A little over a year ago I decided I was going to work through “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. I’m not sure why I decided I needed a book to help me be creative. At that time I was writing at least an hour every day and was adding to my story collection. I might not have been finishing anything, but I was creating. I didn’t need to rediscover my creativity.
What I really wanted was to produce more, to finish projects, to transform the hard but fun work of wrestling with characters, emotion and plot into easy, ordered “workday” where I could check off progress. For some reason, I thought I’d be able to up my productivity by focusing on my creativity. What a dunce! Is it any surprise that the more time I spent in the book, the less productive I became? I tried to turn a fun, organic process into a quantifiable, quota-driven exercise.
And I tried to do it by exploring the things that hindered my creativity. Double whammy. Several of the exercises had me scrutinizing those events and memories of my life that hindered my creativity, that discouraged me from creating, or that kept me from enjoying the process. While I know the author meant for those exercises to aid the reader in breaking through blocks, this apparently was not something I needed. Rather than helping me jettison past hurts and failures, these exercises spun me into a brooding downward spiral of insecurity and unproductive angst.
I’m only just now recovering. 
In my continuing quest to stimulate my productivity, I found yet another creativity book. “The Creative Call” by Janice Elsheimer is different. The exercises and discussions in “The Creative Call” are slowly pulling me out of that angst, drawing my back, inch by inch, to a creative-affirming productivity.
There are a variety of possible reasons. (I’ll be exploring some of them on my personal blog, Stephanie’s Musings, later this week.) I think the most important is the perspective of the author. Janice Elsheimer begins with the assumption that we are created by God, created in His image and created to create. We all have the talents, the gifts, the ability to be creative. It could be writing, drama, woodworking, or even engine mechanics or tending babies, but we are all created to be creative. When we fail to use our gifts, life lacks something.
So instead of dwelling on the past, she encourages me to look forward. Instead of spending time trying to discover why I’m not more creative, she suggests exercises to practice creativity. Instead of dwelling on my inability and my failures, she brings up points that remind me that my gift is a calling and with that the calling comes the enabling.
If you have a Christian faith-based worldview and want to explore your creativity, you will probably get a lot out of “The Creative Call” by Janice Elsheimer. If your faith is less traditional or you are trying to recover from a past that debilitated your creativity, “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron may be helpful. Just be sure you aren’t sabotaging your creativity.
Happy writing to you all!
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That’s great that you’re finding your way back to being creative. I know I have the tendency to get so caught up in being productive that sometimes I forget to have fun with my writing. We could all use this reminder. Thank you!
Ahhhh… so that’s why you were stuck in an angst sinkhole instead of writing. I’m glad you’re getting out of it and enjoying the writing again!!
Dear Stephanie,
I’ve read many encouraging responses to my book, The Creative CAll, but yours really touched me at the place I was coming from when I wrote it. I too felt that, groundbreaking work though it was, THE ARTIST’S WAY was way too “recovery” oriented for me. Every one of the twelve steps–I mean twelve chapters
was titled “Recovering from…” something, and like you, I was turned off by all the self-help stuff after a few chapters. After searching for a book that had the same message as Cameron’s but was more proactive, I started getting the nudge from SOMEWHERE to write the book I wanted to read. I didn’t even know what all I’d put in it until I began, but once I started answering my OWN creative call by writing it, I was amazed at what poured out.
I’m not saying, as so many of my writer friends claim to be true about their own work, that the book “just wrote itself.” I believe that no matter what the inspiration, the editing-rewriting-reworking-rethinking-revising phase is the most important part of the process, and just as creative as getting all those first thoughts down on paper or hard drive. But I do believe that when we start from the place where we see our creativity as a channel to the heart of the creator God, and then when we use our gifts and talents the way we were designed by that creator to use them, we will be on our way to becoming the folks we were created to become, and therein lies the healing and the way to wholeness.
Thanks so much for GETTING that! You made my day.
Janice
Janice and Stephanie,
I read this the first time with Stephanie’s struggles in mind. But after reading your reply, Janice, I started thinking about myself and how freeing and joyful this process can be. I might have to look into your book, too!
Thanks for sharing your heart with us!
Love and Hugs,
Kitty
Yes, Kitty, that’s why I was stuck in the sinkhole. It’s great to be climbing out of it into the sunshine.
Thanks for your encouragement, Stormy! Yes, it’s good that the writing is fun again.
Janice, I’m thrilled that I made your day. You made mine.
I am so grateful you answered your creative call and wrote “The Creative Call.” Writing in my morning pages, the exercises in the book and now this note are reigniting my passion for telling stories and expressing my thoughts with words. Thank you!
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