How To Know If You Are In A Creative Rut

As creative professionals, we assume that our biggest problem, will probably be that we are taking too many risks. The risk of not having financial security. The risk of doing work that makes people uncomfortable. The risk of not investing enough in marketing ourselves and our work. You may even think that being in a rut could never happen to you.

The funny thing about human beings is that we are incredible at adapting to our environment. We start off in a new situation, we are nervous, maybe scared, then we figure things out. Slowly the new situation becomes comfortable, we get the hang of it, and before we know it, we are in a rut. Actually, doing research for my most recent book, I learned how this really works in our brain. When we are doing something new, learning a new skill, adapting to a new environment, our brains need a way to create a shortcut, a way to remember and execute the actions we need to easily. So each time we do something new, maybe play a certain tune on the piano, or give a speech, we strengthen the white matter or myelin in our brains for that action (see the excellent The Talent Code) for a thorough explanation of this phenomenon. The more we strengthen the myelin, the easier it gets to play that particular tune or give that particular speech. 

So let's say the first few months or year of creating custom social media banners for clients, or designing infographics, you are challenging yourself, coming up with new ideas, really pushing the boundaries of your own skill set. Then, you start to get into a groove. Your work is appreciated, the checks keep coming in, and you are confident about your abilities. At this point you are feeling good. And the work is piling up, you don’t have time to look around, to see what is missing, what you are not doing.

But the problem you see is, that you might be in a rut, and you don’t even realize it. 

I was reading Shonda Rhimes' excellent memoir Year of Yes, and in the book, she talks about how although her creative career was going brilliantly, in every other aspect of her life, she was stuck in a rut. She was afraid of trying new things, of saying yes to new opportunities, from the fear of messing it up, or being vulnerable. I recognized myself in that description - I had become afraid to try anything new, to venture outside my comfort zone. The only difference is, that I was doing this in my creative life.

I have written 6 books so far, and all of them have been very different from each other. I haven’t just been doing the same thing over and over. So why do I think I haven’t taken the risks? Because I was afraid to write something that revealed more of myself, that meant I would have to be vulnerable. I wrote from my head, but not my heart. To some extent, in my most recent book, I did tap into beliefs that are really deeply held, and I think that’s why this book has been far better received than my previous ones. But I still haven’t really been able to take a risk and really share more of the real me. 

Not everyone gets creatively stuck in the same ways. For some people it could be that without realizing it, they have stopped trying to venture into different aspects of their field, and just keep doing the work that is safe and pays the bills. For others, it might mean that they are stuck reading the same books, meeting the same people, watching the same TV shows, and are not cultivating any new experiences. For some, it could even be something as simple as being unexcited about their work, being bored and wishing for something external to excite them again.

If you feel like you’re falling out of love with your work, or your life, sometimes all you need is a simple shift in perspective. In Rhimes’ memoir, she explains that her shift came when she realized that she simply needed to start saying yes to things, even or especially when, they scared her. For me, recently a shift in perspective happened when I decided to simply try things that I was interested in, without demanding that I do them brilliantly or that they were immediately successful. 

One of the results of this decision was that I finally started to do interviews of authors on my blog, something that I was really interested in doing, but avoided earlier for fear of adding to my workload and taking away from my book writing. Yes, it is a lot of work. But reaching out to so many different authors, I am learning a lot, and the whole process has been a blast. 

So if you are doing creative work of some kind, and feel like you have got into a rut, try to do something that you have always wanted to and haven’t either had the courage to do or made the time. Start a side project that has no commercial value. Do something that is just for you. Alternatively, mix up your creative inputs. Join a group where you are likely to meet totally different people. Read books in a genre you never considered before - maybe read non-fiction if you only fiction or the other way around. Ask friends for recommendations for good podcasts or shows that wouldn’t usually come up on your radar. Take an online course.

