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3 Ways to Unleash Your Creativity · The Daily Writer

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you, but I often overthink the creative process.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we just need a guide who can help us cut through the clutter and simplify things so we can get some traction and make forward progress.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: On today's episode, we have a guest post from an author who can help us do exactly that.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Hey friends, welcome to the Born to Create podcast.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Kent Sanders, and I'm an author and professor.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: This is the show where we explore the mindset, habits, and principles that can help you make a bigger impact in your life and creative work.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Today's guest post is an article from Michael S.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Rogers, author of the novel called Passing Lincoln.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: The book features a unique story about a$5 bill that travels through the hands of various citizens of Beulah, Indiana, and I've asked Michael to share the lessons on creativity he learned while writing the book.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: So the post that follows has been written by Michael.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: When I wrote Passing Lincoln, I wasn't creating a different way to write a book.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: The format of the book was less a momentous epiphany and more of a struggle to make something of my befuddled mind.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'd like to share what I learned along the way about the creative process.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Between careers and between projects, a character spoke to me so clearly I knew her name, where she was, what she looked like, and how she acted.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: I knew better than to fight that.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: I wrote her story.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the problem.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: By the time I finished the scene, I had developed it into an epic tale of redemption and faith.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: I do it every time.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'm inspired to write a short story, then turn it into an idea for a novel.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: It drives me crazy because I don't write as well when I stretch the length of the story.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's not for lack of trying.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: I've devoured books on plot and character.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: I've explored script writing to incorporate things like the turning point in the first fifteen minutes of a movie.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'm practically a walking encyclopedia of the process of all great writers.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I attacked my new novel idea with all my knowledge and dumped it into the same washing machine with my newly written scene, punched in the settings I've been taught will work, and let the machine do its thing.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: It never ever works for me.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: Somehow the machine always gets unbalanced and stops.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'll back up and go through the rinse again with the manic hope it will go through the whole cycle.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: The machine stops every time.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: I just can't make it work.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: In the first chapter of passing Lincoln was no exception.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Dejectedly I threw that neat little scene of Dolores putting a five dollar bill in the offering plate in my growing file of unused stories.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: What else could I do?
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a short story writer with epic ideas.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: Unless what if I took advantage of how my mind worked and wrote each chapter as a short story?
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Imagining the possibilities, I asked myself how it could work if it was the length of a novel.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: How could I give myself permission to use different points of view and tenses to really test my writing skills and yet keep a story together?
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: What if the main character was the five dollar bill?
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: Passing Lincoln was born.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: I wrote in first, second, and third person.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: I wrote in the present and past tense.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: I used different formats, a prayer journal, an online chat, text message, diary entry, and email exchange.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, I used the strength of my short story writing to create a novel about redemption and faith.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Along the way, I learned some valuable lessons about creativity that I can't keep to myself.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, learn all you can.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Finding your voice is less like discovering your inner self, and more like your inner self unfolding in the presence of those who know better than you.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Never, never, never stop learning.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: All that knowledge will make you a better creator.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, play to your strengths.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: When you find out you can't use the same structure as the latest successful artist, that's a good thing.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Now you know how it doesn't work, which is just as informative as finding what does work.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Your job isn't to succeed doing it like Ernest Hemingway or Ansel Adams or the Beatles.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Your job is to find ways to unleash the creativity built into you.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Number three, do it your way.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: Once you've learned all you can and failed all you can, find a way that brings out your best creative self and do that.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Who knows?
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: If you succeed, someone may ask you to befuddle the minds of those who come after you.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Passing Lincoln has a legacy for me now.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: I learned how to write well, found my strengths, and create a new way that works for me.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Well that wraps up Michael's post, which was awesome, and I hope that you really enjoyed it.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'd like to thank Michael for sharing this great post with us, and you can find a link to his website, Amazon author page, and Facebook profile in the show notes.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love to hear your thoughts.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: What is a lesson that you've recently learned about creativity in your own life?
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: You can leave a comment and join the conversation by visiting Kent Sanders.net slash unleash your creativity.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: And all three of those words, unleas your creativity, have a dash between them.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well that wraps up this episode.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: If you enjoyed listening, please subscribe and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: You can do that by visiting KentSanders.net slash iTunes.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, if you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with a friend or a family member who you think would benefit from it.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: You can find lots more resources to help you unlock your creative potential at KentSanders.net.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, remember that you were born to create and designs to make a difference.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: Now go create something awesome.