My creativity comes to me in the shower.
Do you know how frustrating it is to get a fabulous idea for a story in the shower? I can’t write in the shower. My notebook gets soggy, the laptop short circuits. I just can’t do it.
And I wonder, am I doomed to never produce a masterpiece because I can’t write in the shower?
Even if I could write in the shower, what can I really finish? I can’t live in the shower. I don’t have time to write a novel, in the shower or elsewhere. I’ve got things to do – children to raise, projects to complete, Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes to watch, etc., etc.
Plus, what do I know about writing? about description, dialogue, plotting?
I’m not just afraid — I’m terrified.
But, I’m not alone. Perhaps the biggest block to creative output is the fear of creativity — the stomach-churning certainty that you can’t create anything worth the effort.
In A New Way to Think About Creativity (a TED Talks Video,) Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, and Love: One Woman’s Love of Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia, argues that instead of succumbing to this fear, you should just plug away. Whether you create something great, or not, you can’t accomplish anything unless you show up to work.
Or, in the celebrated words of Nike, Just Do It.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
For a similar take on how to remove blocks to creatively, read “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield. You can read a bit of it online at Amazon to get a taste of it. I’m finding it a light read, but quite insightful. So far .. this is my favorite quote:
“Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.”
Thanks for the suggestion! Looking at the Amazon reviews, I can see that this would be a very motivational read.
I have no insightful references, just a two thumbs up…go get ‘em
I think there’s a lot of freedom in doing something badly too 
I knit…very badly. But I keep on knitting and ripping out and knitting and (well you get the picture). I used to think that I should only pursue things that I could do with excellence, but the acceptance of my less-than-perfect attempts have really freed me up to check out areas that I wouldn’t have explored before.
So, not only would I say “Just do it”, but I’d also add “with enthusiasm and a deep disregard for the right way to do it”.
http://followthemuse.blogspot.com
I have many of the same issues, starting with the shower creativity problem! A twitter buddy just recommended that I invest in some tub crayons. Nothing short of brilliant if you ask me.
You should read Ann Lamott’s book Bird by Bird. It really forces you to remember that you have to do things one tiny step at a time and that every first draft is supposed to suck. None of the books lining bookstore shelves were first written like that. Those two notions are the only two things that keep me plugging away at my own novel.
Being afraid is OK, it’s what you do once you’ve recognized the fear that’s important. Go for it! You can do it!