All of this is time-consuming and disruptive to your normal routine. And that is kind of the point. We are busy, more than ever, and there is a never-ending list of things to get done. But at the end of the day, what each of us really wants, is to do something inspiring, to leave a legacy, to touch someone, even just one person. In order to do this, we need to expand ourselves, get out of our own head and do something unexpected. We need to have what Zen Buddhists call “beginner’s mind”, where you look at something from a fresh perspective, when you are open to learning and to the possibility...of life. 

If you enjoy these posts, would you consider sharing them with your networks? I post an author interview every Wednesday, and other writing-adjacent thoughts periodically. You can join me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+. 

How To Edit A Non-Fiction Book

I posted the first of my author interview's this week, with Scott Thompson. I have also lined up several more interviews, which will be available every Wednesday. One of the fascinating aspects of interviewing authors for me is finding out their writing and editing process, and seeing what I can learn from them. In keeping with that theme, for today's post, I thought I would talk about my own process, specifically, how I edit my non-fiction books.

I will use the experience of writing my most recent book, Anyone Can Get An A+, to describe my current editing process, some of which has evolved.

For this particular book, I wrote the draft in about 3 weeks. I wrote most of the draft long-hand and then typed it up, into Scrivener. I have talked about my process and use of Scrivener before, but my process has also changed somewhat.

So once I have the whole draft typed up, I take stock of what I have. By this time, I had many individual sections, but I couldn’t see how they fit together. It took me a few days of staring at this draft in Scrivener, and moving the pieces around (which is really easy to do, and why I use Scrivener for this phase) till I found a flow that I was happy with. Although, I did move a few sections around later, when I realized they would fit better elsewhere. But by now I had about 95% of the structure locked down.

At this point, I moved my process to Word. For some inexplicable reason, probably harking back to my days writing papers in university, when I wrote interminable drafts in Word, I am much more comfortable editing with the track change feature, knowing I can go back to earlier changes, without losing the previous versions.

So I compiled each chapter in Word, and created a separate document – usually something like Chapter 1_1.0.docx. The reason I number the drafts is because I go through several editing phases. So 1.0 is the unedited document. Then I save as, and actually start working on 1.1. I know this all sounds incredibly anal, and I am sure no one else has such a crazy process, but for me it actually helps me to feel less anxious about making a mistake. I can always return to an earlier version, although I never do. I almost never even consult older versions, with very few exceptions, but having them gives me the peace of mind to go ahead and make drastic edits if I need to.

So at this point I read through the document and try to decide the big-picture changes I want to make. For this book, I actually created little story beats (a term I got from Write. Publish. Repeat.) for each section. So I basically jotted down in bullet points the points I wanted to make in that section. I know its sort of strange to create an outline after I have a first draft, but I like the first draft to be completely loose and have the freedom to write anything, go anywhere. That is probably why I need such a rigorous editing process, to ensure that I can fix the mistakes or fill in the gaps from my crazy first draft.

Okay, so it you're keeping track, by now I have a first draft that is all over the place, and a structure with chapters, and sections which each have a short bulleted list of points that are important to cover. So now I read the section and see what bullet points I have missed out, and this is the stage where I write those in. And delete anything that doesn’t seem to make sense, or move things that belong to another section. All of this is with track changes on, so I can see the changes I made. And this is crucial to me, and while I make the changes with the hide feature on, I periodically toggle back to the other view. And by the time I am done with one pass of this, no paragraph has escaped my brutal editing process – and there are all sorts of deletions and insertions and moves all over the place.

Now, I save as and create version 1.2 or something like that. Because I have made so many changes that if I make more changes at this point, I will simply be overwriting. So at this point, I check that my story beats cover everything they need to, and that each section covers the points in the beat. Or I alter my beats if need be. And go through this pass again, this time filling in any missing research, or adding any relevant examples. By now the draft is looking much less messy and more like a book.

I usually capture this process in a map or spreadsheet of some kind. Nothing too fancy, just a table in Evernote or a hand-drawn map, where I write down the steps I envisage, and where I am with each chapter, so I can see at-a-glance how much I have left to do.

