Creativity's Workshop

Taming and Training Your Creativity to Write Abundantly

Category Archives: Creative People

Here’s our collection of creative people – interviews, guest posts and favourite posts from other blogs.


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Do Creativity and Mental Illness Go Hand in Hand?

As mentioned in my previous post, I’m on hiatus from my regular blogging schedule. However, I did say I’d pop by from time to time with posts that I feel may interest my readers here. Below is an ‘essay’ I wrote over at the Google+ group Creshen which sparked a very interesting discussion, so I’m posting a copy of it here too. Please feel free to add your comments on the subject.

Anyone who has spent time researching creativity has at some point come across articles discussing the supposed link between creativity and mental illness. Since the news of Robin William’s suicide, I’ve come across several of these articles. Usually the articles point to studies that “have found higher rates of mania, severe depression, and suicide in creative individuals.” It feels like people are very quick to point to connections between ‘creative people’ and ‘mental illness.’

I firmly believe that everyone has the ability to be creative, but that only certain people cultivate that ability. I don’t think there are ‘creative people’ and ‘non-creative people’ so much as there are ‘people who embrace their creativity’ and ‘people who haven’t yet discovered or tapped into that aspect of their brain yet.’

In my experience, creativity is often stifled by:

  • Overwork (not having the time to pursue creative activities or the mental space to experiment)
  • Stigma (feeling that being creative isn’t ‘cool’ or creativity is something you’ve either got or you haven’t got, rather than something you can cultivate)
  • Fear (feeling that you can’t create, that you won’t be able to do things right, or that your efforts will be embarrassing)

Our culture tends to set creative people apart, as if they’ve got some gene (or some illness?) that gives them that talent. I think that adds an extra barrier, because it implies that if you do feel creative you’ve somehow got to prove that you belong in that group…and then you have to deal with all the hidden extras (like depression?) that ‘everyone knows’ comes with that territory.

My hunch is that people with mental illness are more likely to be creative because:

a) they may not have the ability to ‘overwork’ and so are able to set aside time for creative pursuits,

b) they may be socially isolated, which means they’re not so worried about what their peers will think of them if they’re being creative,

c) they use creative activities to help cope with their depression/anxiety because either they have independently found it helpful or their therapist has suggested they give something creative a go.

So what if we’ve been looking at the statistics the wrong way round? What if instead of looking at the statistics and saying “higher rates of mental illness have been found in creative people,” we instead say “higher rates of creativity have been found in people with mental illness”? Why not turn the attention from the creative people with mental illness to the rest of the population and say, “What is it about those with mental illness that means they are “disproportionately likely to be overrepresented in creative occupations“? What can those of us who are less creative learn from people with mental illness who are doing creative things?”

Let’s go back for a moment to the point above that many therapists suggest patients try creative activities. How many people who suffer from mental illness wouldn’t have realized they were creative unless they’d been given this push?

Now, imagine if a ‘normal’, otherwise ‘non-creative’ person were told, “Instead of working overtime this weekend, why not take a pottery class? If you invest your time and interest in this regularly, you will do better at work, be happier, and feel healthier within yourself.” How many more people would suddenly ‘become creative’?

What if, when you went to your doctor, he/she not only suggested you do 30 minutes of exercise a day, but also suggested you do 30 minutes of creative activity a day? What if the two fruits and five veggies a day was applied to something like two photographs and five haiku a day? What if creative pursuits were treated as essential to your mental and emotional health? How many people would suddenly open up and show their creative side?

I guess the reason I’m upset is because these articles make it sound like being creative can be harmful for your mental health (and I know some people who do buy into this way of looking at things), and yet in my experience I’ve seen it be extremely good for mental health.

Am I looking at this all a little skewiff or am I not the only one noticing this? I honestly would love to know your opinion.

P.S. For a balanced view on the psychology behind the supposed link between creativity and mental illness, take a look at this post by psychologist Joycelyn Campbell.

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Guest Post: Unlocking Your Story’s Potential with the Magic of “What If?”

A rubber ducky asking himself "What if I were a writer?" Well, that's what it looks like to *me* anyway.

“Rubber Ducky” by Robert Burakiewicz via Flickr

Recently we’ve been looking at the power of daydreaming, how it can improve your writing speed, and how you can direct your daydreaming with the use of questions. Now let’s see how it works in real life.

