I've already mentioned that good ol' AE was the inspiration for my post. Talk about the quintessential out-of-the-box-thinker. For us literary types, finding new, fresh, exciting ways of telling the same old tales one, two or a hundred times is the writer's holy grail. There are but so many themes, stories, fables, takes on human experience, and the merit of every tale is in the telling.
I can't tell you exactly what the key is to creative success, but I can tell you the number one cause of failure: fear. Fear of success; fear of failure, fear that we will , often despite ourselves, reveal more of ourselves than we intend in our writing; fear that what we write isn't good enough; fear of looking foolish. Just like old age, a writing career ain't for sissies. They say it takes courage to create, and it's true, because you have to put aside these very fears if we want to create anything valuable, innovative or new.
Energetically, fear resides in the root chakra, that relates to all issues of survival, finances and our most basic human impulses. Our root chakra is where our potential lies in the form of kundalini. Kundalini is the feminine energy coiled like a snake which only needs the proper impetus to rise. However, if this energy is blocked through fear, it cannot adequately reach the sacral or creative chakra right above it or the throat chakra which governs communication and self-expression.
For creativity to flow, we must address these fears on both energetic and pragmatic levels. Energetically, you can:
1. Make a practice of clearing your chakras. Take ten or fifteen minutes daily to "visualize" each of your chakras, in tern, from the root to the crown. Imagine each chakra spinning freely with the appropriately colored light. For more information on each chakra and what it represents, go here. If this method doesn't work for you, there are a plethora of chakra clearing meditations on the market. My favorite is by Laurelle Gaia but it is time consuming, about an hour a day.
2. Check your issues. If you want things to progress in your life, you can't get stuck in past problems, old thought patterns, or old ways of doing things. You have to be vigilant at rooting out what no longer serves you and getting rid of it. By this I mean if you find some situation in your life is not helping you, change it. Keep in mind, sometimes, the only way to change things is to change ourselves--either our behavior or our perception of the situation.
3. Try meditating. Training you mind to be silent or to focus on only what you want it to focus is an invaluable tool for a writer. Not only can you learn to drown out distractions and focus on your projects, but you can turn off that pesky internal editor that loves to nitpick your work to death. Sometimes, without knowing it, we let that little voice critique every aspect of our lives, spreading negativity throughout our lives. It is only when we can turn it off that we realize how detrimental our inner voice can be. The next step becomes training that voice to espouse our positive traits and general wonderfulness.
On a practical level, I offer a post from my website (that is in the middle of being revamped which is why I don't send you there). I originally wrote it for romance writers, but I've retooled it a little to fit all genres.
1. Don’t accept the first idea that pops into your head: Undoubtedly, your first thoughts are the easy solution to story plotting, phrasing or wording. Stretch yourself and your writing by coming up with alternate ideas.
2. Don’t read in your genre only: Read enough to know your market(s), but mining other genres, classic literature or non-fiction for ideas (or simple reading pleasure) can be more productive.
3. Don’t write a romance: Write a love story with a happy ending. Calling a novel a romance is in itself limiting, as it conjures up in the mind all the conventions and taboos of the genre. Okay, this one doesn't translate so well outside the romance market.
4. Don’t join a critique group: It is simply a matter of group dynamics that all collectives tend toward homogenization. And as some wise person once said, you can’t write by committee. Learn to trust your own
abilities.
5. Don’t follow the trends: Don’t jump on the nearest bandwagon just because a particular type of novel is selling. If your heart isn't in it, readers will know. Try to break through in a new way. Every trend starts somewhere.
6. Don’t get locked into telling one particular story: If some new and interesting plot twist pops into your mind, follow it for a while to see where it leads. It might be a dead end, or it might be just what the editor
ordered.
7. Don’t rest on your laurels: Strive to develop your craft, your vocabulary, your voice with each manuscript you work on.
8. Don’t give up: It’s easy to get discouraged if you don’t find success right away. But remember: Dr. Seuss was turned down 23 times before he found a home at Random House. 23 times. Imagine if he’d thrown in the towel (or in his case, the pen) after publisher number 22!!
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