Now if I am happy with the content, I start the polishing phase. I go through each section and do a very close line-edit. The purpose of this edit is to make sure the concepts are well-explained, especially for this book, because I had included a lot of scientific research, and I wanted to ensure that it was readily understandable by anyone. I had to re-write entire sections because some sections were very clunky. This is also the point where I finalized the chapter and section titles. I also researched suitable quotes for the beginning of each chapter, something that I had only decided to do during the polishing phase.

After I was relatively happy with the line-editing phase, I moved onto the final phase – proofreading. I saved the document again (by this point it was probably version 6 or 7). I meticulously went over each line, usually in Word's fullscreen mode with the text at a pretty large font size so I could catch any errors. I would inevitable find many typos as well as lines that were clunky and needed to be re-written. Once this phase was over, I finalized the footnotes, tracking down all the references from the research I did. I did tend to put in the footnotes as I went, but this is the phase where I double-checked this. I am pretty obsessive about footnotes, again another hang-up from my legal training.

By now the book is really that, a book. Well not quite, because I always leave the introduction to the end. I can never figure out what to write, and for this book I was having a melt-down because I was on deadline. I had to complete it by a certain date, and the intro kept tripping me up. But anyway, I did get it done in time, and by the end of all this, I was actually pretty happy with the book. I would even go so far as to say that it is my best book yet.

So anyway, this is the process I followed while writing my most recent book, and with some alterations, the process I generally follow to write non-fiction. I hope this helps you in some way, if you are currently writing or thinking about writing a non-fiction book. 

If you enjoy these posts, would you consider sharing them with your networks? I post an author interview every Wednesday, and other writing-adjacent thoughts periodically. You can join me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+. 

How I Write: Authors on Their Writing Process - Scott Thompson

As evidenced by the many posts on the creative process on this blog, I am fascinated in the nuts and bolts of how creativity happens. Perhaps I am just curious, or maybe I am hoping to get some nuggets of wisdom that I can steal, ahem borrow, from other creative professionals. 

That is why, I am starting a new feature on the blog, of interviews of authors, asking them various questions about their writing process, what tools and technology they use, how they edit and market their books, and generally about how they get a book from idea to finished product. 

Our first author interview is with a writer from Atlanta, Georgia, whose second novel is releasing shortly - Scott Thompson. 

    Hello Scott. Welcome to Creativity@Work and thanks for participating in this interview! 

    1.       When did you first start writing?

Probably as a kid, but it wasn’t very good until my late 30s. I was always a storyteller. It took me longer to learn how to put my stories on paper.

2.       What are your books about? Are you self / traditionally published or hybrid?

My books are about life. I’m interested in the journey we humans take in becoming better people and finding our purpose.

My latest book, Eight Days, is published by French Press Bookworks. I have self-published a couple of short stories, but that’s only so people can sample my writing. I enjoy working with a publisher and making friends with the other authors and staff. Writing is a lonely process, and it’s nice to find other writers around the world who are like me. 

3.        What led to your love for literature? Any favorite books / teachers / writing mentors?

I was lucky enough to grow up in the American South, where we are taught by stories. Very few of the stories and legends one grows up with in the South are true, but some are, and you never know the difference. I learned how to write from my teachers, but my love of the story came from people with very little education. There are always lessons to teach, and if you can’t teach them through books you use verbal stories. 

4.         What's your writing process like? Do you outline? Do you write by hand / type / dictate?

If it’s a book, I outline first, but I don’t let the outline control me too much. If the characters or events take the story in a different direction, I follow.

I may write down ideas on paper, but I create my stories on a computer. The connection between my mind and the screen is tight. Many writers work best from paper first, but my mind works best in digital.

5.         What's your editing process?

I do some editing as I write the first draft, but not too much. If one edits too much before the entire story is put down it’s difficult to finish. I will go through several revisions after the first draft is completed. Then I’ll let someone read it and revise based on their ideas. It’s easy to mess up continuity or for a character to do something without motivation. First readers of manuscripts catch these sort of errors.   