My friend and fellow writer, Amber Seah, (you may remember her previous guest post on My Life in Music — A Memoir) is going to share a snippet from her writing life. In this post she describes how she and her daughter use the question ‘what if?’ to create interesting stories and discover answers to those tricky story questions.

The other night, while washing the hair of my 6-and-¾-year-old, I was mentally composing a letter from an indignant aunt to my main character, Timothy. While my mind was two centuries and half a world away, my daughter was asking her predictable retinue of ‘what-if’ scenarios, addressing such important questions as:

“What if a person this big, (approximately the size of a grain of rice) could eat a hamburger as big as our house, and….” Wait for the punch line.

“And STILL be hungry?”

I have yet to find satisfactory answers to these puzzles. She is usually posing the next what-if without expanding the first one. Listening to her outlandish what-ifs brought to mind an article I read years ago about using ‘what if’ to overcome writers block. It suggested writing 50 or 100 what-ifs to break through the block.

I have never had occasion to use this method as writer’s block is not something I suffer from, however I do feel from time to time that my plot has become stale, laboured and predictable. If I get bored writing my novel, where does that leave the poor reader?

While I rinsed the soap from my daughter’s hair, I tried to give far-fetched, concise answers to match her scenarios; but like a rubber band left too long in the sun, my imagination does not stretch to equal the dimensions of hers.

Fortunately the brain is not a rubber band. Neuroscientists assure me lost elasticity can be regained. I began what-ifing about the letter of this aunt.

What if she threatens to cut him off? He doesn’t need her money.

What if she forbade him to marry the girl, or insisted he marry another girl? He would throw the letter on the fire.

What if the letter contained a string of insults disguised as advice? Malicious and predictable.

These what-ifs led me to think about the personality of this Aunt. Are Timothy’s beliefs about his aunt a true representation of her? As children we develop impressions of the adults around us, which in adulthood we come to realise were erroneous or at the very least warped.

Has he misjudged his aunt’s interest and intentions in the case?

So I went back to what-ifing, and before the conditioner had soaked in, it hit me.

What if she did not write a letter but came in person? What if on receiving no answer to her carefully-worded letter she followed her nephew to London? After all, she is a woman of action; she is not the sort to sit around at home twiddling her thumbs. Besides, there is always something useful to be got out of London, even if she does not succeed in protecting him from ultimate heartache.

All those what-ifs revealed to me this supporting character’s motivation and personality — a revelation I chose to share with Timothy so that he now has a new understanding and appreciation for his overbearing aunt. Their relationship has grown and hopefully so has the story.

What can what-ifing do for you?

Do you have a dull character? A lull in the action? A sticky bit in the plot?

I won’t put a number on the what-ifs, but I recommend to keep asking them until you hit upon something that stimulates you. Stretch those neurons to reach new connections and feel the exhilaration that comes when you finally hit upon a solution.

That is the magic of “what if”.

What about you? What have you discovered from asking “what if?”?
A photograph of Amber

Amber Seah has always loved the wonder of the written word – be it prose, poetry or song. She lives with her husband, daughter, dog and extensive alphabetized library of favourite books.


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How Daydreaming Can Improve Your Writing Speed

A little girl looking out the window, daydreaming

“Daydreaming” by Greg Westfall via Flickr

Hi, I’m Jessica’s Creativity (you can tell because I’m writing in purple) and today I want to convince you to daydream more often.

Last week we started looking at the subject of daydreaming.

Why?

Because it’s one of those guilty pleasures, something you were told off for doing as a child and then discovered valid reasons for doing in adulthood — just like putting your elbows on the dinner table, licking your knife, and avoiding mashed potatoes (can you believe your parents didn’t realize the dangers of carbs?!).

As a child, you may have been told that daydreaming was a waste of time. I’m here today to convince you that, as a writer, you can now say that daydreaming is a legitimate part of your writing process. Not only that, it might actually save you time.

Don’t believe me?

Go listen to this interview with Hugh Howey and pay particular attention around 12:20 minutes. Before becoming a full-time writer, he did a number of other jobs. He daydreamed while he worked, writing stories in his head so when he sat down to the page he was ready to go.

Daydreaming can be used to prepare your mind, so when you finally sit down to write the words are ready to pour onto the page. 

The act of creating takes time. Sure, there’s that moment of inspiration when an idea suddenly hits you, but one idea does not a story make. (I’m sure that’s a quote from Yoda, during his years as a writing coach.) To put together a story with plot, characters, location, and descriptions, your Creativity needs time to form them.

