Maria McHale from Writers.ie
“Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right or better.” – John Updike
A lot of writers worry too much about creativity, and not enough about consistency of output.
If that’s you, let’s talk about manipulating your mind out of making that mistake, shall we?
Creativity is NOT a primary factor in anything. Creativity does NOT come first, and it’s NOT something you need to have worked out before you begin.
In fact, you don’t even need a good idea before you begin writing. Just start writing.
Write about your day. Write about anything. Something you like. Something you hate. Something you wish could be better, but isn’t. Anything. Just start.
Then, just try.
Try to make it good.
Try to move the reader emotionally.
Even if it’s just getting them to crack a smile.
That’s where the creativity arises. Creativity is the mind’s response to a problem. But a blank page isn’t a “problem” to your brain’s computer. It’s blank. It’s nothing. It’s got no fiddly bits to go to work on subconsciously.
But when you fill the screen or page and work that keyboard or pen – you’re creating REAL “problems” that have physical attributes. You’re giving the creative part of you something to latch onto. Something solid to grip and manipulate and fix.
THAT will pull your creativity out of you. Expecting it to just come to you out of nothing, when you’re working with nothing – that’s madness!!
And it will delude you into mistakenly thinking you’ve got no magic of your own.
It’s there. It just needs coaxing and cultivation. Give it something to work with, and watch it erupt almost involuntarily.
1. Use writing prompts to get you started (ahem, Wednesday Prompts, there are 5 years worth in the guides!!).
2. Play a what-if game
Ask yourself what if? What if a boy needed a heart transplant, but the only available donor was a pig? What if you let something bad fundamentally change your personality? Let go and see what happens.
3. Read random stuff
Don’t differentiate between your favourite genre, the highest pinnacles of literature and the lowest slums of pulp and genre. Everything is potentially powerful and will enrich you as a writer.
And definitely read a few bad books as well. Because they can be more inspiring than the good books… a genuinely helpful reaction to a piece of writing is ‘I could write this sh*t’. This will definitely give you a boost and you will find out all of the mistakes not to make.”
“Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right or better.” – John Updike
A lot of writers worry too much about creativity, and not enough about consistency of output.
If that’s you, let’s talk about manipulating your mind out of making that mistake, shall we?
Creativity is NOT a primary factor in anything. Creativity does NOT come first, and it’s NOT something you need to have worked out before you begin.
In fact, you don’t even need a good idea before you begin writing. Just start writing.
Write about your day. Write about anything. Something you like. Something you hate. Something you wish could be better, but isn’t. Anything. Just start.
Then, just try.
Try to make it good.
Try to move the reader emotionally.
Even if it’s just getting them to crack a smile.
That’s where the creativity arises. Creativity is the mind’s response to a problem. But a blank page isn’t a “problem” to your brain’s computer. It’s blank. It’s nothing. It’s got no fiddly bits to go to work on subconsciously.
But when you fill the screen or page and work that keyboard or pen – you’re creating REAL “problems” that have physical attributes. You’re giving the creative part of you something to latch onto. Something solid to grip and manipulate and fix.
THAT will pull your creativity out of you. Expecting it to just come to you out of nothing, when you’re working with nothing – that’s madness!!
And it will delude you into mistakenly thinking you’ve got no magic of your own.
It’s there. It just needs coaxing and cultivation. Give it something to work with, and watch it erupt almost involuntarily.
1. Use writing prompts to get you started (ahem, Wednesday Prompts, there are 5 years worth in the guides!!).
2. Play a what-if game
Ask yourself what if? What if a boy needed a heart transplant, but the only available donor was a pig? What if you let something bad fundamentally change your personality? Let go and see what happens.
3. Read random stuff
Don’t differentiate between your favourite genre, the highest pinnacles of literature and the lowest slums of pulp and genre. Everything is potentially powerful and will enrich you as a writer.
And definitely read a few bad books as well. Because they can be more inspiring than the good books… a genuinely helpful reaction to a piece of writing is ‘I could write this sh*t’. This will definitely give you a boost and you will find out all of the mistakes not to make.”
