Do I Need Help with Creativity? Buddy, I Don’t Even Know Why I’m Here!

I had my first inkling of wanting to write books when I was in high school. I had no idea how such a thing happened. How do you convince someone to publish your story? How do you write all the words to tell the story? How do you type?

Actually, I knew how to type and was pretty good at it. But the rest of it? No idea.

The Beatles song, Paperback Writer, bounced around my head enough that I actually thought someone would give you a job to be a paperback writer. Like you clock in, write a book, clock out, collect a paycheck.

I was too shy, naïve, and dumb to figure out how to go to school for it. I know a BFA in creative writing won’t get you a publishing deal, but I would have met people who cared about writing, who might help me figure out how to write.

My approach was to take a single class in creative writing and start hacking away at it; I didn’t meet a whole lot of writers that way. I met a few, though, and that’s what kept me going.

There’s that saying, “The teacher appears when the student is ready.” I suspect getting a BFA, and maybe even the MFA, moves the student along towards “ready” faster than my approach.

Still, I eventually found some great teachers. And a couple of stinkers.

At first, I thought if I came up with an interesting enough idea then I could write/sell/publish a book. But I didn’t have enough life experience to know what was interesting.

Also, my lack of talent was a bit of a hinderance, messing with my confidence.

Nevertheless, I soldiered on with stories, screenplays, novels, and films. I gathered hundreds of rejections, entered a gross of contests. All for naught.

I slowly developed a decent sense of what creativity is, but wanted the output—the story, script, or book—to be quick and easy. I was thinking I could sell something, and attracted too many teachers teaching me shortcuts.

Nothing sold.

Eventually, though, I found a teacher who set me on a better path.

After years of irrefutable evidence that I had no control over how the public/agents/publishers would react to my work, it finally sank in. To cater to the public, chasing after trends, is to waste one’s time. You can’t catch up to the trends. Trends shift and morph. They are the group mind revealed, but you can’t write to it effectively.

What I think happens is that an artist creates something that matters to them, a work of art influenced by the group mind of this world. It emerges from the artist’s creative subconscious and resonates with others. It’s fresh, and sincere, and packed with meaning. It sparks a trend.

With all the arts, it’s the same: create the best work of art you know how to make. Offer it, explain it, give it away if you have to. But if folks don’t love it, you can’t convince them otherwise.

Maybe you’re a bit behind the times, maybe your ahead of the times.

Create the best book you possibly can, with a great, compelling story. Entertain the readers. Leave them satisfied. You can offer your books to agents and publishers and bookstores alike, but you can’t make them buy.

Learn to tap into your creativity. Make art that matters to you. Find your tribe to help you develop your skills, then find your audience.

None of it is fast or easy. Being an artist can be a slow grind but it’s not a bad way to live.

You’re not here just to produce a bunch of things. It’s fine to make a living producing things if you can find that job, but you should also find time to do your art.

The fun part of life is being creative. Using your creativity to solve problems, delight each other, or otherwise enhance our life. You walk out into the urban jungle and gather food, make friends, learn. You come back to your place of shelter and share what you gathered and learned. You enhance your friendships.

You draw a picture to share, or tell a story, or sing a song.

You use your creativity.