On Craft…
Once you get good at a few writing tricks, it feels like a relief. However, over time, you start relying on those tricks and your writing starts to feel less inspired—you start to hit a rut with your work. The jury’s still out on if I believe in writer’s block, but I do believe we are responsible for a lot of our creative ruts. It’s too easy to get comfortable as a writer, and then, next thing you know, you’re bored out of your mind by your own process.
When you’re first starting out doing anything creative, you absolutely suck. Which makes everything fun! You get to learn and grow, and every step forward feels monumental. The moment you get a handle on a few stylistic devices, you feel like a genius, and that feeling fuels your work for a time. However, you will reach a point where those one-note tricks that have become your go-to moves stop fulfilling you or feeding your work.
I believe a lot of creative ruts come from not trusting your gut and not getting messy with your work. You stagnate, in part, because you are worried about perfect execution. You play too close to the chest, and deploy tricks you know how to develop with unparalleled polish. Here’s the rub, though: People aren’t all that interested in who you are as a creative technician. They love the mess of a piece of art. Write that unwieldy sentence. Take that sloppily composed shot. This is where you will find your inspiration once more.
If you have an itch to express yourself, but you’re finding you don’t have the tools to do it to your liking, express yourself anyway! Don’t keep yourself from getting messy with your work. A poorly written sentence might inspire 50 incredible sentences, but you won’t know if you don’t sit down and let yourself be less than perfect on the page. Relying on your honed tricks will only get you so far. There’s so much value in doing your best and having your best be a gateway to getting better.
Messy writing is exciting! It has a mind and heart of its own, and it can guide you to some of the most interesting places. The moment you sterilize your work under the pressure of it needing to be perfect and presentable from start to finish, that’s the moment you tie your hands back and cut off your creative energy. Mess is critical. And that can be mess in all ways: Print out your work and lay it all over your room or office, for instance. Create literal chaos, and let the high of making things get you out of the rut you’ve created.
I cannot stress enough how little perfection matters. You want things to be good and all, but perfection is a myth. Nothing you do will suit everyone all the time, so why aspire to something unattainable that is harming your process? Whenever you’re stuck, tap into the energy you had for your work when you were just beginning. Let yourself be “bad” at the work. You’ll be surprised how much you can create once you stop thinking of yourself in terms of advanced or beginner, and start thinking of yourself as a maker.