Feed Your Creativity
By Anna Elliott | June 17, 2011 |
Before I get started on this month’s post, I wanted as promised to give everyone a quick update on how my first month of indie publishing Georgiana Darcy’s Diary has gone. Obviously there are a LOT of authors out there who are either pursuing or considering the independent publishing route. And besides that, I tend to think J A Konrath has a point when he says that we should all be more open about sharing hard core numbers. So in that spirit and in the hopes that it may be helpful to other authors out there wondering whether the indie route is for them, I’ll tell you that in it’s first month of sales, Georgiana Darcy’s Diary has been priced at $2.99 and earned me just about $800 (That’s 70% of the total sales, as per Amazon and Barnes&Noble’s royalty rates). So far this month sales have been growing, and I’m on track to earn roughly one and a half times that much in the second month. As a starting point, I’m very, very happy and grateful. And of course thank you so much to all WU readers who bought copies!
Anyway, on to my topic for this month, which is feeding your creativity.
Like I’m sure most mothers of young children, my personal time is, shall we say, limited. With my baby and my older girl (who we homeschool), ‘personal time’ typically means that I’ve gotten to take a shower. Of course I wouldn’t trade for anything, and I’m so lucky to get to do my dream job while also staying home with my girls. And I kept telling myself that for right now, writing has to be the sum-total of my creative outlet, my only real focus apart from the kids, even if that means doing nothing else and never leaving my house. (Seriously. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve driven somewhere without my kids in the last two years. And I can tell you exactly how many adult conversations–apart from with my husband, of course–I’ve had without my girls being present: two).
But after a year or two of it, I started to go a little stir-crazy, honestly. And more than that, I started to feel just so depleted. I always love writing, but my creativity started to feel like a run-down battery. Dean Wesley Smith has a really, really fantastic post up on his blog currently in which he says, “The creative side, the deep part of our brain, has been taking in story, story structure, sentence structure, character voice, and everything else for a very long time, since each of us read our first book or had a book read to us. It’s that place where our author voice comes from, where the really unique ideas come from.” And then he goes on to say, “The creative side is just a better writer than the critical side, no matter what the critical side tries to tell you. Remember, the critical side has a voice of restraint and worry. But the creative side, as Kris likes to say, is your two-year-old child. It has no voice of reason and no way to fight. But if you let the child just play and get out of its way and stop trying to put your mother’s or father’s or teacher’s voice on everything it does, you will be amazed at what you create.”
But I think that for most of us, that critical side is more vocal than the creative side, and constantly in danger of overpowering the creative parts of our brain. If it’s going to survive all that critical onslaught, our creativity has to be nurtured and fed. Because writing is my job, the critical side of my brain is of course constantly in evidence. And I ultimately realized that meant that regardless of time constraints, I needed to do something–anything–creative, other than writing. I needed to find a creative outlet where the end result didn’t matter, where nothing at all hinged on the outcome. I settled on learning to sew. Which my girls, incidentally, thought was a GREAT idea, since what I wound up sewing was mostly toys for them. Here’s a doll I made for my 4 year old (hair colors picked by her!).
Not exactly going to win prizes at the county fair, but I had so much fun making her and others–and more than that, I couldn’t believe the difference it made in how I felt, just having carved out 20 minutes here and there to do something creative just purely for fun. It absolutely brought a whole new energy to my writing. And, speaking of numbers, literally doubled my daily word-count output from 1000 to 2000 words a day, even though the time I had every day to write was obviously staying the same.
So for anyone feeling like their writing is in a rut or just uninspired and flat, I highly recommend finding some other way to use–and so feed–your creativity. Paint, sing, dance, cook . . . anything at all, just as long as you’re not being judged on the outcome and can just completely let the creative, inner two year old part of your brain run free.
And as a side note, for anyone out there who either sews or wants to learn, there’s currently a really fantastic drive to collect handmade dolls and other toys to the children victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. For more info. you can go here.
Anna Elliott is an author of historical fiction and fantasy. Her first series, the Twilight of Avalon trilogy, is a retelling of the Trystan and Isolde legend. She wrote her second series, the Pride and Prejudice Chronicles, chiefly to satisfy her own curiosity about what might have happened to Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Darcy, and all the other wonderful cast of characters after the official end of Jane Austen’s classic work. She enjoys stories about strong women, and loves exploring the multitude of ways women can find their unique strengths. Anna lives in the Washington DC area with her husband and three children.
