Blog: Let’s get organised! (or dis-organised)

The creative brain…

‘Creative types’ have a reputation for being a little…disorganised… or even chaotic. Personally speaking, I think I’m pretty organised - that is until I attempt to arrange any creative thoughts which are trying to burst out and that I’m keen to share.

With the best will in the world, if you want to pour your amazing and revolutionary thoughts out onto paper, perhaps it’s a good idea to allow them to ‘do their thing’ before they are released (or are allowed to escape). If not, the resulting creation can become rushed or contrived. You can’t ‘force’ things, right? Now there’s nothing wrong with purposefully giving the consumer what they want in the form of commercial literature, but surely, true creativity comes from originality and we need to accept that ideas have to have time to mature and find their own place in the world. It works for wine and most of us can appreciate how successful that can be! Nothing can replace the opportunity for ‘time’ and self-thought’ to develop personality, maturity or flavour, surely?

Truth be told, I didn’t quite know where I was going when I started writing this blog. And that’s kind of the point. Ideas may appear and then evolve. “Creativity is the use of the imagination or original ideas to create something.” (Oxford dictionary) and can appear from ‘the kind of chaos that brings about flashes of genius’ (Freedom.to). Ideas are just that - a flash, a spark or a glimpse of something. An idea isn’t the whole story. The story - or the published book - which us authors aim for - is a combination of an idea, along with the thought process or ‘taming’ of the ideas, with a whole lot of knowledge, luck and superb timing thrown in too.

So you have the idea. Fabulous.

You have the resolve and determination to create a story. Great.

Let’s get started.

I remember as a teenager, sitting in classrooms and exam rooms with a prompt. Write X number of words about X in X amount of time. There’s nothing like stage fright to kill creative genius. Time limits; boundaries; stress.

Tumbleweed.

As a teacher, I tried my hardest to help the creative ability of my wards. Classical music, dimmed lights, doodle pads. The works! But lets be honest, we live in a world where deadlines are key. It’s all about results and nobody has time to wait for the prize to land in our lap. We don’t want to wait for things. But the literary world perfectly demonstrates that ‘good things come to those who wait’. You can’t rush results. If you do, you have to make compromises in the process.

You want the perfect draft? Edit, then edit again. This takes time.

You want an agent? You create the submission and you may have to do it again. And again. And again. This takes time.

If you rush your stories, then they won’t have as much of an opportunity to mature and progress naturally. Not only is nobody else in a rush, when it comes to the publishing industry, but it’s a competitive business. Everybody’s busy. If you are in a rush, you’re on your own and you’re going to be disappointed.

When you step into the publishing arena and the concept of creating a book, it’s a whole new world. I’m a naturally organised person, with a naturally disorganised brain. This really is an extra terrestrial universe, fully equipped with alien concepts. As an introvert, the self-confident and assertive world of publishing is as far out of my comfort zone as I can possibly get. Part of me feels like I would be more comfortable handing over my five year old child before feeling comfortable presenting a stranger with my literary heart and soul. Throw in the chaos of the disorganised brain and the unknown about the publishing world and at this point so many of us stop ourselves in our own tracks to question whether becoming a published writer is really the right path to take.

So how do you know if it is the right thing to do?

The creative urge - or ‘need’ to release those ideas might just make the decision for you. Let’s be honest; if there’s craziness within, you may as well release some. What’s the worst thing that can happen?!