The following is an excerpt from 80 Creativity Tips.
A friend of mine said this before writing exercise we did at the kick-off party flash meeting with a lot for the local National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) group.
“Begin at the bell” is actually pretty good advice. When it comes to working on our creative projects, we almost always say we don’t have time.
Make time! Otherwise, it will never get done.
Get a timer. Set it for no less than 15 minutes, preferably 30. If you can, have a bell ring to signal the beginning. If not, start the very second your hand comes off the timer.
Whatever it is you do, then do it. Right. Draw. Paint. Cook. Dance.
Create!
When the timer goes off, you can stop, but not before. Give yourself at least that 15 minutes. If you are going good when the time is up, turn the timer off–or reset it–and keep going.
At the end of your time, step back. Look at what you have done and pat yourself on the back.
This is important: Do not evaluate or critique what you have done. Now is the time for creating, not for editing or judging. There will be time for that later.
Here are some tips for you on your work with a timer:
- Don’t look at the timer. Turn it away from you. If it’s on your phone, turn the display off or turn your phone over.
- Don’t stop and wonder how much time you have left, no matter how much you want to know.
- Time isn’t important except as a way to get started. Unless there is a hurricane or a fire, the amount of time that’s passed isn’t important.
- If you’re writing or drawing, keep your hand moving. Pause as seldom as possible to work out a hand cramp if you need to. (As a side note, if you’re getting cramps like that, it means you’re holding your pen/pencil/paintbrush/knitting needles/crochet hook too tight and need to loosen your grip.)
- Focus on what you’re doing. This music or TV on in the background? Tune it out. There are people who said they have to work in complete silence. Those people really get any work done. Distractions are a fact of life, even if it’s just your cat jumping up on the desk. Learn to deal with it.
Remember you’re creative in your life, not separate from it.
I like the idea of using a timer. It means you don’t have to stay until the bitter end if it’s not going well. You can take a break and then, try again.
I have found that part about getting it all out without editing is a very important step in staying in the zone without breaking the creative flow. I feel most creative in the morning so I leave the editing until the evening when daily interruptions have slowed down and my energy can be focussed on the less creative stage of proofreading and correcting.