An interesting idea. When my writing has gone flat, my answer has been to try writing something different. I like the idea of trying something completely unrelated, just for fun.
And the hair on that doll is awesome :)
Sarah, that’s exactly it–even if I write something different, it’s really hard for me to turn off that critical part of my brain. But sewing a doll for my girls is pretty low stakes–they don’t care if my seams are crooked or whatever. And thank you–I asked my daughter what color hair she wanted on her doll and she instantly said, “pink, purple, and blue.” :)
Yay for the success of Georgiana Darcy’s Diary, Anna! That is so cool!
The doll is adorable. As a craft challenged person, I basically avoid anything having to do with sewing/knitting/glueing. But I do like music and long walks…that seems to recharge my batteries.
Thank you so much, Kath! And I am a really craft-challenged person, too. When I started sewing a few months back, I had to get my husband to set up the sewing machine for me. I’m not kidding. And I would beg him to help me every time I needed to fill a bobbin or change thread. Not that he knows anything more about sewing than I do, but he is at least much better with instruction manuals. He was like, Uh, honey, this is really not in the ‘husband’ job description. ;-)
So so true. I used to enjoy sewing when I still lived with my mom (I needed her there to fix my inevitable screw-ups). It was never anything more than a hobby, though, which is why I liked it. Now I play piano whenever I need a creative release (even though I’ve never been taught how to play “for real”). I also like to crochet scarves and afghans during the colder months. It’s monotonous work so it’s good for emptying your mind, and it keeps you warm in the process. :D
Lydia, I definitely have those inevitable screw-ups, too! The doll I just made I managed to carefully stitch closed without stuffing her body. *head slap*. I’ve done tons of crochet, too, I agree it’s great for letting your mind float free.
I think the illustration of feeding the gull on the wing is perfect, says it all. We need creative sustenance to stay aloft.
Thanks for sharing your indy-pub numbers, Anna. Really appreciated by those of us trying to figure out what’s right for us.
I totally agree about doing something unrelated to bring renewed energy to our writing. For me it’s carpentry. I find that great writing ideas come during the somewhat mindless aspects of my carpentry jobs (i.e. sanding or painting). I always dread switching to carpentry, but always come back to my writing energized.
Kudos to you on the doll–it looks like an award-winner to me. And great idea on the donations for Japan earthquake victims. Great post!
Thanks, Vaughn! It was actually surprisingly scary to make myself post my numbers–even though I’m so happy with them–it’s like we’re conditioned not to talk in absolute dollar amounts and revealing them is like telling your most embarrassing moment of middle school. But that’s why I do it, because so many authors are debating what route is right for them and I want to do everything I can to share as much potentially helpful information as possible.
This is so wonderful, Anna. Glad that your book is doing so well! And your post is something I needed to read. I’ve been thinking of going back to something artistic as a way to re-charge my batteries. I need alone time (the thought of homeschooling my beloved 4 y.o. freaks me out for that reason) and I have a lot going on, so it’s hard to balance. Doing something creative, especially WITH my son, sounds like something I’d both enjoy and something that would help both of us. Eye opening. Thanks!
Cathy, that’s exactly how I felt, too–I need alone time, and there’s so much going on that it’s really hard to balance. At any given moment I probably have 5 tasks that I could be doing. But just taking 20 minutes here and there made me feel so much better and more productive. And at 4 your son would probably love doing something creative with you. I just taught my 4 year old to hand-sew and she made herself a little felt teddy bear–she was super thrilled with it, too.
I really like how you picked a title with such a visual impact. All work and no play makes for a dull boy, or in this case, a dull brain.
Here’s a challenge for those who are struggling to write: stay home with your kids. Not only does it have a positive effect on your children, you might just develop the right frame of mind to really write well. At least that’s what happened to me.
I’ve been a Stay-Home-Dad for the last 5 years. I’ve got 3 boys and a new baby girl. Yes, it’s a challenge, but like you, Anna, I wouldn’t change it for anything.
I hadn’t pursued any sort of writing before we made the choice for me to stay home with our kids. Then, once I took on the role of Mr. Mom, the creative part of my mind, which had remained dormant for oh so long, finally woke up, and I suddenly had a rush of YA book ideas.
