Keys to Creative Flow, Part 2

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Do you ever get stuck? Feel like your creative taps are rusted shut? Well, never fear, help is at hand! Today marks Part 2 of a three-part series in which I share my favorite tricks for getting back into flow. You can find Part 1 right here. Enjoy! -Melissa

Last week, in Part 1 of this series, I shared the backstory of one of my favorite concepts: the metaphor of the Creative Sandbox, the mental space that we creators need to inhabit in order to spring free from perfectionist paralysis and get back to the joy of creating.

The Creative Sandbox is a space of experiments and messes, of freely flowing creative taps — so important for creative pros, who spent much of our day catering to the whims and desires of our clients. In order to avoid burnout, and stay connected to what got us into professional creative work in the first place, it is essential that we spend some time in the Creative Sandbox on a regular basis.

As I explained in Part 1, I developed ten “rules” for myself, in order to keep myself in the Creative Sandbox as much as possible. Whenever I’m feeling stuck, I consult these Rules for the Creative Sandbox, which are truly my keys to finding creative flow again.

I covered rules 1 and 2 last week, so this week we’re moving on, starting with:

3. Think quantity, not quality.

David Bayles and Ted Orland tell a great (true) story in their book Art & Fear, about a ceramics teacher who divided his class into two groups at the start of the semester.  The first group would be graded solely on the quality of their pots: they needed just one perfect pot to get an “A.” The second group would be graded solely on quantity—literally, by weight: 50 pounds of clay would get an “A,” 40 pounds a “B,” etc.

Guess which group made the better work: the quantity group!

The quality group spent the entire semester agonizing over that perfect pot, while the quantity group was cranking out pots and learning from their mistakes (and having fun!)

Of course we all want to achieve mastery. We all want to do excellent work. The irony, though, is that in order to achieve mastery and excellence, you’ve got to make a whole lot of crap first.

None of us like creating crap, but the truth is, we need crap to fertilize the good stuff!

Remember, as long as you aren’t being sloppy, if you take care of the quantity, the quality will take care of itself.

How would it feel to focus on quantity, rather than quality?

3b. Or don’t think quantity.

Sometimes focusing on quantity makes people anxious. My overarching rule of everything is, “Whatever works is right,” so if the notion of quantity stresses you out, or if it doesn’t work for your particular medium, then be intentional about it and don’t think quantity.

(This, it should go without saying, goes for all of my rules: if it works for you, great, but if not, move on!)

4. Think tiny and daily.

For over a decade, the only time I ever created just for fun was at an annual retreat with my calligraphy guild. I’d get so inspired at the retreat, and every year I’d come home fired up with plans to set aside a weekend ever month, or an afternoon every week to paint.

It never happened.

I thought I needed great, big chunks of time in order to create, but in 2011, I finally got realistic. On February 1 of that year, I made a commitment to make art for just fifteen minutes a day for the month. I could spend longer in the sandbox if I wanted, but if all I put in was fifteen minutes, I got to call it a success.

That year, thanks to just fifteen minutes a day, I ended up created more finished artworks than I had in the previous ten years combined!

I also discovered that fifteen minutes is enough to get into a state of flow (who knew?)

Even more surprising, I discovered that when I put a little bit of time in every day, I feel much more creatively fueled than when I put a longer time in, say, once a week. I still love it when I do get bigger chunks of time, but thinking tiny and daily keeps my toe in the creative stream in a way I did not expect.

There’s no magic to my choice of fifteen minutes. Your own “tiny and daily” goal might be ten minutes, or 27 minutes, or two minutes. It doesn’t matter, as long as it’s ridiculously achievable.

Starting is the hard part, and I’ve found with myself and my clients, that setting a tiny, ridiculously achievable goal generates a lot less resistance than when I set a big goal, and less resistance means I’m a lot more likely to actually make it happen.

Plus, with a ridiculously achievable goal, if I do fall off the wagon (which happens, because we’re human), it’s so much easier to climb back on.

Remember: the most important practice is just getting back on the wagon.

In addition to thinking tiny in terms of time, I’ve found it useful to think tiny in terms of physical size. Approaching a 4” x 4” or 6” x 6” canvas is a lot less intimidating than approaching one that’s six feet square! When I write, sometimes I limit myself to filling a single page, or even a 3×5 card.

Because working small like this is less intimidating, it means you’re more likely to actually do it. And if it comes out crappy, who cares? You’ll make another tiny thing tomorrow!

What would your version of tiny and daily look like?

5. Just start. Anywhere.

A few times in my life I’ve felt so stuck that I was convinced my creativity had been permanently quashed out of me.

Hogwash!

Creative taps never permanently dry up; they just get rusty from disuse.

The secret to clearing away the rust and freeing up the flow is simply to do something. And the even bigger secret is that it doesn’t matter what you do!

Just as those ceramic students couldn’t theorize their way to a perfect pot, you can’t think your way to creativity—it requires action.

Confession: I felt horribly blocked before writing this blog post, but once I started putting words on paper, things started to flow.

Next time you’re stuck, try just starting, anywhere. You may be surprised at how quickly your creative juices start to flow again.

6. Ask, “What if..?”

The best times for me in the Creative Sandbox are when my head is filled with questions.

“What if I drip the paint instead of brush it?”

“What if I poke a hole in the canvas?”

“What if I pull this peeling paint off the canvas?”

Seeking answers to these kinds of questions leads to new discoveries, and can even spark entirely new directions for your work.

What kinds of “What if..?” questions can you come up with for your creative work?

Next week I’ll close out with rules 7-10. Stay tuned, and in the meantime, try out the rules above and see how they work for you.

Go get creating!

Read Part 3 of this series here!

  • Robert Marchand says:

    When creativity is concern, everything should be on the table to discuss, share, criticize and rethink. No path should be avoided… One thing should be at the center point of creativity, fun, experimentation, discovery of new things. In other word, the journey should lead you somewhere you have never been before…

  • I like your thinking, Robert. :)

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