As an author, I am often asked where I get my ideas from. Some people assume that artists are born a higher quantity of a finite substance called “creativity”. It follows logically that regular folks, who were not blessed with whimsy, must safeguard their limited amount or it will run out like a depleted well.

Creativity is more like a Mogwai. When it is watered, it spawns more and more Mogwai, but never feed your Mogwai after midnight because then it will become a Gremlin.

  

Wait…  Let’s try again.  Creativity is like gardening.  You create a space and prepare it.  You make sure the soil is fertilized and that the area will get enough sun.  You decide what to you’d like to grow and plant your seeds.  You water every day and weed when needed.  You ward off pests to protect your crop.  You watch like a proud parent as your fruits and vegetables grow big, strong and beautiful.  You reap your harvest and lo, and behold, you have hundreds more seeds that you could plant over again.

You don’t need a designated space to be creative, but it helps. A space where you feel safe to explore and experiment is a protected, fertile environment to plant your ideas. Then you need to water them with attention. They can’t grow without you actively giving your time and energy.

You need to protect yourself and your ideas from others who may be negative or judgmental. They may destroy your creation before it is ever fully realized. When your creation is fully formed, it will be self sufficient and resilient, with a life of its own.

             PEST                               PEST

During the whole process, you will have discovered a hundred other opportunities to start again in another way and you will be nourished by your previous success.

It’s a corny analogy (get it, corny), but it is apt enough. Creativity takes follow-through on an idea and that same follow-through leads to more ideas. Creativity takes a risk. Some ideas may “die”, but others will blossom more successfully than you could have imagined.

You may have one idea that you’ve been saving, holding on to it because you’ve thought your creativity was finite. I suggest you plant it and create a garden teeming with life.

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Tags: Creativity, Gardening, getting ideas, how to, Pests, writers block, writing, writing advice, writing tips

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 at 2:48 pm and is filed under For Artists, For Authors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.