Too often we can’t see the forest for the trees, and we neglect to see that our creativity or inspiration has been at our feet the whole time.
Huge kudos (and hats off!) to you JP for making the decision to stay home with your kids! I absolutely agree it’s extremely good for creativity–seeing the world through your children’s eyes makes it all new again, and watching them fearlessly dive into their own projects makes me understand the kind of spirit I need to bring to mine. Plus being home full-time I get so starved for adult conversation that I have no choice but to really, really connect with my characters . ;-)
What I wonderful post! I enjoy doing creative things, mostly watercolor journaling, but I never imagined that it would lead to more productivity in my writing. I will definitely have to spend more time with my creative side. Thank you!
Staying home with my kids sparked my creative side too! It’s been quite a few years now, but it was working with my kids that made me realize I had a creative side at all!
I started out with gardening, moved to quilting, and then thought I’d give writing a try. That’s a great idea to tap into that other side when you’re stuck with a book. I do find myself wandering in my garden when I’m in a rut.
Great, inspiring post, Anna! I just had tea with my inner editor to figure what I needed to distract her with so I could draft anything. Let’s just say, we share a love of Diana Gabaldon’s Jamie and Claire. ; )
I definitely approve of you inner editor’s taste! :-)
A) Congrats on Georgiana Darcy’s Diary!
B) Actually I think the doll is lovely.
C) I completely agree! One of my recent posts was about “kid vision,” and how I’m putting it back on in order to proceed with my manuscript. A commenter added that we don’t criticize kids for coloring outside the lines or being messy — we encourage their creativity — and that’s the kind of attitude we writers ought to nurture towards ourselves.
Kristan, thank you! And it’s completely true. My four year old thinks of something she wants to do and dives straight in, no fear of failure, no worries that it won’t turn out exactly as planned. And kids see the whole world as new and exciting–just the way I want to feel about my fictional world.
I think this right here is the key: “I needed to find a creative outlet where the end result didn’t matter, where nothing at all hinged on the outcome.” So important! Thank you!
Sara, that definitely is the key for me. However much I want to be fearless about my writing, I’m a family wage-earner and it’s my job! That makes it really, really hard to shut out the inner critic and even just the petty business worries. But finding another creative outlet really does help me capture that inner child creativity and bring it to the writing page.
Sewing’s my creative-hobby-away-from-my-creative-hobby, too. It used to be more costuming-oriented, but now I just sew whatever. (Thanks for the doll drive link, too. It’s a great idea!) Sometimes you need to get away from the page and nurture your creativity in another way in order to be more productive. I’ve always found I end up writing more as a result.
Kristin, I’ve always wanted to sew costumes! Maybe someday I’ll be brave enough to try. :)
I agree with Sara, that’s one of the most important points here. It’s hard not to let the critical side overpower the creative side, but without the creative side, there’s nothing. Thanks, Anna, for sharing your wonderful ideas! (Thanks also for sharing your sales figures – highly appreciated!)
I would also add that when you’re looking for a non-writing creative outlet:
– do something that’s very different from writing; and
– define “creative” as broadly as you can.
My go-to creative outlets are knitting (very concrete and tactice; easy to see progress) and contra/New England folk dancing (cerebral but also physical and non-solitary).
I’ve found my creative mind engaged while rock-climbing, doing jigsaw puzzles or crossword puzzles, cooking or baking, doing anything outdoors (okay, maybe that’s more “flow” than creativity), and so on.
A little more passive, but still beneficial: taking in arts other than storytelling. Concerts, art galleries, public gardens, etc. are all good.
Siri, you’re absolutely welcome for the sales figures, I’m delighted if they help anyone here! I should have said, too, that if anyone has questions or wants to know anything about my indie experience (short as it’s been so far) in more detail, just shoot me an e-mail.
And I completely agree–define creativity as broadly as possible, and taking in other forms of art is incredibly helpful. I’ll often have a particular song that I’ll listen to that helps me capture the spirit of a book/scene–even if overtly the song relates in no way whatsoever to my story.
I’ve been working on other creative outlets right now, too. Mine include music (mostly the piano) and knitting, but this time around I’ve been doing a lot of sewing and baking. Which all sounds really domestic, I guess, but hey. It’s creative.
