The “Creative High” is real!

25 Thursday Apr 2019

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Inspiration, Writing

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Am Writing, Biomedical Engineering, brain chemistry, creative high, Creativity, dopamine, Goldsmiths University, London, Louis L'Amour, Medical Physics, neuroscience, Ray Bradbury, Vienna Center, writer's high, writer's life, Writing, Zen in the Art of Writing

Artists of all mediums have experienced the energetic bliss of the “creative high” at one time or another. I certainly did when painting and designing, as much as I have while writing. Maybe we didn’t talk about it, but we knew it was there. That it was real. Ray Bradbury, alluded to the creative high in his famous quote on writing:

You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. —Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing

In recent years, neuroscientists have conducted studies that scientifically prove what artists of all types have known all along.

The biology behind the magic of “Aha!”

Vienna’s Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering in collaboration with Goldsmiths University London discovered the secret of the “Aha!-moment”. When people have a flash of insight when solving a puzzle, the mood-enhancing substance dopamine is released. The same is true with artistic creation and insights.

And it just gets better! The initial release of dopamine from a creative endeavor generates continued creativity. L’Amour understood this, as shown in his well known quote on how to avoid writer’s block:

Start writing, no matter about what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on. You can sit and look at a page for a long time and nothing will happen. Start writing and it will. —Louis L’Amour

The creative two-step

According to science and world-renown authors, how to get and stay creative can be summed up in two steps:

Do (create), be (happy). Do, be, Do.
Keep on, keeping on.

Backed by science

If you want to learn more about creativity and the chemistry of your brain:

Zen and the art of creative rhythm

06 Sunday Jan 2019

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Creativity, Music, Writing

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Claude Debussy, Clint Eastwood, creative rhythm, Creativity, Elizabeth Fais, Hillary Swank, Million Dollar Baby, Music, Ray Bradbury, Zen, Zen in the Art of Writing

In the Western world, we are judged—and often judge ourselves—by how much we do. That’s not a bad thing, it’s just not always conducive for creativity. Writing, like other creative processes, has a rhythm.

The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between them. —Claude Debussy

Musical structure, by definition, is rhythmic. It relies as much on the silence in between the notes as the notes themselves. The written word is much the same, as is the creative process itself. When creativity is continuously forced, full-speed-ahead, we eventually lose inner and outer balance along with the ability to create.

You may have families, jobs, or other obligations that demand a lot of attention on a daily basis. Making time to write may push your limits some days, especially if you’re on deadline. The secret to maintaining your creative rhythm is to periodically step back, if only for a few moments:

listen to classical music during your commute
stop for a few minutes to fully appreciate a sunset
take a short walk and focus on nature
sit for a mini meditation, two or three minutes works wonders

I love the line from the film Million Dollar Baby when Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) tells Maggie Fitzgerald (Hillary Swank), who he’s coaching in boxing, “Sometimes the best punch you can land, is to take a step back.”

This is not a new concept. It’s Zen wisdom that we intrinsically know, but often forget when swept up in the flurry of life’s demands. Ray Bradbury‘s book, Zen in the Art of Writing, provides a deeper look into the practice from the viewpoint of a master.

There’s no time—or age—limit on creativity!

24 Wednesday Oct 2018

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Inspiration, Writing

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Creativity, Elizabeth Fais, Inspiration, Kate Messner, Mary E. Pearson, SCBWI, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, The Adoration of Jenna Fox, The Jenna Fox Chronicles, The Remnant Chronicles, Writing

CreativityUnlimited
Mary E. Pearson, author of The Remnant Chronicles, heralded the call to reason that “There is no creative clock ticking!” in her blog post on ageism in YA. This truth, as expressed by New York Times bestselling author Susan Dennard, is worth repeating:

There is no expiration date on writing. There is no expiration date on success, and I will keep preaching this until my younger and older readers believe me.—Susan Dennard

I’m as guilty as anyone for rushing to charge across the Publication Finish Line. I wrote my first young adult novel in two months with the idea that “that would be it.” Luckily, common sense seeped in. I rewrote that book three times before realizing I needed to work on my craft and deepen my understanding of story structure. It finally hit me that once a book is published that’s it. There’s no do-overs. That’s when I decided to take Time out of the Publication Equation.

