Weve all been there.
That enchanting, mysterious moment when the muse strikes.
And not to sound crass its profitable.
Unfortunately, creativity is also fickle: the more you chase it, the harder it is to catch.
Nobody feels this tension more than those of us who wear the title creative professional.
But dont feel bad.
That misdirection isnt necessarily your fault.
Youre Too Original
Oh, to be original.
Theres something liberating to feel like the first.
Dont despair: On the creativity front originality is highly overrated.
More likely, youre just being honest with yourself.
In other words, creativity doesnt come from what is altogether new or unknown.
The wordcombinesthere is vital.
The point is: dont start your creative journey on an unmarked map.
Start with the people, places, and ideas that inspire you and never be afraid to steal.
Youre Too Alone
Being alone is another counter-intuitive mistake many of us fall victim too.
Often we consider creativity to be a solitary, independent pursuit.
According to filmmaker Kirby Ferguson, the far more common reality is anything but.
In truth, we areutterly dependent on one another for just about everything.
As Ferguson puts it, Our creativity comes from without, not from within.
This means building your creative process around collaboration is essential.
Surprisingly, collaboration has been essential even for some of the most notorious loners in history.
She sent hundreds of poems to the people who were critical to her in her life.
And the poetry itself was alive with relational passion it was electric.
And Emily isnt alone (pun intended).
True creative genius rarely comes from me; it almost always comes from we.
There were a lot of fascinating people involved, some ingenious and a few even geniuses.
While distractions are key later on, creativity has to start with focus.
To relieve yourself of distractions, a study byLeiden Universitysuggests thatmeditating on a single problem stimulates creativityvia divergent thinking.
You cant expect great ideas to materialize at a whim.
Instead of waiting for an idea to magically appear, get disciplined.
Only after your brain is packed will new ideas begin to flow.
This is what Skillicorn calls the incubation stage: the time required for your mind to form new connections.
Being too focused means falling into the trap of trying to force creativity.
Instead, embrace incubation by embracing distractions.
Researchers atNorthwestern Universityrecentlyconcluded that creativity can actually be driven by distraction.
This means that periodically checking out is vital to the creative process.
Thats always been the case.
I cant let something go until its exhausted, so I have to edit.
I find editing hugely exciting.
Taking something away from something can do extraordinary things, whether its music or writing or in a film.
In film, its extraordinary what happens.
Youre Too Perfect
For years my wife did crossword puzzles.
Actually, did is too light of a word.
The only reason she got the local paper was because it includedThe New York Timesdaily crossword.
What held her back?
I felt like they were something I should just be able to do.
Id start each one with a creative flurry.
But each mistake or blank square would stare back at me accusing.
From that point on, the words flowed.
Whats true for her is equally true for you.
Dont expect to sit down and become the next Steve Jobs, Claude Monet, or Will Shortz.
In the face of perfectionism, give yourself permission to suck.
InCreativity Inc., Pixar presidentEd Catmulldescribes it like this:
Early on, all of our movies suck.
Im not trying to be modest or self-effacing.
Forget the old adage, Anything worth doing is worth doing right.
Anything worth doing is worth doing badly, especially if you want to be creative.
Steve Jobs said it best: Real artists ship.
While allowing yourself incubation time is essential to the creative process, concrete goals are its overarching lifeblood.
Go ahead and start applying the lesson right now.
Who knows, you might even be able to end your creative dry spell and get back on track.
Art by Sam Woolley.
Aaron Orendorff is a regular contributor to Entrepreneur, Business Insider, Success, Fast Company and more.
By day, he teaches communication and philosophy at the local college.
By night, hes busy saving the world from bad content aticoniContent.
Connect with him onTwitteror grab hisUltimate Content Creating Checklist here.