Jordan, it’s definitely creative! I used to do tons of cooking and inventing my own recipes. Now I usually cook with my kids, which gets REALLY creative. ;-)
I love writing and writing may be the only creative side I have =). I’m not much of a creative person. I’ve never really created a beautiful thing out of my humble craftsmanship. The doll you made for your daughter is lovely, and I think you have a promising career in sewing too.
I can relate a lot to working at home and being with the kids for most of, if not all, the time. At first it’s a little hard, but the rewards of having more time with your children while you work are just sweet! I hope I can somehow improve my creative side and get in touch with my inner child who’s been unseen all these years.
You really never know until you try–not that I’m trying to get preachy! But you might discover you have hidden creative talents you just never realised.
What a great idea to re-direct your creativity!
This is a sign to me that creativity is very diverse indeed.
Creativity truly is diverse–there are as many ways to be creative as there are people!
The doll is cute and I like the hair colors. It’s fun. So true about having other creative outlets. I find that when I bake, or get in photography time or get some jewelry made, I feel better. And of course that helps to increase my output as a writer.
Also congratulations on the book sales.
Thank you!
Anna, Congratulations on doing so well with Georgiana’s Diary. That’s so fantastic and I hope you’ll garner much success. I know you said your husband did your cover — do you think he’d help me do mine???
And being creative outside writing is the one thing I can’t do without. I can only write for so long, usually during the school year, but when spring starts to show her face, I step off the computer and do all the things I can think to recharge. Outside especially. I like to build wooden things for my garden, planters, ladders, sitting areas. I also like to do a deep spring cleaning inside the house, and although it’s a mundane unanticipated chore, it does help me refresh my creative writing center and I usually come up with a new story line or two at the same time.
And just the other day I made new curtains for both bedrooms. Love your doll by the way. She’s beautiful.
Anne, thank you for the congrats! Re my husband, short answer it depends on your time frame/genre/price range. Send me an e-mail and he’s happy to talk and see if he’d be a good fit for you.
I also find that in addition to being creative, we need to live–I mean really live. A lot of my writing comes from experiences or relationships that I’ve had. I know home-schooling and writing together is difficult. I’ve done it with three small children, but believe me, it is worth the few hours a week to go and do humanitarian aid with other women, go on weekend trips to museums, or go out once in awhile. It bring life to your writing that people feel the realism of. Some of the best stories I have ever heard are from older people who are telling about their own lives.
Hope this isn’t preachy, just been there, done that, looking back. I admire you for being so dedicated to your children.
Heather, you don’t sound preachy at all, and I absolutely agree with you! I definitely aspire to one day get out of the house more and do all those things. It’s just a tricky balance right now with my youngest so small and me being the primary wage-earner. But I definitely appreciate your advice and inspiration!
Thank you so much, Anna, for a thought-provoking post. Right now I’m at a complete creative standstill with regard to my writing. I can’t think of what to do next. I wrote three books in two years and thought I’d never, ever have writer’s block. Maybe I’m spending too much time in my critical state of mind, what with revising, sending out query letters, and the like. After reading this I believe I better nurture my creative side, step away from this for a bit, so that I can think “like a kid” with no rules. Hopefully, I’ll find some inspiration from not doing this “job”.
Patti
Patricia, I find that when I’m reaching and grasping too hard for inspiration is when it completely eludes me and refuses to come. Only when I’m peaceful and ‘open’ am I able to be inspired. Good luck to you, and that creative spark WILL come back to you!
Congratulations on your success! Those numbers should encourage those who choose the indie route. And by the way, that doll is so cute. Did you use a pattern or just wing it?
I do a lot of sewing myself, but since it’s one of my side ventures, I still have an editor-type person in my head wanting everything to be perfect. So now you’ve inspired me to get back into paper crafting. No need to be perfect there.
Carlye, thank you! And I should have said, I did use a pattern, it’s the ‘Mae’ doll from Bit of Whimsy Dolls, you can find her here:
https://www.bitofwhimsydolls.com/item/Mae_PDF_Pattern/214/c46
Super cute and very easy to sew!
Got it! Thanks!
Congrats on Georgiana’s Diary, I’m glad it’s doing so well!
