creativity Archives

Entertainment as Inspiration: Music

October 19, 2018October 19, 2018Motivation and the Writing Life

by Elizabeth Spann Craig, @elizabethscraig

For years I’ve disputed the fact that music has any sort of influence on my writing at all. I think this is because, when I write, I can only listen to lyric-free songs (New Age, Jazz, Classical) or else it creates a disruption. Plus, I’m not usually directly inspired by music in terms of the music informing a work (with the possible exception of my Race to Refuge book). For artists who have been and their musical recommendations, see Roz Morris’s excellent blog, The Undercover Soundtrack.

I don’t think I really realized how much music helps me. As with television and film, seeing/hearing other artists’ creativity helps motivate me and fills my creative well. I also think that writing with music in the background (even with all the specifications that I put on the music) helps me write at a faster clip.Continue reading

Entertainment as Inspiration: TV and Films

October 15, 2018October 14, 2018Motivation and the Writing Life, Uncategorized

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’ve written before about being intentional about free time. By doing a little planning ahead, I feel a lot more relaxed and recharged. Instead of looking for something good to read or good to watch (and sometimes failing or running out of the precious free time in the process), I’ve carefully built up a list of things I want to read and watch.

That worked so well that I’ve made another discovery in the process. By being intentional about what I read, watch, and listen to, I’ve been able to broaden what I’m consuming and help inform my writing in the process.

I’ve made a conscious effort to expand what I’m consuming into new genres, international films, translations, and different types of music to write or read to. In return, I’ve had a real rush of creativity and new ideas (or even new ways to approach older series).

With that being said, I thought I’d run a short series on finding and tracking media. Today I’m covering what I use for film and television. Friday, I’ll cover music. Monday, I’ll cover books.

Sources:

For many years I told people that I didn’t really watch television. This was true–because I wasn’t a fan of sitcoms or reality television or whatever else happened to be running on TV at the time. But curating and watching good shows and films on demand is so much better–you know you’re getting something good (and you can determine later whether it’s to your taste or not). It also amuses me to call it ‘television.’ I don’t think we even have a true TV in our house anymore…only monitors.

I’ve developed something of a system for discovery. Again, the idea is to pick something that’s well-reviewed, but perhaps not something that I’d ordinarily watch (and definitely not something that I have watched).

Worth mentioning is the fact that we’re basically unplugged from cable at our house (we have a very basic program). Instead, we watch on demand: using Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, PBS (we’re donors and can use their ‘passport‘), and Sling (yes, this is still cheaper than satellite and cable here, ha!) You can also find many movies and shows through your local library. I’m a fan of Ann Cleeves as a reader and when browsing my library’s offerings in her series, I found the television series based on her books. I could watch the shows free through the library via Hoopla. Continue reading

Filling the Creative Well

June 29, 2018June 28, 2018Motivation and the Writing Life

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I was stumped a couple of months ago by a question from a very sharp writer in a high school creative writing class. He asked me what I do on those days when I didn’t feel inspired to write. I had to babble out some answer about what I hear that other writers do on days when they don’t feel inspired to write. The truth is that I’m rarely inspired when I write…I just do it and fix anything that sounds ‘off’ later.

But I know what I wished I’d answered. Because I do always make a point of filling my creative well. I may not feel inspired when I write, but I sure as heck don’t want to feel burned out when I write. I’ve written through burnout several times over the past ten years and it didn’t feel good. Forcing the words out isn’t fun and the end product will need work.

For me, the answer is two-fold. It’s surrounding myself with other people’s creativity and giving myself quiet, empty time to think or just be.Continue reading

How To Develop Creative Receptivity

April 2, 2018March 23, 2018Motivation and the Writing Life, Uncategorized

by Nicky Blue, @itsnickyblue ‏

‘The conscious mind may be compared to a fountain playing in the sun and falling back into the great subterranean pool of subconscious from which it rises.’ — Sigmund Freud

When I lapse in dedicating time to developing creativity in my life, I end up becoming very driven by reactive thinking. What I mean by this is, my thinking process seems to get governed by existing ideas, prejudices and familiar anecdotes. It feels as though I am mainly operating at the level of the conscious mind. An assumption arises that ‘I’ am in control of the creative process. I have these ideas in my head, which I manically splurge onto a page. This can be productive in getting things done but I find it can produce quite mediocre work. Aspiration for creativity is that it taps into something much deeper. When I give time to my developing my creative process, I realise this is very possible.

There are of course, days when creativity flows through me and there seem to be no limits to my productivity. I kid myself life will always be like this. Then one fateful morning, I wake up and sit in front of the computer and nothing, diddly squat. It feels as if I don’t have a creative bone in my body. It took many cycles of this to admit to myself an obvious truth. The creative process takes work, dedication and time. It is an investment I have to make in order reap the rewards later down the line.

‘Creativity is the process of bringing something new into being. Creativity requires passion and commitment. It brings to our awareness what was previously hidden and points to new life. The experience is one of heightened consciousness: ecstasy.’ — Rollo May.

A lotus will not produce flowers without the right amount of light, water and nutrients. Similarly, we need the right conditions for our creativity to bloom. Where I wanted to focus my attention, is the place that lies at the basis of all artistic endeavours, creative receptivity. I spent a long time experimenting with different creative exercises and spiritual techniques. After a while it became apparent to me there were some common themes to building creative receptivity. I have grouped these themes into three stages:Continue reading

Creative Challenges for Better Productivity

January 13, 2017December 30, 2016Motivation and the Writing Life, Uncategorized

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Sometimes I think that we need something to spur us on and get us going.

We need something different to help us either grow or keep ourselves engaged. Maybe we’ve been working on one book for a long period of time. Maybe we’ve been working on a particular series so long that we feel we’re getting stale. Maybe it’s that we’ve been writing a single genre.

Sometimes we’re just weighed down by our story.

For me, the best thing I can do is to shake things up a little bit.

Write at a different time of day.

Write in a different place (my favorite is the library).

Read something really good. For me, this is usually something in a genre I’m not writing. Or, maybe, I’m reading a mystery, but it’s not the same subgenre. Or I’ll read an inspiring autobiography or biography on an artist.Continue reading