Creative writing – a psychological perspective
Fear is the cause of failure.
Failure starts when I'm not true to myself for fear of:
- external judgement: my mind is focused on what you think of me instead of roaming freely in a creative mood;
- high expectations: my mind is scared of not meeting the top target I'm imposing myself. Doing my best to get better does not mean caging my ideas for fear of them being wrong or silly;
- limited point of view: if I never look out of the window, I will live in a very small world. Being narrow minded implies missing tons of opportunities, prompts and fun;
- low motivation: if I put gas in a leaking tank I will never reach my objective. Low motivation is always a symptom of some fight that is happening between my behaviors and my values;
- external worries: everything that is not related to writing is a distraction that stops me from reaching my objective.
MY OBJECTIVE IS TO FREE MY CREATIVITY:
1) I decide to sign a contract with myself:
I ask myself: Why is writing so important to me?
"Stories are the single most powerful tool in a leader's toolkit” (Howard Gardner)
2) Once I'm clear about why I'm ready to do anything it takes to free my creativity, I need an action plan to verify my progress.
How to overcome:
- external judgement: I need higher self esteem and confidence in my abilities
- high expectations: I need to take destructive criticism and turn it into constructive criticism
- limited point of view: get out of my comfort zone
- low motivation: get to know my real values, how my behaviors affect them, fix the problem. This does not mean I give up. It means I compromise and choose a new satisfaction criteria.
- external worries: carefully choose what is more important. Is my worry really that crucial that I can't think about it later?
Immediate strategies to boost my creativity
It takes time to free my creativity. I need it today, right now.
THIS IS HOW I CAN GET MY CREATIVITY RIGHT NOW:
The genius of Walt Disney was to understand that the creative process comes in three different phases: creative, critic, and realist.
He then chose three different settings, each one devoted to only one of activity:
§ a room to daydream without criticism or interference
§ a room to cruelly criticize every idea
§ a room to be pragmatic, rational and realistic
I need to choose my settings carefully.
Where do I feel free to dream, no limits?
Why do I feel this way about the place?
If there's no such place available to me right now, how can I create it?
While I set up for work, I feel very thankful for my loyal and warm BFF... of course, it's CAFFE'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Have a good novel!