How often have you sat yourself down in front of the page and ‘switched your Creativity on’ expecting the words to come, only to find your Creativity needs time to ‘buffer up’ before providing you with the details you need? You end up staring off into space while your Creativity meanders through the streets of your imaginary world looking for clues, playing with plot twists, planting red herrings or finding the perfect outfit for your heroine’s big scene (don’t ever rush a diva while she’s choosing stilettos).

Let’s face it, that’s technically daydreaming. Your Creativity needs that time to create, so why not start your Creativity on the task a few hours early?

Get her/him working on story details while you commute to work, wash the dishes, go for a run, do some gardening, walk your pet python, or do some other mindless task. Then when you do sit down to the page your Creativity is already ‘loaded’ and ready to go. You’ve got an image in your head of what you want to write so all that’s left is to find the words.

If you and your Creativity can work out a system of regular daydreaming, then you can potentially speed up your writing time (even if it did lead to you getting off the train two stops too late, breaking your daughter’s favorite mug, getting yourself completely lost while exercising, mowing your petunias, and losing your pet snake down a storm drain). The inspiration and creation has already happened. When it comes time to write you become a scribe, recording all the progress you’ve already thought up, while your Creativity adds in extra details here and there as needed.

Now I know what you’re thinking. What if I forget the stuff I’ve daydreamed? The answer is relatively simple. Make quick notes about the things you’re thinking about and then make sure you have a regular writing schedule in place (daily would be ideal) so you can get those words down on the page as quickly as possible. The longer you leave the images in your head, the more flaky and stale they become…rather like pastries. So get those ideas onto the page while they’re still piping hot!

There you have it. If you want to speed up your writing, spend more time staring out into space daydreaming. It’s very simple really.

How do you use daydreaming to speed up your writing?

******

P.S. In case you haven’t heard, The Red Umbrella (my latest short story) is now available on Amazon. If you didn’t get the news, then sign up to my author mailing list for regular updates or check out my author blog.


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The Museum of Four in the Morning

It’s been a while since I’ve posted something random on my blog, but I do like sharing videos and articles that I come across in my internet travels (like this gem of a woman).

I’m managing a ‘flare up’ of my chronic fatigue at the moment. During these dips I have to be very careful about how much energy I expend. Although there are a number of things I would like to be doing right now (like making progress on the collaborative writing project I’m supposed to be working on) I view these down times as opportunities to feed my Creativity.

To do that I like meandering around the internet, reading and watching content from inspiring people.

Today I came across this TED talk from performance poet and multimedia artist Rives, discussing his odd obsession — collecting references in books, movies and poetry to ‘four in the morning.’

I can’t quite put my finger on why I find this so fascinating. Perhaps I’m intrigued by how something as random as 4 AM could be so much a part of our literary and film environment without us noticing. Or it could be admiration for someone who can happily and publicly embrace an interest in something other people might see as trivial.

Whatever it is, I found it interesting and thought I’d share it with you all.


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Managing Your Creative Restlessness

Creatively restless people jumping over a hill...because that's what creatively restless people do.

Image Credit: Microsoft Clip Art

At the end of last year, Bonnie Glendinning put on The Thriving Artist Summit where she recorded interviews with artists from around the world. In these interviews the artists discussed how they make a living from their art.

Among the many fascinating interviews, was a gem of a quote that particularly resonated with me. Bonnie Glendinning said:

If you’re a creative soul, you were born restless.

With those words, suddenly a part of myself made sense.

Recognising the Restlessness

I’ve always felt a restlessness, a drive to write. The strange thing is, when I’m writing that drive doesn’t diminish – in fact, becomes even stronger. It seems it can never be satiated.

I always have more projects I want to work on, more things I want to accomplish. When I’m not able to accomplish them as fast as I would like, my restlessness gnaws at me.

Have you experienced this too?

I’ve tried several different methods of coping with this restlessness.

For a while I tried ignoring it. I was too busy, or too ill, to put my energies into writing. It was as if I shoved the restlessness into a box and clamped the lid down shut.

But that didn’t help the situation. In fact, denying that creative part of me just led to irritability and frustration.

So I tried to let it out. I thought if I poured my energy into writing, somehow I would fill that restlessness and it would begin to abate.

But the more I tried to fill it, the more restless I became until I felt almost frantic.

Bonnie’s quote brought me to a realisation: I was born restless and I will continue restless. It’s not something I can just fill up and be done with.