6.         Who or what inspires you? Where / how do you get your book ideas?

Some ideas come late at night or even in dreams, when my mind has time to wander. There are a hundred ideas a day for writers if we look. For me, inspiration comes from within. I drive myself harder than anyone else.

7.         Do you have a writing routine / schedule? Any specific rituals?

I try to write every day. To get writing again I’ll do a quick read through or edit from the previous day’s work. This gets me back into that world so that I can continue. Writing is work, and just like any work or job, you have to do it. There are no secrets. It’s discipline.

8.          Describe your desk / writing corner / favorite writing spot.

I would love to have a writing room that overlooks a mountain or lake, or both, but right now, I write anywhere I can. The great thing about the digital world is that I can carry a laptop and write in the library, in a coffee shop, at home, or on vacation. If I have a few hours of peace, I can write.

9.          Do you ever get writers' block? What are some ways you get around it?

I don’t know if writer’s block is real. It isn’t for me. The only problem I have is motivation. I’ve found that the real secret to finishing a novel is discipline. There is talent and craft, and those are huge, but those don’t help you if you don’t have the discipline to work until a project is finished. Just do it, as Nike said in an old advertisement. Discipline is the secret to writing a novel, and the secret to success in almost any life challenge.

10.        How much research do you do? What kind?

For Eight Days, I read every scholarly book I could find about the afterlife. I avoided fiction books about Heaven, and I avoided the “Heaven is real” type books. I didn’t want those to influence my story.

11.        How much marketing do you do? Which platforms are you most active on? 

I try to meet with book clubs, at libraries, and bookstores when asked. I enjoy talking about writing, and I will meet with anyone who’ll have me. I promote online too. My weird brain interacts well digitally.  

12.        What books do you like to read? What are you reading now?

    I like fiction, but I try to read everything I can. I don’t avoid any type of author or authors of any race, sex, religion, or whatever. There’s something to learn from everyone, and I do learn from people (authors) who are different from me. One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen readers make is when they say they are not going to read any male author, or American authors, etc. I understand their motivation – they want to expand their knowledge – but you don’t grow as a person by excluding anyone. It’s better to say you want to read as much as you can in X genre or area, but never exclude anyone or anything. You’ll miss too much.    


Bio:

   

    Scott Thompson is the author of two novels, magazine articles, and multiple short stories. He is a founding editor of the arts journal, Grand Central Review. His latest novel, Eight Days, takes place in the Lowcountry of South Carolina and follows a man who has recently died, but before he can pass to eternity, he must deal with the greatest regrets from his life. Thompson lives near Atlanta, Georgia, USA with his family. Learn more at AuthorScottThompson.com 

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Most Recent Novel: Eight Days

Clive Kinsella lived a good life. He had a family who loved him and he was never without a job, a place to live, or a warm meal. But Clive died unfulfilled. Despite all his gifts he could only see what he didn't have. He never wrote for a big newspaper in a big city. He never traveled the world. In fact, he never got out of his small Southern town. And ... he never faced the ghosts that haunted him.

At his own funeral Clive meets Pachu, his grandfather who had died years before, and with Pachu he begins a journey through his life where he has to finally face his greatest regrets and agonies. But, if Clive can't overcome his regrets he'll be forced to wander the place between Heaven and Earth. Each day Clive revisits events in life in a sort of spiritual recording, the same events that took him from being an optimistic young man to a curmudgeon.

For every day he overcomes he gets to visit a place on earth he never saw before, and the reader is taken to places like Half Dome in Yosemite and Venice, where Pachu and Clive discuss existence and the meaning of life. But if Clive can't overcome his greatest regrets, he'll be trapped in the in-between as a ghost.

Eight Days is available to pre-order now on Amazon.

If you enjoy these posts, would you consider sharing them with your networks? I post an author interview every Wednesday, and other writing-adjacent thoughts periodically. You can join me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.