permission to comment on the stories you write. And it makes it easy to do so. Perhaps that permission comes from having my own work out there for you to comment on. We aren’t critiquing each other’s work; we’re encouraging one another.

Like many of you, I feel called to read and encourage other writers. I don’t know how well I do at it, but my intention is always to lift other writers up and encourage them.

The encouragement I receive feeds into my creativity, as do the stories you write. They inspire me and inspiration forms the bedrock of creativity.

Sometimes we need to push ourselves to do our art. I remember a cartoon I saw many years ago. It showed a figure on a stationary bike. The bike pedals ran a paddle wheel, and as the figure pedaled, the paddle wheel turned and the paddles hit him in the rear. The caption: “Self-Motivation.”

As I think about that cartoon now, I realize that the apparatus would motivate me to pedal slower not faster. I’d need a big carrot (like a stack of $100 bills) on a stick out in front to make me pedal faster.

In closing, I hope I’ve encouraged you to cherish the gift of creativity that we’ve all been given and perhaps to write something to encourage someone else.

Today is Labor Day here in the USA. I’m celebrating it with this little labor of love. Whether you celebrate today as Labor Day or not, I hope it treats you well and inspires you to be creative and use your time well.

Some say we write what we need to read. I’ve done that here.

Write on, dear friends, write on. Appreciate the gift. Be creative! Say “Thank You” to those who inspire you.

Happy Reading, Writing, Connecting and Creating, Dear Friends!