Don't Box-In Your Creative Process

The creative process is anything but obvious—a truth that the outside world can never truly understand. The ​daily struggle​. The adrenaline. The ​second-guessing​. The blood, sweat, and joy.

The myth of the genius artist and the flash of insight is just that, a myth.

It’s only part of the story.

As a creator, you know that the creative process is never just one thing. It’s never just insight, or just hard work. The creative process is made up of intervals, like breathing in and out.

“Writing a book is an adventure,” wrote Winston Churchill. “To begin with it is a toy and an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, then it becomes a master, then it becomes a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster and fling it to the public.”

Music producer Rick Rubin ​described the process​ with a bit more equanimity: “I would suggest that you write and record as much as you can, all of the time, and…think of it as a hobby. Just think, “my hobby is I’m gonna write and record songs.” And then there will come a time through that process where you look back and you go, “Hmm, I think this batch is ready to share with people.”

Which of these two approaches resonates with you today? Wait a week, and the opposite advice might feel like a serendipitous word from your guardian angel.

Here’s the point: don’t box yourself into one-sided thinking about your process. Every approach has a season. The advice you don’t need now may soon find purchase.

Never stop pushing yourself out of your ​comfort zone​.