The Creative Process

In writing and advertising, plus the definition of creative people from psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. No really... that's his name!

This is how I define my creative process:

A ribbon of inspiration strikes. An idea!!!! Your fingers fly over the keyboard. Ooooh…. I’m on a roll! Pour a glass of wine. Hey, this is starting to sound good! Type even faster. Put the laptop away. Look at it tomorrow.

This is shit.

Any person who works in a creative field will agree with my coffee cup. This is how it goes. It starts off in such a heady, glorious fashion, and halfway in… BOOM! Here’s comes self doubt, self loathing, and fifty reasons why it’s shit. You lose your sense of direction and wonder if you shouldn’t have been an insurance salesperson instead.

Folks in advertising know these are the steps in the creative process. Advertising is hard because it is targeted and confined. You only have so many words to get the job done. In my agency days, clients came to me for creative solutions. I told them I was responsible for bringing warm bodies through their door. I was NOT responsible for sales… if I was, I’d work there. That wasn’t meant to be arrogant… it’s the truth. 🤷🏼‍♀️

We WANTED our clients to be successful. I know can bring a customer through the door, but I can’t make her buy anything, so we told clients if their prices were too high, their windows were dirty, or their staff was surly. Why would you spend money on a well crafted ad campaign only to lose customers when they get inside the store?

In a competitive arena, you must deliver on your advertising promise.

My team and I created messaging based on their answers to questions like: Who is buying the product/service? What do they need to know, think, and feel to make the purchase? How old are they? Male/female? Who is your competition? Using this method helped clients understand why we produced the work we did. There was a formula to creative development and the final results usually worked. 🎉

But writing a column on Substack? What should I write about? 😳 Will people want to read this? There are many times I feel like throwing this laptop out the window. This has been a whole different animal for me.

Any creative endeavor is an act of faith… and bravery. It’s putting yourself out there, being subject to criticism and scrutiny. Not everyone will buy in to your effort. And you know what? It does not matter. Do it for you.

Try something new. Learn a new thing. So you might suck at first. So what?

In doing some research on creativity, I found this from the book Creativity - Flow and the Psychology of Discovery & Invention by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. (BUY A VOWEL FOR THAT LAST NAME! 🤣)

Creative individuals have a great deal of energy, but they are also often quiet and at rest. (😌 ME!)

Creative individuals tend to be smart, yet also naive at the same time.

Creative individuals have a combination of playfulness and discipline, or responsibility and irresponsibility. (Also ME!)

Creative individuals alternate between imagination and fantasy at one end, and rooted sense of reality at the other. (🤔 Yes!)

Creative people seem to harbor opposite tendencies on the continuum between extroversion and introversion. (🥸 True!)

Creative individuals are also remarkably humble and proud at the same time. (🤗 True!)

Creative individuals to a certain extent escape rigid gender role stereotyping and have a tendency toward androgyny.

Generally, creative people are thought to be rebellious and independent. (😂 Oh, this is Me!)

Most creative persons are very passionate about their work, yet they can be extremely objective about it as well. (😎 Agree!)

The openness and sensitivity of creative individuals often exposes them to suffering and pain yet also a great deal of enjoyment.

Substack is a place for READERS and WRITERS, where you can exercise your creativity and open your mind to new thoughts. Once you get past Keanu Reeves who wants to be your pal and the scammers who want you to invest, you realize how many cool people are out here to have engaging, thought provoking conversations with… from all over the world!

This is the 40th column on Susan Speaks in not quite 3 months. YAY! 🎉 It isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but with 775 subscribers so far, I gotta tell you the personal rewards have been worth every keystroke.

I feel very lucky to have met you and am honored you’re here! ✌️