CREATIVITY

The Writing Process — How I Get Ideas, Get Started, Write, and Edit

A kind of checklist — what I do when I write and what I keep in mind when I create

My creative writing process

Most of the time I follow my checklist, and my creative writing process takes place like this.

The evening before:

1. I read, I write. I sometimes watch a film together with family, or we just talk and read. I go very little on social media.
2. Before I go to sleep: I continue reading and writing notes on my computer.
3. Working on the idea: I have put down some notes, I have been thinking about the idea. I write more notes, start a New story on Medium.

I am always prepared to make notes and take care of ideas that pop up: A good tool for registering ideas can be to use the dictate function on the phone.

In the morning, when I wake up:

4. It’s my most important creative moment! — 1 to 2 hours: It’s a privileged creative situation. In the morning, when I feel fresh, ideas come to me, and I can write.

5. Sometimes I complete and finish editing the story. I find an appropriate photo, and I am ready to submit to a publication. I always give myself a moment to think while I make my breakfast: — Is the story ready for publishing, are there details I should reconsider?

The creative process during the day

Starting the writing

1. Sometimes I write on the computer or the phone. I make research. I search on Google or Bing, I find reference articles, scientific background, and documentation for the findings I want to publish.
2. Other times I dictate on the phone (draft on Gmail or Medium). This can be a very productive way to register and get notes for a new story. It is then important that the dictate function transmits accurately to the next draft what I say. I must closely follow the words as they pop up on the mobile screen.
3. After I have dictated, I go thoroughly through the draft on the computer. It is important to do this asap in order not to forget and lose important details in what I dictated.
4. I start many drafts. I can have as many drafts as I have published stories on medium. A long term project is to go through old drafts and check out if they are still viable.
5. Once I start working on a story, I discover within some time if the idea is good, and then I generally work on it until I have a draft that is approaching publication status.

Publishing in a Medium publication

Publishing is for me closely connected to the rest of the creative process. Generally, I need to see my texts published the same day.

I have experienced that some Medium publications the last year have become more difficult to collaborate with: — They need several days to respond, and they often reject drafts, with sometimes very formalistic references to their submission guidelines. I, therefore, choose to send my drafts and submissions to more writer-friendly publications, where I can see my new story published within a few hours.

Feedback and stats

I am not sure if I lose many readers by not submitting some of my stories to Medium publications that often reject my stories. Publishing in a publication with a huge following is no guarantee that more readers will have their eyes on my text than if I publish in a small publication.

This said, I admit I am very focused on feedback. I think it’s natural for creators to be like that. We need to see that readers view and read our stories. Claps and comments are important to me as a writer. It makes something with me as a writing person.

We are writers and readers

I try to be attentive to other writers and the stories they publish, but I know I can always be better at this! I know I should give more, i e I should read and clap, and comment much more. This is my permanent ‘improvement project’.

I reach out to writers with whom I feel I connect artistically and communicatively. I am ready for creative projects with other creators, inspired by the common realization that together we always can go further in our creativity than we can alone.

I am grateful for the readers I have who after reading come back to me with claps and who sometimes also comment on my stories.

Since March 2018 I have written and published almost 1k stories on Medium, and from that I have learned a few things. Amongst them this basic lesson: It is so great to experience the repeated support from followers on Medium. Writing is mostly a lonely activity, and I think that for a long time I have not paid enough attention to this side of the game, namely how we — readers and writers connect with and support each other. I think there is a huge potential for improvement for many of us here.

2020 © Øivind H. Solheim , @oivind47, teacher, author of novels, poetry, articles, essays, short fiction and experimental writing. [email protected]