The Creative Process can be a Magical and Mystical Journey!

For most people who are not writers, authoring something may seem like a pretty straightforward endeavor.

You have an idea, so you sit down and write it out, then you publish it and sell it. The End.

There are — perhaps — a tiny handful of writers on the planet for whom it is that simple. Often they are seasoned published authors who are starting their 34th book... and the entire process is pretty "old hat" to them.

For most writers — and particularly those laboring over their first manuscript — the process of writing is more like giving birth. Strike that... it's more like the entire relationship process, from meeting someone, to forming a relationship, to falling in love, to eventually (perhaps!) giving birth.

In many cases, writing a book is about a lot more than just "writing a book."

It becomes a journey of creativity and self-discovery that often takes years. For example, a recent client I worked with spent the better part of twenty years getting from the point of having the original idea to being ready for publication. 

We are often hard on ourselves because we feel like it's a personal failing that we "can't just sit down and distill our idea into a finished manuscript in 90 days."

After all, we meet all sorts of other project deadlines in our lives, all the time. 

Right?

But that's rarely how the creative process works. And I say that, both as a writer, and as an artist. Creativity ebbs and flows, and when we're not feeling creatively inspired, chances are we wouldn't be happy with the outcome, if we were to try to force ourselves.

Besides, we would miss out on the magical and mystical moments of insight and self-discovery that often goes hand-in-hand with the creative process.

So, why not just let your creativity flow at its own natural pace? Sometimes that pace might be three weeks of frenetic activity followed by five months of dormancy — but that's really OK, too!

Thanks for reading, and remember to enjoy the process!

Too Much (Bad) Content — A Philosophical Ramble

The world of the Internet and on-demand self-publishing has been a blessing for many writers. People who have previously labored in obscurity have found outlets for their words, and many have enjoyed great success.

At the same time, we have also ended up with somewhat of a nightmare. 

What do I mean?

Well, now pretty much anyone who's ever been told by a doting and enabling aunt that they are good at writing can get their work in front of a potential audience.

As holds true for much of the human experience, what is our greatest strength can also be our Achilles heel.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favor of freedom of speech and all that, but we also live in the age of "Information Overload."

This morning, I had 252 emails in my inbox, quite a few of which were summaries of "newly published" pieces on various news sites and "bloggy" article aggregator sites. 

With the time demands made on most of us — and that would include myself — I'm barely going to be able to just process the email, let alone to spend time reading largely unnecessary content on several dozen web sites!

Think about it: If you end up with 500 people all thinking you have just six minutes to go read their article, you are already up to 50 hours a day!

That's what "Information Overload" IS, to my way of thinking.

The Concept of "Adding Value"

In one of the blogging communities I belong to, we have recently been discussing the importance (or lack) of "Quality Content."

There is a strong belief among many engaged in "Social Publishing" that in the age of social media, pretty much anything goes.

As these discussions go back and forth, I find that I have grown less attached to the notion of quality content, rather than focusing on the question of whether or not something adds value. 

If you're doing little more than making noise, while not actually adding anything of value to a dialogue, why bother? 

Of course, that's just my personal opinion!