Dear Reader,
This letter isn’t really about Taylor Swift, except for in one respect: she just keeps producing albums. Have you ever wondered how she does it, year after year, tour after tour? Or, for that matter, how any prolific artist keeps producing good work and avoiding burn out? For me, it’s an ebb and flow. If I’m motivated, I don’t have the time, and if I have the time, I’m stuck. Or I’ve pushed myself too hard and become burnt out.
I don’t pretend to know Taylor’s secrets, but I have a few strategies that work for me to feed my creativity.
Fill Your Creative Well
Have you ever tried to scoop water out of an empty tub. Physically impossible, right? If you don’t fill the “creative well” in you, you won’t have any reserves to draw from when it comes to write, or make music or whatever you do. It doesn’t mean that you are copying other work; just that, as artists, we are constantly being influenced, sometimes in unexpected ways.
For writers, this looks like reading inside your genre, but also outside your genre. I find influences and concepts popping up in my work that originated from surprising places. Read good books. Listen to good music. Look at good paintings. We are always consuming something. Too often it’s Instagram or some other mindless social media forming in us what Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson calls an “idolatrous imagination.” Be mindful about what is forming your imagination, and it will in turn feed your art.
Rest, Rest, Rest
I definitely don’t do this well, so I am preaching to myself. Take a break. This can look like filling the creative well, engaging in another creative hobby, or allowing yourself to make art without worrying about deadlines or goals. Maybe even taking a break from making art altogether. If you’re worried about losing momentum, take a short break—one day off. You will come back refreshed and renewed—and hopefully much more productive.
Surround Yourself with Community
Recently, I was feeling disillusioned with my writing. For a while, I’d been occupied with various tasks on the business side of writing and questioning the purpose of any of it. Then I noticed one of my writer’s groups discussing different aspects of their stories, like magic systems and world-building. Then it hit me: they really love this. It reminded me of how I used to feel about writing, without all the undue pressure I put on myself: just doing it because it was fun. Recalling this helped me refocus my heart and mind.
We were created for community. Surrounding yourself with other artists is encouraging. Not only can they help you improve, they can inspire you. So often, writing and other creative endeavors can be incredibly isolating. Having a community reminds us that we are not alone.
Join the conversation
What do you do to fill your creative well?