And what an interesting post. So sewing is your way to “rebalance” your creative drive! For me it’s painting. I made the illustration for the cover of my ebook that’s just come out: a weird-looking lion, a little threatening and very dark, because I saw that as appropriate for the cover of the first book in my Fear of the Past trilogy: it had to instil fear (I’m not sure it does that but I hope it does!)
But here’s the interesting thing: painting that lion’s head was so relaxing – I got so much strain out of my system – that the next day I wrote a short story, just like that, in one hour like water flowing out of the faucet. I’d never written so fast or so easily in my life.
So to get to my point: You’re so right, doing something totally unrelated to one’s writing does re-open the faucet of inspiration. Sewing wouldn’t do it for me, alas. Unlike you, I’m hopeless with a needle, but your dolls are just great! Tell me, I wonder: what do you write after your finish a doll? A short story – in other words, do you find in yourself a quick spurt of creative energy – or do you go back to the computer ready for the long haul of novel writing?
Claude, I’ve just checked out your cover–it’s amazing! What a talent you have. I’m quite envious, I’d love to be artistic in that way, but I’m lost at anything more complex than a stick figure. :)
That’s exactly the feeling I’m talking about, though, that water flowing from the faucet. For now I use sewing to recharge my batteries for working on whatever novel I’m writing–or to gear up to start the next project. So for me it is a ‘long haul’ kind of technique, but I do also use it to get unstuck if I hit a wall with the book–so in that sense it does also provide that quick burst of creative energy for me, too.
My favorite creative endeavors are sewing and knitting–last Christmas I made something for each family member. Then I made a miniature version of each for the tree (tiny socks, stockings, shirts & mittens, so cute)! It was amazingly fun, and as you say, really got me feeling more creative in general! The thing I like about projects like this are that they are discrete little things I can do….and appreciate the end result, like your doll! With writing it often feels like an endless process! p.s. I love the doll!
What a cute craft project! I absolutely agree, it’s really nice to be able to look at something and think, I made that! Not that I don’t feel that way about my books, too, but somehow looking at a finished craft project satisfies a different part of me.
The doll is adorable! My younger girls are just reaching the age where they want to sew. We may give one of the whimsy dolls a try.
Thank you so much for this advice. I’ve been struggling a bit with fiction writing because I’m simultaneously starting a freelance editing and writing business. Although it is a completely different type of writing, creating business cards and blog posts and designing the website still seem to sap my creativity. I’ll have to try to find pockets of time to revisit my favorite low-stress crafts.
Kate, I definitely recommend the whimsy dolls site. You just download the patterns as soon as you pay, so there’s no wait, very easy. I’ve made the ‘Katie Kitten’ pattern, too, she’s adorable. Sewing talk aside, I absolutely find that blogging, keeping up a web presence, etc. saps my creativity. And it does leave me with very little energy for writing fiction if I’m doing a lot of it. My technique is to always, always, do the story writing first, that way it gets the freshest of my daily allotment of creative energy. If there’s any left over after I reach my word count, THEN I can write a blog post. :)
Anna,
Thanks so much for this post. I also homeschool and write and find there is little time for much of anything else. I started knitting over the winter for the same reasons you outline here — to have something to do with my hands, something creative, where there were no stakes. I also find that homeschooling is a creative outlet and I love my book group for the same reason (and the adult conversations!).
Congrats on your success with Georgiana Darcy’s Diary and much good fortune to you!
~ lisa ahn
Lisa, so nice to hear from another home schooling mum–and glad I’m not alone in needing an extra creative outlet, though I completely agree, raising kids–I’m sure whether you homeschool or not–is a very creativity-intensive job!
Anna, I’m no chef, but I find the same thing happens to my creativity when I cook into the mist. (Doesn’t sound nearly as exciting as writing into the mist, does it?)
As for your numbers, congrats! And thank you so much for sharing them with us. Very generous on your part.
Jan, I cook exactly the same way–or used to, when I actually had time to cook! :) I LOVE making up my own recipes or modifying an existing one–I don’t think I’ve ever followed a recipe exactly to the letter in my life.
And you’re very welcome for sharing sales numbers! And thanks so much to everyone else who commented with congratulations, you’ve made me get over my initial nervousness and feel so much more comfortable with breaking the no-number-quoting rule! :)