10 Life Changing Lessons About Creativity
Learnt from The Art of Creative Thinking by Rod Judkins
Freedom of Obscurity
There is something so liberating in knowing that I care more about what I create than anyone else.
Rejection
I have thought about this topic extensively; wondering how often creatives on the brink of ‘success’ have given up; and thinking of those who have persevered.
Rejection is an inevitable part of being a writer. It is how we respond to rejection that matters.
‘Rejection strengthens and invigorates the resolve of highly successful people.’ (242)
Self-criticism
This is interesting to think about in contrast to self-doubt — another topic I have thought about extensively (and felt fully!). While it is important to come to our work with a critical-eye (especially in the editing process); self-criticism can be paralysing. In the early drafting of a work, the important thing is just to write.
Self-doubt
I love the way Judkins addresses self-doubt, seeing ‘fear of failure’ as a motivator for success.
In my own writing life, I have found that beyond even the most crippling self-doubt, lies the greatest opportunity for growth. It is following these periods that I have — as Martha Alderson suggests in The Plot Whisperer — ‘recommitted’ to the craft more deeply.
Passion
Judkins asserts that we should be driven by our own passion, not by what we believe others want to see.
Writing can be gruelling. The subject must be engaging enough to sustain the writer (and thus ultimately the reader).
Be the Subject
Kate Forsyth — among others — offers this advice. Before commencing her historical fiction, she listens to the music her character would have listened to; reads the books her character would have read.
Writer, immerse yourself.
Truth
A creative must ‘reveal’ not ‘conceal’. Advice, also given by my fav. author, Ann Patchett in This is the Story of a Happy Marriage: ‘Tell the truth.’
Awe & Shock
The reader must be made to feel something; whatever the emotion.
Daydreaming
This, again, is an idea I have found expressed in multiple places; the benefits of daydreaming. It is bizarre how easy it is to become obsessed with ‘achieving’ and getting the work done.
When we allow space for our mind to wander; that is when we are at our most creative.
Disappointments
Times when I have felt disappointment the deepest; this is when I have experienced the greatest moments of growth and change.
‘We learn more from disappointments than from successes.’ (188)
Also see:
YouTube: The Write Read with Mary-Clare Terrill
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Reference: Judkins, R. (2015). The Art of Creative Thinking. Sceptre, Hodder & Stoughton, Hachette.