Creativity: Jhada Addams
This originally came out as a post in January 2011.
Creativity. Such an enormous word. Captured inside is the very fire of inspiration and the heart’s desire. There is a passion in creativity that opens up a place in the soul where a fire that no-one else can touch burns. Others can peer in at it, appreciate it, but they cannot quite reach it. It can be both a light that guides or a light that incinerates in obsession. But then, that’s half the fun.
The goal of any writer/artist/musican is to evoke an emotion in their audience. Emotion pulled from a witness held captive for a moment in time by a deft collection of words, notes or paint on a canvas. Everybody has their reason for engaging in their art. Me? I just want to CONNECT – to find the kindred spirits out there that will read what I write and let their psyche swim in it. Find pleasure, passion or even pain in it.
The exercise of writing always ends up surprising me. I’ll start out with one set of ideas, and the story will invariably begin going in its own special little direction from there. It rarely ends up where I thought it would. I’m the first to admit that my own creative process has quite a few faults. I’ll sit at the computer at times and glare at the screen, waiting for it to do something. Since it never does, this ends up being an exercise in irritation that will sometimes lead to something spectacular. I will admit that more often than not, it leads to World of Warcraft – but it’s something I’m striving to better myself on. This year, I did NaNoWriMo, and found that to be a wonderfully helpful creative tool.
The key is to keep writing. Do some short stories here and there – just pound them out and keep them around. You can edit them forever – or finally put a collection of them out at some point. People always seem to be looking for submissions. If you have a vault of short stories packed in the back of your hard drive, maybe you can submit a few. Writing a novel? Keep writing short stories or ficlets. Sometimes staying on writing of any kind can get you back around to your book when little else will.
A couple of years ago, I spent several months one winter on a fanfic that quickly came out to over 80,000 words. Granted, it’s something I’ll never be able to actually get published, but it helped me kick along several of the other projects that had been blocked. Fanfic is sometimes a fantastic way to kickstart that process again. Another interesting tool is to work within the framework of a song, or group of songs – and write a story that comes from your feeling about the music. You can also find a writers group out there. We’re friendly and we don’t bite, really. Ok, well only if you ask nicely. 
There are a great many tools out there, but everybody’s muse works differently. My muse seems to adore giving me the finger. It’s ok. Makes me work harder for what I really want that way. Find something that works for you. DO NOT let anybody tell you that there is only one way to write. Write what feels right to you. Write from your heart. Hell, find your audience, THEN write for them – whatever ends up working for you.
Bring to life something that burns with its own fire – something that others will connect to and devour when they need it most. It’s the most satisfying thing you’ll do as a writer.
Jhada “Rogue” Addams is author of The Vengeance Cycle, “a tale of redemption and balance in a reality where preternatural creatures exist, but only behind the scenes.” She also runs a blog with an associated podcast (Rogue’s Podcast of Iniquity and Ill Fitting Trousers). Of herself, she says: “I’ve always gravitated toward the psychologically spooky or ghoulish throughout my life.” Check out Jhada’s web site here; the first book of The Vengeance Cycle, It Never Ends, is available here.
- “It Never Ends”, by Jhada Rogue Addams
