Perfection. Expectation. Judgment. All constrictions on our creative freedom. In this post, I’ll share some thoughts on how to let your creative ideas roam free and give yourself permission to let them do so.
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Excerpted from my Raymond Waites Morning Pages journal on June 14, 2017
I just finished reading the chapter for Week 4 in The Artist’s Way and was inspired to write in these MPs again. I obviously haven’t been writing daily in them, but I’m not going to demean myself because of it. I’ve been busy doing other writing.
I’m nearly ready to release Smart FOCUS, Book 2 into the world, and I’ve been writing new short stories courtesy of this year’s Writer’s Games. So far, I haven’t yet placed in the top five, and I’ve just missed the deadline for the easiest assignment of all—I’m still kicking myself for that one—but at least I have new material for future books/anthologies, and I’m getting much-needed writing experience and practice.1
I’ve been dying to create more in my Bullet Journal (BuJo), but I can never seem to come up with any ideas. I guess this goes back to the notion of sitting down to the work and forcing the Muse to appear rather than waiting for it to strike. Case in point: The Writer’s Games offers around thirty “events,” each one a different creative idea for a story. If I didn’t receive these event notifications each week, I’d never get anywhere waiting to conjure up my own ideas. The events themselves were the catalyst for more writing production. Deadlines have helped as well.
I feel in a creative mood today, but it feels more like a wanna be mood instead of actual creativity; creative impersonation instead of the real thing. For example: If I were actually creative, I would allow myself to create without regard to perfection and how messy it can get.
Instead of “coloring within the lines,” I would allow myself to play with the colors and create my own lines. Who says creativity and ideas have to be perfect to write them down? Ideas, by default, are formless and void, much like the earth itself before God molded it and gave it a form that suited His creative purposes. Was God afraid to create something out of nothing? Are you not created in His image, to create in the same mindset of confidence? Is it a sin to be imperfect?
Who says creativity and ideas have to be perfect to write them down?
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We strive for perfection because we want to see the best vision for our ideas, but the best vision—where they play best—is in the playground of spontaneity and imperfection, free from the bonds of expectation and judgment by their creator, allowed to take their own shape before being directed into a more recognizable form.
Morning Pages Journal
Be the Clay
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Jun 5
This, one of the final entries in my Morning Pages Journal, is probably one of my most inspired entries in the entire notebook. I hope it inspires you to take your own creative action, your own first draft of something bigger.
Why put your ideas on such a strict leash? Let them be free to run and play on the page!
It is in this frame of mind that you must develop a habit of creation. Strive for daily creation. Make time for it; your creative self will thank you and reward you with masterpieces. They will have rough edges, to be sure, but you can smooth them out after the creation process has been allowed to roam free.
Why put your ideas on such a strict leash? Let them be free to run and play on the page!
Think of all your ideas as first draft quality. You, as the creator, will then be free to create worlds of your own. Then, you can step back, survey your creation, and declare, “It is good.” Ideas are good in their very nature. Just the fact that you write them down is praiseworthy. Give birth to many ideas throughout the course of your life. Don’t abort them before they’ve had a chance to grow and mature; before they’ve had a chance to impact and change the world with their potential.
I, the creator, hereby give myself permission to go forth, be fruitful, and multiply in my creative efforts. To spread the seeds of ideas far and wide into the vast expanse of the unknown. Some ideas will take root and flourish. Some will die by the wayside, paving the way for new and better ideas. It is not for me to judge or have respect of person regarding my ideas. It is only for me to create and supply a healthy environment for them to thrive.
Signed…
Give birth to many ideas throughout the course of your life. Don’t abort them before they’ve had a chance to grow and mature; before they’ve had a chance to impact and change the world with their potential.
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