What exactly is being asked of us during the 7 stages of the creative process? Having knowledge around this might help us as creatives to stay on course, no matter what we are creating. We can also recognize where fears might derail our good intentions and our thoughts. There is the dreaming section of the 7 stages, and there is the doing section of the 7 stages. We must recognize where we as individual artists might get derailed and keep our creativity and motivation going in the right direction.
Every creative person has their time when their muse steps in to guide creativity. it’s different for all creators. You have your routine, your rituals, and instinctively you know what needs to be done in order to create- for you. But as creators, we all go through the same stages of creation, no matter the medium.
Dreaming Stage
Intention
Your idea is born. It came what you think is out of nowhere but you know it’s good because it energizes you. You were reading and something came to mind, or you woke up and there it was. Maybe, you are in the shower and something hits. BAM! There’s the idea. Every artist’s idea comes from somewhere and typically its when you are in a state of dream, relaxation, meditation, or thought. Once the idea hits you there is a great sense of euphoria.
Creativity is an energy. It’s a precious energy, and it’s something to be protected. A lot of people take for granted that they’re a creative person, but I know from experience, feeling it in myself, it is a magic; it is an energy. And it can’t be taken for granted.
-Ava DuVernay, American Director, She won the directing award in the U.S. dramatic competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival for her second feature film Middle of Nowhere, becoming the first black woman to win the award.
Incubation
This is the time you begin to put thoughts together. You dance around with your ideas in your head keeping the glimmer of what your creation can be. Think through what it will look like. Take the moments to jot a few things down. Maybe you will collect images, or textiles, or paints, or books on the subject and/or the craft. Whatever your incubation process is, every creator has one. It may look different for each creator, but it’s specific to you, and your craft. Maybe you decide to try a new medium that was born with intention, your idea. Whatever this incubation period looks like to you. Nurture it.
Investigation
Here is where you do research. Investigate things you need to know to get the right mood, feel, character, time place among other things. This is the time you dig in and excavate, buy, or check out the books, purchase the textiles, or paints, now you begin to see how it will work with your creative birth baby. Some things get tossed out, discarded. Yet, you keep some things. Maybe your research isn’t quite right and you dig some more. At any rate, I can get sucked into this part of the creative process before I even scribble a sentence that will be in my prose! I can be on a loop here. Dig. Investigate it. Toss it. Dig more. Research it. Keep it. THEN I decide to dig more.
I need to have an awareness of my getting stuck at this point. For me, I have to give myself a timeframe on research. I finally decided with the historical fiction work that I had to stop the research, at least for a bit, and get into the actual making/doing of the craft. This may vary for you, but what I find important here is that at some point you simply have to start creating. Some people will argue that this is creative! I agree! The first three steps are creative; however, you have to begin the ‘crafting’ at some point. Try not to fall into the perpetual cycle of intent, incubate and investigate, or get stuck in one. For me, that’s easy to do since I’m the dreamer and struggle to DO.
Doing Stage
Composition
This is the DO part where you begin to compose. Keep in mind that this may be where you spend the majority of your time- the drafting process, building, creating the dream you had in the beginning where the dream begins to materialize.
I’m going to share some experience here- things to consider. I’m not saying my way is right, mind you. What I am saying is that as a creative, this is another area where awareness is important.
Perfection could be trouble here. I begin my project and my expectation at first is perfection. This slows me down. Way down. I ruminate over the tiniest of details. I work hard. Really hard to make it perfect the first time around. I wrote thirteen chapters of my memoir, Early Out, and re-worked them, and re-worked them. In the end I only kept six of the thirteen chapters. The memoir was still not written in it’s entirety!
Compose – Get it Out
My advice, get it out. Period. Furthermore, please don’t spend time revising when you don’t have the full project complete. This may be different for other mediums, but for writing composition is one of the toughest stages to finish. Some never finish! If you are one of those, and you have a half-birthed project sitting in a folder on your laptop, in a drawer, in a studio- drag it out. It wasn’t until a writing mentor said to me, “Have you written the entire story yet?” that I had to tell him I hadn’t. That’s when he suggested getting away for a period of time to complete my manuscript. It was brilliant. He did it, after all I can too! I went to a good friend’s home on Lopez Island, without internet (eek), and for ten days I hand wrote out the rest of my memoir. I finished it! Ugly and imperfect!
I recognize that not everyone has this kind of privilege. My vacation time hours were available, and I was offered a free place for respite and writing. Adult, or near adult children can take care of themselves. All I needed to provide for this retreat was gas and groceries. If you find that you don’t have the ability to get away, try to schedule small snippets of time away from your family and make the most of your weekends. Only you know what will work for you. If it helps, read my post on Creativity Exists in the Present Moment, on how we can make creativity a priority.
Clarification
Here is another place that can cause many to shelve their project. When we offer up our project, for clarity, and possibly ask for feedback this can cause overwhelm and fear. The only way to battle this fear is to give your creation to another for review. Tough to do, but necessary. I joined a memoir group in order to get feedback on my prose. The feedback was invaluable! Other eyes on your project will give you the opportunity to elaborate on the things you glanced over, or expand on something you should to improve the piece. Some one else looking at your work open up a new lens on what you are trying to achieve. It’s difficult to put yourself out there like that, and I do it very seldom, but I still make sure I find clarity around others thoughts on my craft.
Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.
Mary Lou Cook, Actress and Peace Activist
Changes
Once you receive that feedback you may, or may not make changes. Not all ideas from others are good ideas. As an artist you can decide what to keep, and what to toss. However, you may now be able to see the changes you need to make that are vital to your work-in-progress. This is where you can get in the cycle of revising. Making it as perfect as you can get it. Still recognize that it may not be 100% perfect, but here is where you get it as close as you possibly can.
Completion
After you’ve completed your creative project, it’s a heady feeling! Artists do get a sense of completion. It’s a time to celebrate as it is difficult for creatives to get to this 7th stage. Enjoy it! Of course, this does not mean the journey is over yet, but you now are to the point where you can hopefully send it out into the world. Celebrate you for making it this far.
