A lot of times, we tend to think that what we’re working on has to be perfect right out of the gate. If we are realistic with ourselves, though, we know that rarely happens.

Writers must revise and rewrite until they get something that might appeal to their readers. Painters tend to sketch and draw before they put brush to canvas. Dancers must determine the steps of their dance and practice before it is presentable.

Even Leonardo da Vinci kept sketchbooks. It would appear he did not even expect perfection from himself. Should we be any different with ourselves?

We live in a society of instant gratification. We want it and we want it now.

If you’re working on a large project, that isn’t always possible. What is a creative person to do, short of never doing a large project ever again?

Take pictures of different stages along the way.

If you’re so inclined, take a picture of every step. When you’re done, not only will you have the large project complete, you’ll also have a tutorial to either share with others or to keep for yoruself for future reference.

That way, the picture progress would be beneficial in more ways, thus serving two purposes as well as keeping your motivation and creativity up.

For many people, editing appears to be the antithesis to creativity. It is actually part of the creative process.

A different function of it, true, but that doesn’t make it an opposite.

As I see it, here are some of the processes to creating:

• Generating the idea.
• Planning/researching.
• Creating (writing, composing, drawing, painting, etc.)
• Revising/changing/adding

Revising and changing…editing.

No project is completed after the initial part is done. The bones of the story, for example, might be written down. It might even be fleshed out some.

The thing of it is, there is likely excess flesh in some areas and not enough in others. That’s where the revising/changing/adding/editing comes in.

It’s not something anyone should look at as being in opposition to the art of creativity. Instead, it shoud be seen as an important part of the process that should not be overlooked, ignored, or rushed.

I have admittedly been very lax in adding anything to this blog. That is blatantly obvious.

I think I tried to do too much with it at the beginning. That doesn’t excuse abandoning it, though. And that is about to change.

I post daily creativity tips on Twitter. Some of those will be brought over here and expanded upon. Look for the first of these tomorrow.

Finally home. Been here an hour & a half. Transcription to do (how UNfun) and repacking like a wild woman.

Hello, everybody.

I’m sorry for the extended absence lately. We’ve been on vacation to see family in California, a wee bit of gambling in Laughlin, NV, and a short stay in Sedona, AZ.

I’ll be going straight from here to Eureka Springs, AR. Wow. It might be a bit much at once, but it’s been nice.

I’ll get caught up on blogging later this week. OK, not “caught up,” per se, but back on track.

If any of you are familiar with Simon Gabriel, you already know about this.

For those of you who are not, Simon was born at 24 weeks’ gestation. He is in one of the best NICUs in the country in Denver, Colorado.

A group of freelance writers, work-at-home-moms, and friends have gotten together and are holding auctions to benefit Simon and his family. Please visit Auctions for Simon to see what is being offered.

For more information about Simon, you can visit One Woman’s Heart and SimonGabriel.net.

Rules are often necessary. They let us know what to do and, sometimes, how to do it.

Occasionally they can be stumbling blocks to creativity, though. In that case, don’t be afraid to forget/completely ignore the rules

(Read the rest and join the discussion at Creative TIPs.)

I’m a member of CoachCreativeSpace, a social network on Ning hosted by Dan Goodwin.  One of the members there posted about this.  Here it is as I understand it.

The US government, as well as a few countries in Europe are trying to pass legislation that requires all artists of any kind (artists, designers, musicians, writers, filmakers) to register their creations with private registries for a fee. If creations are not registered, they become “Orphaned Works,” which means basically that they have no copyright and become public domain. Anyone can sell or distribute them without the original artist seeing any income whatsoever.

Can you imagine paying to protect everything in your sketchpad, on your computer, or in your notebook? Or every idea you present to an agency, even the ones they don’t use??

You can read more about it here.

Here is a link to sign a petition against this act.  (I’ve heard online petitions don’t carry any weight, but it doesn’t hurt to try.)

Here is a link with the contact information for the president and all US senators, representatives, state governors and legislators.

OpenCongress – H.R.5889 Orphan Works Act of 2008
OpenCongress – S.2913 Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008

(Posted on CoachCreativeSpace by Lin Neiswender.  Since this blog is about writing, I added the parenthetical asides and the bit about “on your computer or in your notebook.” ~Jen)

To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.

-Joseph Chilton Pearce