But that doesn’t have to be a bad thing.

Coming to Terms with the Restlessness

My restlessness is not something I should hide in a corner or try to overfill in the hope it will just go away. It’s part of being creative. It’s a part of me.

I’ve come to realise that instead of viewing my restlessness as a frustration I need to get rid of, I should view it as a motivating force.

The answer is to let the restless keep me moving creatively, at a sustainable pace, because I will always be moving. I will always have more words to write, more stories to tell, more characters to bring into the world.

There will always be more. So instead of pouring my energy into removing the restlessness, I can use the restlessness to bring my words into the world at a pace my fingers will allow – accepting of the fact that there will be plenty more words waiting.

I know there will be some words that will never see the light of day. But if I turn up to the page every morning, then plenty of them will make their way into the world.

My restlessness is my companion. It has been there since I can remember and it will continue with me throughout my life. Now is my time to make peace with it and befriend that part of myself.

Where Will Your Restlessness Lead You?

If this description of creative restlessness is resonating with you too, what can you do about it?

  • First of all, start taking yourself seriously as a writer (or an artist). If you’re feeling this drive within you, don’t stifle it. Recognise it as an essential part of yourself. Tell yourself and the world that you are a writer.
  • Next, get yourself into a good creative routine. Find ways to regularly feed and exercise your Creativity. Write daily. Set goals.
  • As you progress, keep a positive mindset. Remember that your restlessness isn’t an enemy, but a companion to keep you motivated. Being a writer is a lifelong adventure. Continue learning and enjoy the journey.

When you put these three things into action, your writing will begin to take you in all sorts of interesting directions. You’ll achieve your goals, but you also may end up discovering new friends and achieving surprising things in the process.

We’re all restless. Let’s use it to propels us towards our writing dreams.

How do you deal with your creative restlessness?

****

If you’re struggling to maintain a good creative routine and positive mindset in your writing, then get in touch and let me know how I can help. My e-mail is jessica at creativitysworkshop dot com.


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Need Perspective, Motivation and Encouragement? Check Out These Posts

A motivation sign post. Keep driving this way for writing motivation!

Image Credit: Microsoft Clip Art

Over the past month I’ve been getting back into the routine of reading some of my favourite blogs (after months of traveling and what-not), and I really wanted to share the following posts with you. They’ve given me perspective, encouragement and motivation to keep writing. I’m sure they’ll do the same for you.

  • Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Illness by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. After I posted about writing with chronic illness I was very excited to see that Kris Rusch had also covered the topic. She’s got great advice on when to write and when to stop.
  • The Business Rusch: Perfection by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. This is a must read for anyone who has been writing for years but hasn’t had the confidence to send their work out into the world. If you’re not already following Rusch’s blog, then get started now. Her experience is unrivalled.
  • Writer, Author or Storyteller by Liz Michalski at Writer Unboxed. The subject of viewing yourself as a ‘storyteller’ rather than a ‘writer’ is one that Kris Rusch also recently covered and I think it’s worth thinking on. I definitely feel more comfortable with the title ‘storyteller’ and it inspires me when I sit down to the page.
  • How to Unlock Your Creativity and Stop Feeling Like a Failure at Positive Writer. I love the Positive Writer blog and could just spend hours reading through all the old posts. It’s the best place for a pick-me-up to feel good about yourself and your writing again. This post reminds us that we all have our personal brand of creativity.
  • 10,000 Words in a Day? Impossible! by Milli Thornton at Charlotte Rains Dixon’s blog. This is a motivating introduction to the 10k Day for Writers event. It shows how accomplishing that kind of word count is possible and invites you to give it a try. After all, how many of our limitations are actually self-imposed?

Those are my favourites from this month. Now what about you?

Have you come across any writing posts this month that you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments.


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Guest Post: My Life In Music – A Memoir

A hand writing music. (I presume the hand is attached to an off-screen body, otherwise the image would be down-right creapy)

Image Credit: Microsoft Clip Art

Hello all. While I’m enjoying the summer sun of England (and I’m not being sarcastic, it has actually been sunny here!) I have another guest post to share with you. This one comes from my good friend and writing buddy, Amber Seah. She’s one of the most intrinsically literary people I know and she’s here to tell us about her life, from growing up in the USA to living in Australia.

Have you noticed that, whether for therapy or profit, memoirs are all the rage?

