The creative process…
- This is going to be awesome!
- I look at the blank page.
- But… where do I start?
- I freak out.
- FUCK!
- I switch to Youtube.
- Watch a funny video of Jennifer Lawrence. I love that girl.
- I go back to the blank page.
- I freak out one more time.
- WHY AM I SO FUCKING STUPID!
- How did I think I can do this?
- I switch over to Facebook. Someone texted me? What’s up with my friends? Any new news?
- No. Back to the blank page.
- I suck…
- I hear myself coming up with all good excuses why I don’t really have to do this now.
- I published an article yesterday, so I am fine right?
- I have 6 more written articles in the queue.
- No worries?
- I take a break.
- I make myself a coffee. Maybe caffeine helps?
- It doesn’t.
- When does it kick in?
- I research benefits of drinking coffee and the relevance in regards of the creative process and coming up with new ideas.
- Nothing productive comes from it.
- I end up with another video of Jennifer Lawrence. God, this woman is amazing…
- My phone rings. I decline and put it into Airplane mode. I tell myself that this is not important right now.
- I go back to the blank page.
- Maybe if I just write down my thoughts anything useful comes from it?
- I start writing.
- I delete it again.
- What a stupid idea. Nobody cares about that shit! Nobody will read this nonsense.
- I take another break.
- I am not feeling it and I somehow don’t get into the flow. I convince myself to try another time when inspiration hits me.
- I google flow. I am sure I’ll learn something new which can help me to overcome my procrastination and ignite my creative process.
- I don’t.
- I go back to work.
- Still no creative insights.
- Is it lunch time already?
- No.
- Focus!
- Ok. Let’s just lower my requirements for “good quality”, I tell myself.
- Writing ANYTHING is good enough to get this over with.
- I just start typing away once more.
- 500 words of random bullshit.
- “But that’s OK, we are starting the creative process.”
- At least I try to convince myself that it’s OK.
- But it’s not. I don’t believe myself at all.
- I keep writing nonetheless.
- Most of it is nonsense and gibberish crap.
- “No worries, I can restructure it later.”, I keep telling myself. Still kinda not believing it though.
- Slowly, with time, my mind quiets itself a little bit. It no longer questions my “creative work” all the fucking time.
- I stop and go over what I have written so far.
- I realize that I am not judging myself as harshly as I did when I was just starting out. That’s cool for a change.
- I see a little piece and idea I resonate with.
- Can this be the foundation of an OK-ish post?
- Do I have a strong opinion about it?
- Somehow I like it.
- I resonate with it.
- I guess I’ll just give it a try.
- I write down some more ideas supporting this tiny “message”.
- I outline a full blog post. Looks good.
- I no longer care if anybody will read the post in the near future.
- I want it to be written.
- I want to write it for myself.
- I want to get it out of my system.
- I want this idea to “exist”.
- So I fill in all the gaps in the outline until it’s done.
- Everything flows very naturally now.
- Everything clicks.
- And done.
- Where did that come from?!
- I save it and close the window and don’t look at it again for the next couple of days.
- I revisit it one more time later that week and wonder who wrote it at first. Then I edit minor mistakes, rewrite complicated text passages and make them easier to understand.
- I remove the first paragraph and sometimes even the last.
- I remove a lot of nonsense in-between.
- I cut away a bit more.
- Can I remove that sentence as well?
- I let my computer read it to me with this weird Siri-sounding voice. It allows me to distance myself a little bit more from what I have written.
- I fix sentences that sound stupid or too complicated and go over it one more time.
- I read it out aloud yet again. Anything that I wouldn’t say in a normal day-to-day conversation goes to the trash immediately.
- Can I delete that section too without destroying the underlying message? Most of the times I can.
- Most of my rewriting is deleting and making it simpler. Trying to get the FK Score as low as possible.
- Now that’s good enough.
- And I am suddenly super proud about what I did.
- Especially given the rough start.
- I look back at how this piece of content was created and feel an immense feeling of gratitude and peace. I don’t know how that works exactly, but I guess it has to do with overcoming mind-made obstacles and refusing to give in. It’s a very liberating feeling.
- I thank “my muse” and give her credit.
- I publish the new post to the world.
- I created something from nothing.
- Whatever happens now doesn’t matter anymore.
- All that matters is to repeat it the next day all over again.
- But for now… I’ll watch another video of Jennifer Lawrence!
