The Creative Process
Today, I'm talking about what the creative process means, why it is important to explore your own unique approach and how this connects to building a healthy and sustainable creative habit to help you live more mindfully and feel more fulfilled as a creative person. Let's get started!
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The problem with buzzwords like “creative process”
The main reason I want to talk about the creative process is because this ia a term that we hear all the time, but I don't think we fully understand what it really means. I also think these buzzwords can start to feel very abstract and hard to relate to, and they often end up turning creativity, art, self expression into some mythical thing that feels out of reach.
As a result, a lot of people don't grasp the reality of what creative work truly involves and they end up undervaluing it. They forget that creativity takes effort, energy, and real work. Hence the term creative work. And I'm here to challenge that!
Defining the creative process
So let's start by defining what the creative process is. In its simplest form, the creative process is: the series of action steps that you have to take to create a new idea or product.
Generally speaking, there are about three to five overarching steps in the creative process, depending on who you ask. The process can be simplified into the following three steps:
Having an idea
Doing the work to bring that idea to life, and
The final product which can be shared with others, if you wanted to
However, the most commonly cited definition of the creative process (and the one that you'll likely find when you look this up online) is the one outlined by the social psychologist, Graham Wallace, he outlined the process in five stages, which are:
Preparation
Incubation
Illumination
Evaluation
Verification
Personally, I find those words hard to remember and connect to. So, here is how I define the 5 steps:
Idea & Inspiration
Research & Exploration
Development & Prototyping
Editing & Refinement
Final Product & Launch
Keep in mind, these are general ideas of what we understand about the creative process, more like guiding posts versus strict rules. The reality is that the process can be very messy, nonlinear, and can vary greatly, depending on your artistic medium, your project, your own personality, and your creative goals.
For example, you might find yourself starting with a really strong idea and building a quick prototype to test it out. Only to find out that you need to go back to the drawing board because you need to explore more ideas.
The importance of exploring your personal creative process
Now let's talk about the importance of exploring your personal creative process. The reason that you want to do this is to help yourself identify the way that you're currently working, the areas that come easy to you, the areas that need improvement, and most importantly, the areas that you find most challenging to complete so that you can find the right support and the solutions to make it easier on yourself.
I think that a lot of us creatives get into doing creative work and we don't always really know what our own process is. And so we fail to understand the areas that we find most challenging. And sometimes we avoid that because we're just not aware of it. So taking a moment to assess our creative process can be a game changer.
And here's the thing, when you have an enjoyable process, it's easier to keep showing up, and you look forward to your creative practice time. As a result, you're more likely to grow and improve that much faster because you are enjoying what you do.
It's also really critical that as neurodivergent creatives, we learn to work with our own unique minds and personal needs. Because as many of us have come to understand, we learn and think very differently. We know that what works for most neurotypical people, is usually not going to work for us and this is totally okay.
So here are a few simple shifts that you can make in your creative process as a neurodivergent creative:
Giving yourself permission to work in a non-linear way.
Starting with whatever task feels most interesting to you. This is really critical for a lot of us ADHDers, to help us to stay connected and engaged with what we’re doing.
Working in short segments, to help you avoid boredom or overworking. You can even set a timer to help stay on track.
The connection between your creative process and building a creative habit
As I just mentioned a second ago, it's really important that you build a creative process that works for you so that you can keep showing up and build a strong creative habit with much more ease. When you like what you do it won’t feel like a chore. So, you're more likely to keep doing it.
Also when you like what you do, you're training your brain to associate positive feelings with the idea of creating. And, slowly with time, you'll realize that you actually do enjoy showing up to the day-to-day process of creating, instead of obsessing over the final result.
This is so key as creatives because we often glamorize the final product. We really like to see when someone has created something amazing. But it’s critical that we learn to enjoy the day-to-day act of creating.
One last thing on this point, and I really want to emphasize this—you are allowed to build a routine that works for you! Because ultimately the process of creating is for you. You're choosing to spend your time doing something creative (when you could easily be doing anything else). So, why not make it work for you?
Mindful living and more creative satisfaction
Another really critical benefit that arises from developing a creative process and routine that works for you, is learning to live in the present moment and enjoying your daily life. When you take daily action towards the things that you care about and enjoy, you actually learn to love being in the present moment in your ordinary life. You stop living for the future and you start to feel more satisfied with where you are today.
You also teach yourself to recognize and value daily learning and growing, instead of only focusing on lofty achievements and external measures of success. When you focus on what you're learning day-to-day, you're cultivating feelings of gratitude, fulfillment, happiness, and joy. In the long run, this is what will fuel and sustain your creative passion for the long haul.
Your creative habit will go from simply being this thing that you do to improve your craft to an enriching ritual that supports your personal growth and self discovery as a human being. And, who doesn't want the added benefit?
This is my favorite part about being a creative person. I love personal growth, learning about myself, and self-care. And, I've come to understand just how powerful it is when I take care of myself. Because this helps me show up better for others, complete my creative work, and just be more fulfilled in my life.
I think this is a part that a lot of people miss. They think, “oh, creating is just focusing on techniques, making something beautiful, and putting it out into the world.” But this is where we start to get into a rut and our creative practice starts to turn into a chore because we stop having fun with it.
This will only make us hesitate to pull out our tools and get to work. Because we forgot that our creative practice is also a way of taking care of ourselves. A way to show up for our wellbeing. I just can't stress this enough but your creative practice can go way beyond simply mastering a technique and really help fulfill you as a person.
Let’s Recap
Today, I talked about today:
What the creative process entails
A few different ways you can conceptualize the creative process
The importance of reviewing and assessing your own process to build a long-term creative habit, and
How our creative process can support you in living a more purposeful, mindful, and enjoyable life.
In short, getting clear on what “the creative process” means to you is worth it. It will help you to understand how you’re currently working, which parts come naturally, and which parts are more challenging—so you can get the support you need.
When we enjoy what we do, we're more likely to keep doing it, and that’s the key to building a lasting creative habit and feeling more satisfied as a creative person.
Need personalized support?
If you need support assessing your creative process and find ways to experience more fulfillment as a creative person, let’s connect.
Schedule your free discovery session today and take the first step towards a more fulfilling, creative life!
Renata is a creativity coach empowering neurodivergent and multi-passionate women of color creatives to overcome creative blocks with therapeutic art making and strategic planning so they can create with ease and achieve their creative goals. She’s currently offering a free copy of her therapeutic art making workbook when you sign up for her email list. Sign up here to get your free copy.
