Gathering Phase
In this first part of the creative process, we have to be open to everything and collect the pieces that we find interesting. Here, we collect seeds that will later grow to be our project.
For a written piece it could be a sentence, a thesis, a plot point, etc.
For a song, it could be a phrase, a tune, or a rhythmic feel.
For a business, it could be a common inconvenience, a societal need, a technical advancement, or a personal interest.
We don’t get to choose when to collect the seeds, they will appear out of nowhere. To collect good seeds we need to constantly remind ourselves that we are indeed looking for them.
While collecting, we already have some kind of vision for a particular seed. But not all of them will survive in the end, even the most exciting ones can end up in the rubbish.
Put aside a few weeks for collecting the seeds, looking over them, and reprocessing them.
Work reveals itself as you go
- Rick Rubin
Experimenting phase
In this phase, we are looking to see if we can get the seeds to flourish.
There is no right way to experiment. We just have to interact with the seeds in different manners.
If the seed is a character in a book, adding a deeper backstory, writing from the character's point of view, or looking at the character as the bad guy could be ways to experiment.
This part is one of the most fun ones. Here, you have nothing to lose. There are no rules.
Failure is the information you need to get where you’re going
- Rick Rubin
Crafting phase
Once you found your seeds and carefully experimented with them it’s time to build the actual thing. In the crafting phase we work with constraints, we work with only the material that we chose.
