The creative process, from the outside looking in, is something that looks like something that would be fun to try and get into. To some extent, it is! The kind of fulfilment that comes from doing creative (which is, to be fair, sort of a vague term nowadays) is not replicable at all.

But, doing the process consistently (at least, consistently while attempting to improve) is a lot harder than it looks, and definitely a lot harder than I expected. That is, actually, a big reason why I’ve found it difficult to do things very consistently (more on that later!).

Anyway, today, I want to just reflect on the creative process, in terms of what my experience is in doing “creative” things, especially as someone whose doing it purely due to internal motivation without having any real gain from doing it (except, of course, the unparalleled fulfilment that comes from doing it).

The 3 Parts of the Process

Right now, there are 3 main “parts”, or “steps”, of the creative process I follow when I decide to do something consistently:

1. Get Started: To some extent, this is the most difficult part, because it requires you to get past that initial hurdle and just do something (anything!) without being concerned about the quality of what you make. The difficulty with this step is often people - including me, I’m very guilty of this - tend to not take action, but only get into motion. That means, people (like me!) tend to do things that don’t directly lead to some form of output. This includes researching how to do a particular thing and planning. The ideal way to get over this step is to simultaneously take motion (like learning skills and planning out blog posts) and action (like actually writing and posting).
2. Getting Good: Once you get started with doing stuff (consistently!), you could begin understanding how to get good at the thing you’re doing. This could mean more detailed analysis about what you’re making, learning new skills, or investing more time (or money!) into the things you make. This is the part I’m stuck on; I feel this urge to make things that are more valuable to people (instead of just random stuff), and also to improve my writing ability. This means I need to invest more time into writing blog posts (and making videos!), but I’ve not understood the logistics of that yet. And so, right now, the fact is the need to post something (and the inherent urge to procrastinate) is at odds with the urge to make something valuable.
3. Getting Smart: Here’s where you start making things that people also want to consume (more applicable if you’re publishing what you’re making). This could also mean setting up systems that make doing creative things a lot easier! I’ve not yet reached this step, so I don’t really have any insight for this… but you may find value in watching this video!

The Issue with Getting Good

These days, I’ve been finding it difficult to have ideas that I’m really happy with and really want to take forward and make into something good. Honestly, even the idea of this blog post wasn’t all that appealing to me! But I think working on this for a little bit has made me like it a lot more. I guess I need to sit with the idea and let it grow on me, I guess!

This whole idea sort of reminds me of what it’s like to make music.

Often, I have a very distinct picture (or sound) in my head about what a song is going to sound like, or I have a brainwave of a cool bassline or melody, for example. At this point, I’m extremely excited about the idea and I really want to work on it more.

But, when I come back to it and I start adding more and more stuff to it, I start hating it more and more. Perhaps it has something to do with me becoming tired of the idea too!

To start liking it again, I have to push through this phase of it being pretty bad (and me not even wanting to work on it anymore) and chisel at it more and more until I get to a point where I’m really happy with the results.

The issue, now, is two-fold: firstly, it’s coming up with ideas I really love; and secondly, it’s working on the idea for long enough so that I actually start liking it.

How will I get past it?

1. Building Systems I think building systems to make something is pretty crucial to doing something consistently, and that’s something I need to work on. I need systems that help define what I want to get done on certain days, and what sequence of events I should follow when making something. Systems that help plan videos and blog posts help too!
2. Invest More Time Most of the time, when I make something, I tend to cram on the last day and do everything - from planning to writing to publishing - in just an hour or two. That sort of works with the kind of stuff I did before, but the stuff I want to do demands a more rigorous time investment, and that’s what I intend to give it.
3. Small Bits Doing something is better than doing nothing, so even when I’m not feeling well enough (mentally) to do everything, I’ll at least do something. Also, when I have small pockets of time to spare, I’ll do small bits of work; whether that’s structuring a blog post or coming up with video ideas.

Alright! That’s all for this week, and I hope this was valuable to at least someone!

Thanks for reading!