At a local author event, Mary E. Pearson admitted that it was 10 years before she published her first novel. Her fourth novel, The Adoration of Jenna Fox, was the start of the hit series The Jenna Fox Chronicles. Pearson didn’t rush. She honed her craft and storytelling to resonate on a deeply human level.

Taking time out of the equation

Taking time out of the equation for a project isn’t always easy. It took me a year to figure out the right approach and voice for the picture book manuscript I’m currently revising. I was feeling bad about it taking me so long to get to that point. Then I saw the following tweet by Kate Messner and felt instantly better:

Woke up this morning with the right voice in my head for a picture book I’ve been trying to write for THREE YEARS. Writers, that’s why we should never give up on those dormant drafts! —Kate Messner

In a followup tweet, Kate admitted it had actually taken 4 years!

I’m currently revising for my third young adult novel, as well as my third picture book manuscript. I want my stories to be as good I as I can possibly make them, and I’m willing to work until they get there. You don’t have to be under, or over, a certain age to get published. The secret to getting published is to not give up!

When you’re in a creative slump

I’m not one to wait around for creativity to strike. When I’m in a creativity slump, I work on something different. If that doesn’t help, I immerse myself in other creative mediums, such as film, television series, music, or dance.

If your creativity is in retrograde, check out how some authors get their ideas in my post on how to Be your own muse. You might also like Creativity kickstart for writers ~ 5 super fun steps.

Time is relative. The journey is the reward. Enjoy the ride!

Time-is-irrelevent

Creativity kickstart for writers ~ 5 super fun steps!

26 Friday Jan 2018

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Creativity, Writing

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Character Arc, character relationships, Character traits, Creativity, Elizabeth Fais, Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Inspiration, International Creativity Month, JK Rowling, Setting, The Art of Doing Nothing, Veronique Vienne, world building

January is International Creativity Month, a great time to remember where the magic happens in the creative process. If we’re honest, there’s two drastically different sides to writing fiction:

OC (obsessive compulsive)—the linear, orderly mindset required for tracking the details that make a novel rich and believable
Happy place—where stories start and creativity takes flight

Getting lost in the necessary details

We have to think linearly, assess the plausible, and be orderly and organized in execution to write good fiction. As Mark Twain so adeptly explained, “Fiction, after all, has to make sense.”

Writing a novel requires tracking story structure, character traits and arcs, setting and world building details. And maybe more! JK Rowling created an overall spreadsheet for the Harry Potter series, as well as spreadsheets for each individual book. The following image is of Rowling’s hand drawn spreadsheet for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Rowling’s grid outlines the chapter, month, chapter title, with an explanation of how that chapter relates to the over-arching plot of the book. There are columns for each of the book’s six subplots (prophecies, Harry’s romantic interests, Dumbledore’s Army, Order of the Phoenix, Snape and crew, and Hagrid) as well.

Remembering all the necessary details across hundreds of pages can bog down the heartiest of writers, especially when under deadline. Luckily, there’s a cure!

Creative rejuvenation

Creativity is innate to everyone. Much of what is perceived as “writer’s block” is temporary amnesia, we’ve forgotten the pure joy of having fun. When your creative fuel tank sputters on empty, try the following steps to blast your creativity into orbit:

Do something silly, like running up the Down escalator, jumping on the bed, or having a food fight. Breaking up your routine with something random and unexpected, opens a creative doorway.
Make a creative mess. A BIG one! Nothing breaks the bonds of orderly stuckness quicker than doing something that’s the total opposite.
Skip. Everywhere. For an entire day! We stop skipping around the age of 10 or 12, but no one knows why. Scientifically that is. I think it’s because that’s the age we start forgetting how to naturally have fun. Skipping for an entire day will force you to remember what it was like to be naturally happy. Instant creativity is the result.
Do something your 12 year-old self loved to do. For me it was rollerblading, but do whatever made you happy at that age. Again, it’s about tricking yourself into remembering what it’s like to be naturally happy. Then, the creative faucet turns on with firehose force.
Give yourself permission to do NOTHING for an entire day. This is harder than it sounds. In our overachiever society, we’ve forgotten how to slow down and live in the moment. For more about this creativity enhancing practice, check out The Art of Doing Nothing, by Veronique Vienne.