Making Soup
An important part of my journey has been learning how my creative process works, and this itself is becoming more defined and therefore easier to recognize as I leave behind the stage of mothering infants. I've shared here about my process while putting together my Solstice project (perhaps I'll update my sidebar with some links to past posts on writing and creativity), and I'd like to continue by describing what the aftermath of a project looks like for me. Perhaps you will see yourself and your process in this, too.
When the project is complete and rolled into production, I see that the creative process is like making soup. And I'm all dished out. So what happens next--after I've simmered and tasted and adjusted until a creation is just right, after I've spooned out every last drop? Instinctively, compulsively, I start cleaning the pot and gathering new ingredients.
Cleaning the pot looks like sorting through my bursting filing cabinet, shredding mounds of paper, getting my apartment back in order, and cleaning those nooks and crannies I couldn't be bothered with when my mother was visiting. It might look like I'm avoiding my work when I'm busy tidying the studio and such, but this is an important part of the process. Even I, who have some flexibility in these matters, wouldn't dream of cooking a new meal in a dirty pan, and tending to my life details (like money) and getting my working and living spaces back in beautiful states are some of the ways in which I clean the creativity pot. 
Photo: I couldn't resist sharing a photo of some of the goods we gathered this week at the farmer's market. (Have you ever SEEN celery this color before? I haven't.)
Simultaneously, I begin gathering--usually long before I recognize I am doing so. I start snatching up used books online or in person. I put new music on. Then on repeat. I listen to 2 episoldes of This American Life a day. I ride the subway and watch and listen to the people around me as though it is my favorite television show. New books are devoured. Craft projects multiply before their completion and turn into surprise multiple births. My brain gets stuck on words, images, colors, that I can't shape. My unconcious mind gathers, and will weave and make connections while I'm not looking. Here's a short list of what I'm gathering now.
Read
The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections by Amanda Blake Soule
Radio: An Illustrated Guide by Jessica Abel and Ira Glass
Edible Brooklyn: Celebrating the Borough's Food Culture, Season by Season
The Knitting Goddess: Finding the Heart and Soul of Knitting Through Instruction, Projects, and Stories by Deborah Bergman
The Prize: A Collection of Stories by Flavia Weedn
Listen
Viva La Vida by Coldplay
Leaving the Fold and other episodes by This American Life
How About You?
In which stage of the creative process are you right now? Are you cleaning the pot and gathering, like me, or are you waiting in a slow simmer? Are you ready to dish out something new? I'd love to hear about it.
Monday, November 3, 2008 at 6:05AM Jen Lee | 3 Comments | in creative work Share Article | Permalink
Reader Comments (3)
Jen,
This is exactly the process I go through, although I've just been able to identify it as of last week!
The last couple weeks felt lazy and 'unproductive.' (Tho' I knitted, cooked, and blogged up a storm.) I was starting to feel cranky and guilty when BAM!, I suddenly realized I should do NaNoWriMo as a way to get my next book proposal out there. Now I'm drafting a chapter a day. I know when the month is out, I will need a few weeks of gathering and replenishing my stores before I launch into something new.
I'm bookmarking this post in case I forget that the gathering time IS creative/work time too!
Cheers!
i am never really sure which part of the creative process i am in. a lot of the time for me it feels like everyone else's creative-ness so far outshadows my own ideas that i often give up before i even begin... with any new project.
i am a don't write girl. not in the sense that i own one of your journals, but in the sense of never having done it. i've never regularly kept a journal of any kind. never given most of my thoughts and feelings any kind of voice - choosing instead to shut them out with the busy-ness of life.
i came here for a look, but this writing of yours is provoking me. it feels like someone is poking a sharp twig into me in uncomfortable places. how that might turn up in terms of creativity, i don't know.
but i'm glad i came.
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