When it comes to being creative, there's definitely two Mes.
There's practical, list-making Me, who is thinking of all the things I need to do for work, whilst thinking about what I'm going to have for tea; whose birthday is coming up; and if there's any clothes that need washing for the morning.
Then there's chilled, relaxed Me who really doesn't want to have to think about anything other than just being creative.
If I let my practical Me take over, it makes me feel like it's killing the creative part of my personality. So quite often on a Friday, when I'm sitting down to write my blog, I spend several minutes working out what to do first. Do I get my boring jobs out of the way, then focus on writing and being creative? Or, do I do the creative bit first, so that the practical stuff won't mute it?
But it's not just about timing, it's about 'feeling' too.
I've written, in one form or another, all my life. But when I got to study screenwriting for a couple of years (which meant for the first time ever in my life I had time to focus solely on what I loved), I really struggled to sit down and focus.
Quite often I'd wait for the moment when I felt most creative. But honestly, that doesn't tend to happen. And now I know from experience that the sense of being creative only actually tends to kick in when you start the process of being creative.
In other words, I need to start being creative in order to feel creative.
So even if I'm busy doing other stuff and I don't think I'll be able to swap mindsets from practical to free-thinking (or the other way around), once I am writing, everything just starts to flow.
Just as an example, I'm a bit of a rubbish sleeper at times so last week I really wasn't feeling it as far as my writing was concerned. But just from past experience, I knew to keep writing anyway. I wanted to get a few more chapters done of my next book, so that when I start approaching agents I have more of a body of work to show them.
However, when I went back over what I had written last week, even though I was tired and fuzzy-headed when I wrote it, I was actually pleased with what I'd done.
So, I think as a writer you just have to trust that the creative part of your brain will kick in when it's needed. Take you places you need to go, make you feel the things you need to feel, get you imagining the things you need to imagine. Because if you're that way inclined, I think it's intrinsic to who you are as a person. It's there, inside of you.
With that in mind - is there a 'best' time to write?
For sure, some people might find it easier to write in the morning. Others might not mind packing their day with other stuff and saving the writing for the evening.
But for me, I think you just need to trust in the process, knowing that once it's in motion, what's meant to be happen will happen.
In other words, you may never feel like there's a perfect time to write. But just sit down and do it anyway.
Just write :-)
Comentarios