My Creative Process – What’s Yours?

/ Carmen Suarez

My Creative Process  (Enjoy the podcast or the transcription below)

 

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I was asked this question the other day when I was speaking to a group of women.  The question was:  What is your creative process?

I don’t know why I was so taken aback by the question.  It’s a valid question,  but I guess I hadn’t really thought about it as a creative process.

I think one of the most important things that you can do as an artist, in any way shape or form that doesn’t get enough credit, is daydream.

I go running in the morning down to the beach and I have a bench that I sit at that I absolutely love – and there are times when I’ll drive down to the beach even after I’ve gone for a workout or whatever and I’ll just sit on that bench and I daydream.  The process of being able to sit quietly and just think things through — this is probably the most important thing that I do as an artist especially when it comes to writing and especially when it comes to writing my book.  Those stories are pretty much real true stories that happened to me, but I had to decide how to tell the story.

So one of the things  I would do, is kind of see that story in my head and imagine myself back there. And sometimes that’s a really good thing, and sometimes it’s a hard thing, but that’s the first part of my process.  And I think sometimes we’re really mean to ourselves about daydreaming and about just having time to imagine, imagination and story-telling.  In our own heads we kind of think we’re being lazy or you know that we should be automatically writing everything right now…  that’s not how it works for me.

I spend a lot more time thinking about what it is I’m going to write — and then I am someone who writes in journals.  And I prefer that texture of actual paper to pen — pen to paper —  so I will write out those stories and I write every morning and it is long hand and sometimes it’s cursive sometimes it’s printing sometimes I’m just doodling, sometimes I’m writing just the name over and over and over again – Like you did in high school or whatever.  Some people who follow my blog have seen some of my Journal entries.  The reason why I don’t do them all the time is because I’m not always “journaling” about one subject and you know sometimes I’m venting or trying to process things because it is a Journal.

But I do enjoy that long-hand part, so once I write down that story or that part of the imagination or day dream that I had,  then I go and I put it on the computer.  I just basically try to put it into some type of form on Word and then I leave it alone.  I leave it alone for a long time. And then I come back to it.  It could be a month later, or it can be 2 days later, but I come back to it and make a decision on whether or not I’m gonna keep that or not.  Then once I keep it, it is sent to an editor.

I tell people when I first wrote my book it was 664 pages. Now it’s not that at all, I think it’s like 160 pages now — but I wrote everything and then I went through the process of having three different people — that I will call editors – they were people who know me and who don’t know me – and I wanted them to just look at it for clarity.  And then I had an actual editor work on it before it got published of course.

That’s the process of how I went about doing my book and that is the process that I’m going through right now with the second book that I’m writing as well.  And in everything I’ve ever done, dancing, acting, any of these things —  I do kind of the same thing: I daydream.  I imagine, I dream and I try to conceptualize it in my head.  And I honor that process — I honor the process of being able to sit quietly.  And sometimes I think about nothing! Because sometimes, that’s when something pops and something makes sense, and something comes together is when you take the time to just BE.

So I wanted to share that. I thought it was kind of a cool question and maybe it’s odd, but maybe there’s a lot more people out there that do the same thing I did.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a sweet day and I’ll be back again real soon.

Carmen

 

*Music – “Prelude No. 23” by Chris Zabriskie

8 thoughts on “My Creative Process – What’s Yours?”

  1. I think our processes are similar. I don’t call it daydreaming, though, but I do a lot of thinking. Like you, I run, which is an excellent time to open the mind for thinking without thinking deliberately. For me that’s a way of getting around my own mental limitations. Like writing a journal in the morning is. Unfortunately I don’t have time most days, but I do like to write a couple of pages as the first thing in the morning, in long hand, when I have time. Doing it first thing in the morning is again breaking my conscious thinking and just letting the words flow. You have probably heard and read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. She calls the journal writing “morning pages”. If you don’t know the book, I strongly recommend it.

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    • Oh, yes I have read Julia Cameron’s books — I also have Vein of Gold — I read them years ago and still use them today to refer to at times . Thank you! I love that our process is pretty similar. That makes me feel good. Some times I wonder if I’m doing it wrong. Ha! But you know, when you haven’t produced something or accomplished what you thought it’s so easy to question! Thank you for sharing that. Hugs.

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  3. First I want to say I admire you since you are a published author; I write for therapetic reasons and maybe someday I’ll publish my work but for now I do it to help myself and others who struggle. But my creative process is like yours; I think and daydream a lot. I have all these ideas swirling in my head; some make sense and some don’t. Before I wrote I used to have these thoughts and theories about life and in general but couldn’t express to other people. Now when I get a stream of thoughts or inspiration; I immediately write in down in my phone ( jumbled and misspelled) and edit it on my computer when I get home. So I guess having racing thoughts serves me well when it comes to writing. I have said enough but this was wonderful post and I wish I could write like you.

    Dave

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    • Dave, thank you! You just made my night! We are so similar (that always makes me feel better). I, however, cannot write too well on my phone. I think I’m a little technically “out of it”. Ha! But I totally get the thoughts racing in my head — and yes, it does serve us well. I appreciate you writing this to me. I can’t tell you how much it just made my night. But, I have read some of your work and, if you don’t mind me saying, we do write a lot a like. I may be wrong, but when I read your work, it’s from the heart. It’s from a deep place. That’s my best quality (well, that’s what I’ve been told). But I appreciate the love. Thank you. I hope, when you’re ready, you do publish your work. Either way, I’ll keep following you and enjoying our “meeting” when they happen on both of our blogs. Hugs!

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      • You actually made my day too with this comment. I have been struggling and needed a positive message. I am glad to find someone who can relate to my writing and is similar to me; that is rare. I find the only way to stop the racing thoughts is to write them down; even if they sound crazy. I am also glad you can see yourself in my writing style and yes I do write from deep in my heart and soul; I try to honest and authentic because it helps me grow as a writer. I think when I am in a different place financially/ job wise and emotionally; I would like to write an autobiography; I think I have a lot to say. Again I will make sure to check your blog frequently; I am glad I have met you on here; you seem very kind. I hope you had a wonderful day, friend. *Hugs back

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