Expect the Creative Process to Be Uneven and Messy

Today’s post is by writer and creativity coach Anne Carley (@amcarley.bsky.social) who believes #becomingunstuck is an ongoing process. This is the sixth and final post in the series.

There will be little rubs and disappointments everywhere, and we are all apt to expect too much; but then, if one scheme of happiness fails, human nature turns to another; if the first calculation is wrong, we make a second better: we find comfort somewhere.

—Jane Austen, Mansfield Park

In Austen’s novel, Mrs. Grant is explaining to her new, unmarried friend Mary Crawford the positive growth that can happen after a marriage, even to a relative stranger. I like to adapt Austen’s words to the creative life because Mrs. Grant’s message transfers well.

Rubs and disappointments

As makers of things that didn’t exist before, we’re each going to deal with “little rubs and disappointments,” high expectations, and dashed hopes. Our human nature is built to turn to another scheme of happiness after one scheme fails. Just like those early GPS units, when surprised by a turn we made, would bleat “recalculating” until they caught up, we’re capable of pausing, adjusting our plan, and reframing our narrative. It’s all part of the deal.

I’m stuck a lot. I imagine many of us are. Point is, that’s not really negotiable. Stuckness is as stuckness does. My stuckness today might look unattainably wonderful to the me years ago who was too crazed a workaholic to make time for regular creative pursuits, instead setting aside long holiday weekends for songwriting binges. Nowadays, a state of fluid creativity happens more often. The rest of the time, it’s reasonable to expect stops and starts. Rubs and disappointments, along with smooth, serendipitous states of flow.

On a bad day, getting stuck can feel like it’s all rubs and disappointments with no meaningful creativity to balance things out. It’s a lousy feeling. The temptation can be strong to attack the stuckness. I suggest another approach.

Finesse resistance

Going after the stuckness head on, like an action hero going after the villain, might feel sweepingly cinematic. But a shift in focus, or indirection, or intentional distraction might be wiser than attacking your resistance. Resistance isn’t an enemy to be vanquished. It’s part of a creative life, but doesn’t need to dominate. Normalize resistance as another feature of your everyday experience, and you’ve already loosened its grip. Shift your focus to something mundane that you can do right now, and resistance will start fading, as though you moved the Transparency slider in a graphics app closer to zero.

Relax and remember

Instead of stressing out whenever we encounter stuckness, resistance, and “rubs and disappointments,” we can relax and remember that the creative process is messy and uneven. The meaning we make comes from the work we put in, day after day, year after year. This is the good news. Summing up this series of posts for Jane, I offer the following nuggets for your attention.

• Even when an observer might call it lazy, laissez-faire can be your best friend. Trusting the process means accepting that we can’t predict the future, nor can we expect every new element of our work to fit neatly, just clicking into place with what has come before.
• Keep at it, when everything lights up as well as when it doesn’t. Those golden moments come around again, especially when we routinely persist during their absence.
• Rewrite/revise with clarity, adjusting your focus as needed. Think of the optometrist’s device, and click away until the sentence or paragraph is sharp.
• Determine whose voice is on repeat in your head with the discouragement, belittlement, or bullying—and stop listening whenever it isn’t yours.
• Unclutter your stuff, relationships, and words to clear the way for your own creative flow. Protecting your creative energy this way is surprisingly powerful.
• Get out of the silo and open your mind to other people’s ideas, responses, and behavior. Doing this will also keep you from isolating and losing your sense of connection to other creative people, while providing them with the support, friendship, and a sense of belonging that all primates require.
• Sustain your creative process by staying true to yourself. Competition, anger, complaining, and obsessing about the marketplace may not be good focuses for your attention. Consider paying more attention to your creative needs in the moment, instead.

In the words of RuPaul, “Fulfillment isn’t found over the rainbow—it’s found in the here and now. Today I define success by the fluidity with which I transcend emotional landmines and choose joy and gratitude instead.”