How I Write.

Evening all, its two in the morning, otherwise known as my optimal creative period, so I figured it’s time to get some writing done. Today I would like to give you my take on the creative process, looking at both my experiences with creativity and my own recommendations for devising your own ideas and creations. Now I’ve already mentioned that late nights such as this one is a good time to write for me, being both a creative and mild insomniac allow my brain to get inspired at the time when I should probably be getting some rest. However, the answer to creativity is not simply staying up late dear reader, no, definitely not.

You see to get your own unique ideas you first have to look at the ideas of others that you have watched, heard and read. All ideas are just made up of a lifetime of other people’s ideas. You start to find out what you like and don’t like, what attracts you to a piece of work could be anything. Developing a sense of artistic vision is key to finding your own personal style. Once you have found something you really enjoy, I suggest looking deeper into the subject. Could there be an interview with the artist? Is there a funny story in the history of the book? Is there a documentary on the creation of the film? Chances are you’ll find a concept you hadn’t considered before. Pretty much every piece of creative work in existence happened because the person who made it was already a fan of so many other creatives. So, go to gigs and galleries, read novels and newspapers, pay attention to films and fan culture for every bit of inspiration you can get your hands on. I’ll include a list of things that inspire me at the end of this post.

Once you have an idea, don’t dilly dally, get cracking! Procrastination is truly a curse I am familiar with, made all the worse by the fact that it’s usually self-inflicted. But it can be overcome! Develop the self-discipline to get your shit together and have another try at your idea, if you’re truly stuck, perhaps have a break for half an hour or so and come back to it. I often find attempting things from a different angle after a break can make all the difference. Maybe you could look at other opinions on how to create something similar to what you are doing. Hell, this very blog post is massively inspired by/stolen from an Exurb1a video talking about writing. I’m sure with enough time and effort you will manage to create something, it may be crap, it may be a masterpiece, but it will be yours and it will exist and that’s a good thing. I also understand the nerves that come with releasing a piece of work. Sometimes you feel that it isn’t good enough and you have to keep working on it, but my advice is to learn when to let go. Self-doubt is part of the process and you should embrace it without letting it rule you. I often use my own anxieties to fuel the creative process.

I’m also going to touch on reviewing your work, as it’s a key part of the process. The more people who see your work, the more feedback you are likely to receive. And whether that feedback comes in the form of screaming fans, angry haters or perhaps just constructive criticism, take all of it together, don’t let it go to your head but see what the running themes are that people respond to and work with that. Ask a fellow creative in your field or even a friend to have a look at what you’ve done and ask them to be honest. Try not to get upset if it isn’t as good as you hoped and try not to let your ego go out of control if people say it’s the best thing they’ve ever read, honestly chance is they are lying to you but even if they aren’t, over confidence has been the downfall of many a creative.

Remember, these things will take time, be it hours, days, weeks, months or even years. All great work takes a lot of time and a lot of polishing. Even the Sex Pistols had to take time to learn how to write a decent song and perform their work. Greatness doesn’t come from nothing. But eventually, no matter how difficult it is, if you truly put emotion, time and energy into your project it will be done and will most likely turn out okay at the very least, but even if it’s not, that’s still a good thing as you would have learned so much along the way. Keep pushing, keep fighting, it will work out in the end.

Inspirational things I like

Exurb1a: Thoughts about writing

The Smiths: Bigmouth strikes again

BBC: Music for Misfits the Story of Indie

The Cure: A forest

BBC: The joy of the guitar riff

Escapist: Zero Punctuation

Peace, Love and Cowbells,

Oscar