Creativity and State of Mind

I have considered for some time the kinds of environments and states of mind that are most useful to the writing process, as well as the conditions necessary to nurture said way of thinking and maximise its utility towards the writing process. Of course, I am not claiming to have all the answers here, but perhaps there will be some useful insights to my fellow authors and writers of various kinds. Particularly for those unfortunate sufferers of what so many creatives call: ‘writer’s block’.

I suspect that the inability to write or focus on writing (or any other task) comes from a lack of understanding of the state of mind and conditions necessary to ensure that one is in fact in a creative mode, and an inability to ensure that they are 1) present and 2) productive in said states. After all, it is one thing to know what an appropriate state of mind is for writing a new story, but being able to reproduce it at will and utilise it to full effect is quite another skill. For me, the process of writing contains four clear stages, and with it, four separate states of mind which need to be nurtured and developed in different ways.

The first stage is the embryonic state, where one forms the universe and rules and characters in which the story will take place. This stage is quite emotionally detached, logically driven and often born out of an almost meditative state. It works best to focus the conscious mind and attention on something relatively mundane that does not require a high degree of thought. Long walks, driving or in my case long rides on the motorbike are perfect here. The focus of riding over long distances silences the conscious mind and allows my mind to begin work. Several hours later, the nucleus of a new world is born. In simple terms, simply find a way to switch off your conscious mind and just sit with the basic idea of your story and let it form.

The second stage is a much more emotive and creatively driven stage in which that nucleus of a story is developed and fleshed out. It is at this point where it is incumbent on a writer to get to know their characters as it were. Here it is crucial to develop an affinity and affection towards them, which makes me as an author and as their creator care about what happens to them. I recall writing certain scenes in Desolation that almost felt like it was a very dear friend suffering. But this is where one must keep in mind a degree of emotional detachment from the story, and let events play out naturally and logically. That can and does mean hardship for your characters for which as I have just said, you should genuinely care. I suppose something to keep in mind when feeling for a character in such a way is that hardship helps to develop strength and resilience both in real life and in storytelling.

Next comes a stage which is still creative, but the focus is more about coherency, character development and story development and making sure that the details are consistent right the way through. For me, I find this stage almost always doubles my word count, but it is essential because this is a phase where you need to be emotionally detached. Try to read the story from someone who doesn’t know the background and the world you have constructed. This phase is by far the longest and most challenging, and I often begin editing as well in this stage also. But I find by about the third or fourth draft I will have something of acceptable quality. The reason for the detachment is that you need to assume that your reader will not have the same affinity, and as such, you need to ensure that your story is neither self-indulgent nor hard to understand.

The fourth stage is a final read through, or two in which one is fully emotionally detached from the story and merely going over it in search of consistency, writing quality, wording, grammar and crucially ensuring dialogue fits with personality. This stage I suppose you could say is highly analytical and which it is the most removed from your characters you should be so intimately familiar with them at this point that you should know of dialogue sounds like them. For example, if a character is well-read and highly educated, do they seem well-read and highly articulate when they speak in your story – and vice versa. If you have someone from a gruff and rough background who is not well educated, how do they speak? And what do they sound like? Of course, this is something that should come up in earlier stages as you write and get to know your characters, but it is at this stage that you need to remove your connection to them and adopt a more distant perspective.

It can be challenging to foster such states of mind but recognizing how you work and what works for you is crucial. In my case, it is mostly environmental. But the more creative the process, the less sensory stimulation, the better – at least for me, you may be quite different so I would suggest experimenting and finding what works for you. But, for me that the ambient sounds of a café or an engine can help tremendously here in droning out distraction and distracting thoughts. Then as I move to a more emotive state, I like to bring in certain kinds of music, usually instrumental and usually music that fits a specific atmosphere that I am trying to build in the story. The crucial part is about creating a state of mind in which the writer is in a more emotive stage in which one can empathize with the characters in the story and genuinely get to know them. Finally, the last two states are about creating distance and removing emotion from the situation and bringing is a more analytical aspect of the creative process. It is like taking on a different role in the development of the story with each read through – utilizing a different perspective each time. No doubt other authors will have their own methods in managing their state of mind, while others I know just treat it as if they were going to work. I am not here to judge how others work. But I have learned one thing which is vital to the creative process, and that is that you cannot force it. Try to enter a suitable state of mind, and if that fails, walk away. Go back to the previous state of mind if you can and keep going or better yet, take a day off. It is far better to walk away from a project that you are struggling with for a day or two and come back with fresh eyes and a new perspective then it is to continue to get more and more frustrated and less and less creatively minded.

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