With such a title as “My Life In Music-A Memoir” you might expect this post to entertain you with the memories of a seasoned musician, or at least an accessory to musical production, but there you error. The only thing I can play is the radio and the only musical I was ever in involved singing along to the rousing chorus of Newsies. This fact is much to my Creativity’s lament. She is certain she could be a concert cellist, if only my fingers agreed.

However I would like to put the case that each of us has a life in music.

Music is like fragrance – it can trigger long dormant memories with startling clarity. I was driving one day when “Walking On the Ceiling” by Lionel Ritchie came on. Suddenly I was a six year old hurrying my little brother to the front window of our Wyoming home. Faces pressed against the icy glass we watched the bachelor next door come out, rugged up head to toe against the whirling snow, to turn the meat on the BBQ. These same neighbours knew my Mom’s weakness for Lionel Ritchie and would on occasion crank-up one of his records for her benefit.

My Creativity got to musing about this connection between music and memory. It worked her up into a regular flurry of brain storming but I have tied her down to just one avenue.

Can you tell the story of your life with a song for each chapter?

I believe you can.

Here is a sample from my CD of life.

1. Songbird—Kenny G

A few notes of this and all I see is the green glow of dashboard lights as we make our interminable way home from Ogden after an unending day of shopping; tired, achy and nauseous the saxophone becomes like a bad dream.

2. Lollipop—The Chordettes and Everyday—Buddy Holly

This is the soundtrack to my first California Summer. I’m riding in the back of our pick-up with the boys, singing songs and cracking jokes, from Sugarpine Campground to the Eagle Lake trail head; or trying to covertly listen to it in our tent. It didn’t work.

3. You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling—Righteous Brothers

I’m cruising around Lake Tahoe, the boys, me and Aunty singing at the top of our lungs in her fancy new car, reaching to stick our hands out the sunroof on the high notes.

4. On Top Of the World—The Carpenters

My best friend and I are doing dishes at her house, singing while the dishwater goes cold. Her house is the only place I’m still free to be a kid. We are on top of the world when together.

5. Thunderstruck—AC/DC

I’m cutting class to go cruising with a friend after her classmate committed suicide, a tough time calling for tough music.

6. Yes Sir, That’s My Baby—Lee Morse

My Grandmother, dressed in her leather jacket and leopard print trimmed hat, demonstrating the Charleston while hanging onto her cherry red walker.

7. New World Symphony—Dvorak

This song gave me a feeling of hope during my Grandmother’s long illness. When the whole world seemed a dark swirling mass of suffering I would lay, eyes closed on the bed and imagine a new world dawning.

8. This Kiss—Faith Hill

This song is the exhilarating feeling of turning 20, finishing college, moving out of home and falling in love for the first time.

9. All I Ask of You—The Phantom of the Opera

This might be cliché but I grew up on Phantom and it is the only song my husband has ever sung karaoke to, so it reminds me of him, our courtship and those honeymoon days.

10. Give Me A Home Among the Gumtrees—John Williamson

Driving home through the beautiful Swan Valley of Western Australia. I love this song and I love my little home even without the gumtrees, plum trees and rocking chair. Instead I look out at banksia and grevillea and my straggly dwarf apples. This is the happy present of my life.

Yep, that is about the sum of my life in 10 songs.

A photograph of AmberHow about you?

What songs are on your CD of life? What songs define the stages or relationships in your life?

Why not start with a song, write about the memories it triggers and see where it takes you?

Amber Seah has always loved the wonder of the written word – be it prose, poetry or song. She lives with her husband, daughter, dog and extensive alphabetized library of favourite books.


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Guest Post: Listening to The Writer Within – Your Inner GPS

A horizon with an interesting cloud formation

Photo by .ash from everystockphoto.com

Right now I’m run off my feet doing last minute things before I fly off to the other side of the world. Therefore my friend and writing coach, Charlotte Rains Dixon, is here today to guest post. I shall leave you in her capable hands.

We writers talk a lot about our Inner Critic.  We do free writes to identify and personify it, and then we create dialogues with our Inner Critic to get it to quit bashing us and start behaving.   I recommend this process to clients all the time, and it can be incredibly helpful in silencing the harsh voices that sometimes keep us from writing.

But I worry that in all this Inner Critic eradicating an important point gets lost—and that is the process of listening to our internal guidance.

It’s been called our inner pilot light, our intuition, a gut reaction, a hunch, discernment, the still small voice within.  I like to call it your Inner GPS.  Because that’s what it is—your inner road map.

