filed in What Gets Me Through the Day
Creative Breakthroughs
Last year, I had the great privilege of seeing Ta-Nehisi Coates in a lecture at the Central Library in Los Angeles. He was already renowned by then, and it was amazing to get to hear him in such an intimate venue with only a few hundred people. Despite telling us he was tired nearing the end of his book tour, Coates spoke with such candor and truth. It was an unforgettable experience. This video is a few years old, but I watched it again today, right before working on an essay. And it inspired me to push through. He’s talking about writing here, but it’s really translatable for other challenging endeavors.
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Such an important (and, for me, timely) message. Thanks for sharing, Wendy! I’m a writer under stringent deadlines the last few weeks and the next few weeks, and I’ve definitely been gaining productivity and breakthrough “muscle” as a result…but such times of creative stress needs to be balanced with rest, of course. I’m looking forward to that at the end of the tunnel I’m in! 😉
A friend of mine who is a well known writer doesn’t seem to stress about writing. It’s probably not entirely true from her vantage point, but I’ve never heard her complain and she keeps publishing books. It’s astounding to me.
Wow, I just assumed that good writers just come up with brilliant stuff immediately. Whenever I write creatively, I get so frustrated and embarrassed when something doesn’t come out the way I wanted it and I just toss it out. I didn’t know I was supposed to keep going back to it.
Leyla, I’m impressed that you write creatively at all. I rarely make it beyond ideas in my head. Even my blogging has become very sparse and sporadic.
Your comments are always so well written. Seriously!
Coates is such an incredible writer and I find it comforting to know how much he sweats it.
FYI – The often bestselling author I’ve spent considerable time with kept a rigorous schedule, when writing a book, of 6 days a week, 4-5 hours each at the same time and place everyday with no internet or phone calls. If he just stared at a blank screen, so be it. He didn’t produce everyday but felt that on days he didn’t things were churning and developing. Also, he tended to eat the same couple of sandwiches for the duration of a draft. And often there were many drafts.
Thanks for the Ta-Nehisi Coates. I find him mesmerizing.
That’s in alignment with what I’ve heard from many writers. It seems that making a habit out of it is one of the keys.