(Check out the IWSG website here.)
So sorry, dear followers for missing last month and being late on this month's IWSG post! I had a terrible cold-ish thing going on last month and was basically dead for three days. . .anyway, all better now!
I found this FANTASTIC article that basically resonated with all my insecurities about writing. The article, titled "8 Bad Habits that Crush Your Creativity and Stifle Your Success" (http://www.copyblogger.com/creativity-killers/) and written by Dean Rieck, actually empowered me greatly to get over this insecurities. That first step to solving a problem is identifying it, right?
Anyway, here are the 8 things:
1. Creating and evaluating at the same time
"Most people evaluate too soon and too often, and therefore create less. In order to create more and better ideas, you must separate creation from evaluation, coming up with lots of ideas first, then judging their worth later."
2. The Expert Syndrome
"This a big problem in any field where there are lots of gurus who tell you their secrets of success. It’s wise to listen, but unwise to follow without question."
3. Fear of failure
". . .if you try too hard to avoid failure, you’ll also avoid success. It has been said that to increase your success rate, you should aim to make more mistakes. In other words, take more chances and you’ll succeed more often. Those few really great ideas you come up with will more than compensate for all the dumb mistakes you make."
4. Fear of ambiguity
"What I do know is that most great creative ideas emerge from a swirl of chaos. You must develop a part of yourself that is comfortable with mess and confusion. You should become comfortable with things that work even when you don’t understand why."
5. Lack of confidence
"Instead of dividing the world into the possible and impossible, divide it into what you’ve tried and what you haven’t tried. There are a million pathways to success."
6. Discouragement from other people
"The path to every victory is paved with predictions of failure. And once you have a big win under your belt, all the naysayers will shut their noise and see you for what you are — a creative force to be reckoned with."
7. Being overwhelmed by information
"It’s been said that information is to the brain what food is to the body. True enough. But just as you can overeat, you can also overthink."
8. Being trapped by false limits
"We’re all a product of our experience. But the limitations we have are self-imposed. They are false limits. Only when you force yourself to look past what you know and feel comfortable with can you come up with the breakthrough ideas you’re looking for.
"Be open to anything. Step outside your comfort zone. Consider how those in unrelated areas do what they do. What seems impossible today may seem surprisingly doable tomorrow."
Interesting thoughts, no?
Hope you all had a very blessed Christmas season and all the best for 2014!
Yeah, I'd say that's pretty much the eight reasons people give up (or never begin) writing. I think a lot of writers may be religious because of #4. "You should become comfortable with things that work even when you don’t understand why." Religious people tend to "understand" miracles and the hand of the Lord in helping them make their ideas into something amazing.
ReplyDeleteWhen I get into creative mode and begin to write there is nothing in my mind besides the words I'm putting down. All other distractions are pushed aside. To do it right, IMO, is to focus on the goal ahead. I do this as much for an escape as for discipline.
ReplyDeleteTry not to over think what you are doing and just go with it instead. :-)
Anna from Shout with Emaginette