It’s also the key to the best writing you’ve ever done.

Remember the time that character walked on and instead of swatting her off the page, you let her talk?  That was your Inner GPS at work.  Or how about when you found yourself pouring your heart out to your journal for an hour?  Yup, your Inner GPS was guiding you.  Have you ever had the experience that a story or essay was channeled, because it was coming through your fingers onto the keyboard so fast?  You guessed it.  That was your Inner GPS.

Your Inner GPS knows what you want to write and how to write it, if only you would listen.  Your Inner GPS never steers you wrong, unlike the ones you buy for your car.  But too often we’re not open to listening to our Inner GPS.  I fear that sometimes we’re so focused on not listening to our Inner Critic that we turn off the flow to our Inner GPS.

How can you turn it back on again?  Here are some tips.

1.  Get Quiet and Listen.  Your Inner GPS is always there to guide your writing (and all areas of your life).  It’s just that most often we don’t bother to listen to it.  As with all forms of listening, remaining quiet is the key.  Sit peacefully for a few minutes before you write and see if anything comes up.  Go for a walk when you get stuck.  Sit beneath a tree and feel the light breeze on your face.

2.  Quit Looking Externally.    We are firmly ensconced in the Information Age.  Oh, are we ever.  Never before in the history of man have we had so much pulling on our attention—the internet, Smart Phones, television, to name a few.   Staunching the constant info flow into your brain will help.  Do you really have to know the latest report on that natural disaster?  Wait a few minutes before reading the news—it’s all pretty much recycled anyway.

3.  Tune Out and Create Spaciousness.   Raise your hand if you don’t have a Smartphone.  Okay, all two of you can ignore this tip.  For the other 25 gazillion, heed me: Look up from your phone!  Put it in your pocket and forget it’s there.  Next time you find yourself waiting in line or eating alone, instead of whipping our your phone to pass the time, leave it where it is and be where you are without its constant stimulation.  Doing this repeatedly over time will open up a spaciousness that will allow your Inner GPS to emerge.

4.  Don’t Worry About What Others Think.  Your Inner GPS tells you to don a red tutu and dance in the backyard?  Do it!  The more you follow your Inner GPS, the more it will speak to you.  And remember, you’re a creative type anyway, so everyone already thinks you’re nuts.

5.  Write.  Write anything and everything: journal entries, novels, short stories, essays, memoirs, blog posts, whatever your Inner GPS instructs you to do.  Putting words on the page on a regular basis is a sure path to accessing your inner guidance!

Follow these five tips and you’ll be writing up a storm with the assistance of your Inner GPS, and it will be the best, most natural writing you’ve ever done.

Charlotte Rains Dixon****

Charlotte Rains Dixon is the author of the novel, Emma Jean’s Bad Behavior.  She is a writer and writing coach and blogs at www.charlotterainsdixon.com.

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So what about you? How do you turn your Inner Writer back on?


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My 5 Favourite Posts of June

5 little teammates cheering you on.

Image Credit: Microsoft Clip Art

When we hit a rocky patch in our writing, we need to hear the cheers of our friends and peers. This month I’ve chosen five motivational posts to cheer you on in your writing and let you know you’re not alone.

We’re all cheering you onward!

What were your favourite posts of June? Share your links in the comments.


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How Much Time Are You Giving Your Creativity?

Hi, I’m Jessica’s Creativity, and I have a video to share with you today!

Jessica recently came across this brilliant 2 minute video. Anyone interested in their Creativity should take the time to watch it.

Unless you’re a minimalist hermit living in the Himalayas, you’re probably trying to fit your creative projects into a schedule that already holds important tasks like sleeping, eating, cleaning teeth, making a living and watching reality TV.

So how much time do you devote to your creative projects?

This video gives you a choice:

  • You can give your Creativity the minimum amount of time to do a task…but then you must accept the average result, OR
  • You can set aside extra time to do the task, and give your Creativity the room to properly create.

Both options require sacrifice. The question is: What will you sacrifice? Your time or your project?

It’s your decision.

So what do you think? Make a commitment and let me know in the comments.

*****

A quick note from Jessica: My plans have suddenly changed and I’m traveling overseas sooner than expected (in three weeks! Eek!). I’m looking for some guest posts help me through the next few weeks while I get my plans sorted and recover from jetlag. If you’re interested in guest posting here on Creativity’s Workshop, take a look at the guidelines and then send me an e-mail.