3.2 Understand and hone your creative process

"Big success comes when we do a few things well. You need to be doing fewer things for more effect."

Gary Keller, The One Thing

When we first begin to write, before any thought of publication or career, we go to the blank page based on an inner urge, a desire to pour out something within. That urge is like the attraction to a lover, one we are desperate to spend more time with. But in becoming a professional writer, we need to write when that urge isn't present. For sure, it still comes sometimes, whirling us into ecstasy, but the life of a professional writer is more like a marriage with creativity, when process and routine are more important than an occasional passionate encounter that is too soon finished and spent.

Each of us has our own creative process, but until you understand yours, you may find yourself flailing around at the start of every book, or even within it. You might feel a resistance to this codification of something that seems uncatchable somehow, but it will simplify your life and allow more time for your mind to spend creating.

Here's an extract from my journal in March 2010 as I wrote my first novel while still working the day job:

"I had a marvelous day writing today. I immersed myself in the topic, did some mind-maps and research and wrote 3,500 words. I wasn't distracted, just focused. What's the key to getting into this state? I need to know so that I can repeat it.

• Mulching time: I've been thinking a lot about the plot and ideas, sleeping on it, and my subconscious has had time to play. My characters are solidifying and as I learn more, I can see the novel coming together.
• Concentrated effort: no distractions for a few hours. I listened to rain and thunderstorms on repeat to enable deeper concentration.
• Being ready to write: I felt frustrated that I haven't written all week, but today I made up for it.
• Writing before I do anything else: I can't write creatively in the evenings as my brain has exploded from other work, so I need to write in the mornings before I get distracted by everything else.
• Think of writing time as playtime: It's fun making stuff up! Don't buy into your own hype. 'My writing is SO important!' This stifles my inner creative child."

This was the start of discovering how my creative process works, or at least the writing part. Back then, I was still working on Microsoft Word, but now I use Scrivener software, which is one of the biggest improvements in my process, as it helps the writer organize and wrangle ideas. I use it to set up scenes or chapters using one-liners before writing the first draft, and for a mini-outline for the biggest high points of the book, but mainly, I make it up as I go along. You can find my other recommended tools at: www.TheCreativePenn.com/tools

My mantra is: Trust emergence.

Something will come when I go to the page.

I still write creatively in the mornings and I still listen to rain and thunderstorms to get into a concentrated state. I tend to write new words in cafes or libraries, away from my home office where I do all the other things that go into running a creative business. I'm sitting in a cafe right now with my trusty cup of coffee to hand. I also dictate at my standing desk or out walking. I will typically do two hours and then move somewhere else to get some fresh air en route and then do another two hours, which is usually all I can manage in one session.

My editing process is also clear now. My first draft is finished when someone could read the whole thing end to end as a coherent book, with nothing missing like "Insert action scene here." I print out the first draft and then edit by hand, again usually in cafes. I then make the changes into Scrivener and add in what I need to, rewrite and fix. Then I print and edit by hand again. Sometimes the book is ready at this point and I can send it to a professional editor, but sometimes I'll need to repeat that process until it's done.

I use different editors for fiction and non-fiction and then make editorial changes before using a proofreader prior to publication. I sometimes use beta-readers for specific topics, e.g. for dark fantasy thriller Risen Gods, which is based in New Zealand with erupting volcanoes and Maori mythology, I had a vulcanologist and a Maori beta reader to check for any issues.

It's also important to notice and acknowledge the psychological journey that you go through as part of the creative process. It can be frustrating to try and wrangle huge ideas, or to struggle to find the time to write, or to knit together parts of a book that just don't seem to gel. Perhaps you want to tear your hair out over edits! But remember, as Elizabeth Gilbert says in Big Magic,

"Frustration is not an interruption of your process; frustration is the process."

The experience you have while writing and who you become over that time is the point. Pushing through frustration to success, celebrating those small wins of words written or chapters finished is perhaps the most important part of the journey. You are changing your mind and maybe your life and those of others through what you write. There is definitely something mystical in what we do, but it only happens if we can commit to working out a sustainable process that keeps us creating for the long term.

"Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work."

Gustave Flaubert