Three Steps For Starting A Creative Project
When it comes to creating, getting started is the hardest part. The blank page is our first and most troubling obstacle. We want to create something, but what should it be?
What should I write about today?
What photos should I take?
What picture should I draw?
Generating new ideas tends to be the most challenging part of most creative projects.
A Better Writer
I used to write songs only when I was inspired. I love it when a song pours out of me because I’m overflowing with all the ideas and emotions needed to craft a song.
But a few years ago, I realized I wanted to be a better writer. A better writer of songs and just a better writer in general. I didn’t want to be a slave to sudden whims of inspiration. I wanted to create more things more often.
I knew that getting better meant I would need to get into the habit of creating daily (or at least most days). The most daunting thought of writing every day was wondering what in the heck I would write each day.
We Need Materials
We need materials to create. Only God makes something out of nothing. When we create something, we are assembling and synthesizing the words, ideas, colors, textures, sounds, and flavors we’ve picked up along the way. The new things we create are an undiscovered combination of the things we gathered.
Austin Kleon famously refers to this as “stealing” in his popular book “Steal Like An Artist.” (highly recommend btw)
Stealing doesn’t mean copying. Copying is not only wrong, but it’s also not creative. Stealing is being intentional about your influences. David Perell says it like this,
Imitate, then innovate.
Clarity About The Creative Process
I mention materials and influences because I think it’s helpful to get clear about how our creative process starts. Here are two big reasons:
Reason 1: We Learn How To Be Original
Clarity about the creative process keeps us from the fear of being influenced. Instead, we learn how to use our influences.
No one is original, and everyone is.
I mean that every creative endeavor is naturally shaped by a collection of the creator’s influences. You can and should be able to trace parts of a new creation to its influences. That’s normal and even a good thing.
Part of what makes each of us original is that we have varying perspectives because we have varying influences. When we embrace our multiple influences and lean into the synthesizing nature of our work, what we create becomes original.
Original usually means, “no one has thought to put these things together this way.”
Reason 2: Hijacking Inspiration
Clarity about the creative process helps us define what we need to do to create.
There was a day when it dawned on me, “If creating is synthesizing, then I need to get good at gathering raw material.”
This realization has helped me hijack inspiration.
Instead of waiting to be struck by inspiration (and hoping it happens in a moment where I can do something with it), I realized that I can channel inspiration whenever I’m ready for it. Let me show you how in the next section.
The Three Buckets of Creative Work
I suggest that what trips us up isn’t the blank page. The blank page is a symptom.
Our problem is not realizing that there are three buckets, three distinct tasks, within the creative process.
It’s possible to create without clearly defining the various steps we take to get to an end product. Still, it’s much easier and less frustrating when we define the different steps in our creative process.
My disclaimer is that you could probably break down the process into even more steps and gain even more clarity. If you’ve done that, I’m all for hearing it because I love learning about this stuff. Please share it with me in the comments. I’m sharing these three buckets because they’ve been helpful to me.
The three buckets in my creative process are:
Gathering, Ideating, and Brainstorming
Creating My First Draft
Editing
Why We Struggle
We struggle with the blank page because we are trying to do bucket one and two at the same time. When we do that, we’re being mean to our brain. It’s easy to get stuck and frustrated when switching gears between ideating and actually creating.
I enjoy my creative work much more when I set aside a time for coming up with ideas, time for working on the ideas I have, and then time to edit and smooth out the rough edges of my work.
Does this take more time? Maybe. In my experience, I end up being more productive and efficient in the long run. It’s also just more fun and less frustrating when I do things this way.
How To Beat The Blank Page
The way to overcome the blank page is to never have one.
To be a better and more consistent creator, I’ve learned to get really good at being a collector.
Collecting is about capturing, brainstorming, and ideating throughout the day.
For a few years now, I’ve been learning how to take good notes. Good notes set my brain free from trying to remember the thing that inspired me last week. I know my notes are good if they can rekindle inspiration when future me is ready to sit down and create.
I’ve developed a system for how I collect, capture, and take notes. Everyone’s system is personal and specific to them, but I’d be happy to share what I do if that’s something you’d be interested in. Let me know in the comments.
In this post, I just want to encourage you to get good at the first bucket. If you do, you’ll have an easier time creating because you’ll be removing the obstacle of the blank page. I like to think of it as simply being nice to myself.
Final Thoughts
Since creating stuff is my job, I’ll end by saying I think it’s fun that part of my job and my creative work is paying closer attention to the things I love and the things that are moving me creatively. For me, taking good notes isn’t just an added item on my to-do list; it’s about capturing moments of inspiration and harnessing them so I can use them when I’m ready.
Have you struggled with not feeling like you have any ideas? How could you get better at the first bucket? Maybe you have a good way of collecting and taking notes; I’d love to hear about it.
