Creativity Is Its Own Reward

by Diane Solomon

Ah, writing fiction. I write novels by myself and also with my brilliant husband, Mark Carey. The fiction-writing path is full of magical discovery. There are surprises, even revelations, as you let your characters drive the story, and say what they will. It is the utmost fun.

The joy of creativity drives me. It always has! I’ve been in the creative world for a long time, first singing and performing on stage and TV in the UK. Songwriting. Then screenwriting. Then non-fiction books. Then middle-grade fiction with The Ravenstone series. Then romantic suspense with Eva. And now a time travel mystery thriller called Dream Traveler, due out soon. Each genre is a learning curve; each is entirely, completely, absolutely different. 

What is creativity, exactly?

Creativity is the act of innovation and imagination. When you are creative, you are able to see the world in new ways, leaving traditional ideas or patterns behind. You’re not ruled by the usual interpretations of ideas. You think outside the box.

Is that off-putting? You don’t think you can come up with something new? It has all been done? But wait – it is how things are put together that can be new. And, here is the kicker: there is only one you, so no one will do things quite as you do. You are unique, as is your way of doing things.

Being creative is often a calling. Are you compelled to create, be it art, music, poetry, fiction? Then you must do it. You must do it to fulfill your passion in life.  Without it you may feel dead, unfulfilled, trudging through the three-foot mud slog of life, day by day, without experiencing the joy of your own heart.

But, I hear you ask:“Will someone else like my artistic endeavor?” My answer: Who cares? Seriously. WHO CARES?

A few tips for artists and writers everywhere:

1) Dare to Suck – (or Dare to Fail, for those of you appalled by the vulgarity.) As a singer/songwriter, I learned early (after an ego struggle) to trust the creative process and dive deeply into it. You have to dare to be criticized, dare to be silly, dare to be crazy, to be wild. You have to Dare to Suck.

2) Give up Being a Perfectionist  – Or you will never show anyone anything. Now I know I said Who Cares, but you still want to let someone else see it! Don’t you? Maybe not… now there’s a thought.

Forget going for perfect. Go for excellent, instead.

3) Allow Your Passion to Grow and Drive You – “The more extreme and the more expressed that passion is, the more unbearable does life seem without it. It reminds us that if passion dies or is denied, we are partly dead and that soon, come what may, we will be wholly so.”  ~John Boorman (English film-maker known for feature films such as Point Blank, Deliverance, Excalibur, The Emerald Forest, Hope and Glory, and more.)

My husband calls my passion, “extreme heart.” My heart must be involved in my writing. By that, I mean the work holds powerful elements of honor, integrity, caring for others, meaning, courage, and love. The protagonists, the main characters in my fiction need to be real, to be human, with flaws, certainly, but with good hearts. (Ok, ok, yes, I am Pollyanna.)

Creative passion is that energy that pours out from your very essence, from your soul.  And, since passion gives us energy, the greater the passion, the greater the creativity.

Let it flow!

4) Do it for the Bliss of it, Nothing More – There are moments during writing where I forget myself entirely. I lose track of time and look up after a couple of hours realizing I am cold, or starving, or some other bodily demand is hollering at me.

But, what a feeling! Pure meditational creativity. The writing seems to have taken over. Sometimes you look down and are surprised by what you read, as if you didn’t, in fact, write it.  I can only describe this experience as somehow verging on transcendent, in that it feels beyond the limits of experience, or independent of this world. It is exciting, inspiring, and rewarding.

So go for it; lose yourself. And remember the old maxim: It’s the journey, not the destination.

Creativity truly is its own reward.