This Is How A Creative Process Works
It’s different for everyone so I checked with a few creatives
Now that we’re all working alone a little more often than we’re probably used to, it’s important to keep yourself inspired. To challenge your creativity. Especially when you’re a professional creative. It can be — and I can say this from experience — a little difficult to motivate and inspire yourself. Be creative. Be productive.
And that’s where my train of thought often goes wrong. Being creative is a different thing than being productive. Quit often, I call myself lazy because I’ve been daydreaming all morning, played 83 games of Solitaire on my phone and not writing a single word. But this is me being creative. By daydreaming, mindlessly solving a puzzle or just wandering around town, I get the best ideas. Back home, I sit down, open up my laptop and start writing. Well, I should. But that’s a whole other thing. Luckily, Medium is full of articles on how to be productive so I wont be getting into that.
Take a shower or sit on your couch
I recently read an article (this one, it’s Dutch, sorry) about how to be creative when working alone. The author linked to another article where someone wrote how he usually got creative. “When I’m stuck writing a complex paragraph, I take a shower in the middle of the day, hoping the warm water will get me some new inspiration. […] About half an hour after my visit to the bathroom, sitting with wet hair, it’s often easier to finish my article”, he wrote. I liked the contradiction, a friend of mine — also a journalist — had just told me about her creative process. She hates sitting at a desk while writing an article. “I make tons of cups of coffee, let them get cold and sit on my couch slogging to finish it”, she said.
While I was being lazy one morning, playing Solitaire and daydreaming, I got the idea to ask several creatives about their process. How do they work, is it different for every creative? Rocher Koendjbiharie recently became the editor-in-chief of Expreszo, an online queer magazine. “My creativity sometimes comes from nothing”, he told me. “When I’m in the shower, or meditating. An idea just pops up in my head. Or a sentence or concept just comes to me. That’s the starting point for the story I’m about to write.” If this doesn’t happen, he sort of forces himself to get creative. “My head does not alway cooperate with me. These moments, I just start typing. It doesn’t matter if it’s nonsense or not. After about ten minutes, I’ll get in ‘the flow’.”
Dissolving in your work
Fiona Gobbo is brand designer and blogger and has to ‘dissolve in her work’, as she describes it herself. “Flat white, laptop on and just go. Sometimes ideas come alive because I see something on social media, talk to a fellow entrepreneur or while listening to a podcast. A web of thoughts and ideas is forming in my head. If really have to write down these ideas quickly, otherwise I’ll forget them.” Creative entrepreneur Ron Simpson also gains inspiration from things he ‘runs into’. “It’s a very unique combination between inspiration and being curious. I never know what the trigger for an idea will be. Sometimes it’s an insight, a problem I want to solve, sometimes a story or an image is enough. But once there’s a spark of inspiration, my brain unleashes an endless waterfall of ideas, possibilities, colors, shapes, smells and names.”
It’s a process that never ends, says illustrator Thirza Kok. “It’s sort of a continuity of thoughts. Those thoughts are always looking for connections. It never stops, not even in your subconsciousness. That’s why you usually get the best ideas at the stupidest moments. Not because you suddenly think of something, but because your brain was working on it for a while. Like when folding the laundry. Your brain can settle down and you brain sees the connections that you’re looking for to create a strong concept.”
There are no rules
Turn that idea into something is a little more complicated, says Ron. “My experience taught me how to curate input and create a little peace in my mind. That’s what I need to create a wire frame for the idea. It’s how I change a chaotic overflow of possibilities I got from a brainstorm into a structured, clear concept.” Thirza also forces herself to change an idea into a concept or plan. “To figure out a concept, I take my time. Go to a coffee house and just draw and dream for about four hours. While riding my bike home or during a walk, all the ideas come back and I start building a structured plan. Until there’s finally a strong, well-thought plan.”
One thing is clear, when it comes to your creative process, there are no rules. “I listen to my head and my heart and let inspiration and energie lead me the way. But there’s barely a process or system that helps me”, says Ron. “I don’t live by any rule.” Thirza has just one rules: it has to be fun. “People sometimes ask me: do you ever run out of creativity? I don’t. On the contrary, it’s getting more and better. Thanks to experience, you know how to recognize the good ideas and filter out the bad ones.”
Turns out, I’m not that weird and unproductive when I’m daydreaming. It’s my way to get to new ideas. What’s yours?
Hi! I’m Ingelise de Vries, a journalist and (copy)writer from The Netherlands. That means I’m Dutch, so there could be a mistake in this piece. Spotted one? Don’t hesitate to let me know through info@ingelisedevries.nl. Want to know more about me? I’m telling you all about it right here.
