Recently, over 10,000 writers, writing instructors, and publishers from across the U.S. gathered at the annual conference for the Association of Writers & Writing Programs.
We invited attendees to pause from the busy conference for a moment and use one of our Freewrite devices to share their valuable insight about writing and creativity.
Here's what they had to say:
What is creativity?
"Creativity is a thought that keeps you awake at night. It's something that stabs you in the kidneys when you least expect it. The thoughts that arrive without warning while you're halfway through your midnight shower, then disappearing without so much as a 'farewell,' or a 'you're welcome,' or, more pressingly, 'I'm sorry.'"
"Creativity is like a tangled web of Christmas lights, of ropes, or of kudzu in your backyard, taking up too much of your time. Yet, you can't help but love it. Unless you hate it..."
"Creativity is an experiment."
"Creativity is like going up to the bathroom sink and turning the water on. It lives in the first drop of rain before the storm."
"An abandoned skyscraper with graffiti murals on every floor."
"Creativity to me is searching within the self to find answers to the outside. I've been told that the task of a writer is to not ask questions but answer the questions being asked by everyone else, and often I cannot find the answer. Do I make them up?"
"Creativity is creating a cloud-syncing device with no distractions." (D'awww, thanks!)
What's your best advice for living a creative life?
"Expose yourself to new things. Embrace uncomfortability. Be different."
"Use all your gold, don't save your best lines for your next project."
"Read. Write. Dream."
"The best advice that I have received for living a creative life is to write every day even if it's bad. Bad writing is good writing when you give it meaning."
"The best advice for living a creative life is to believe that you can!"
"Be present. Your life is the best inspiration there is. You're alive. What a miracle!"
Give us one piece of common writing advice and tell us why it's wrong.
"One piece of common writing advice is to stop and think, but I disagree! I say just keep writing! Your ideas will come out on their own when you're forced to keep writing forward."
"Fuck writing for an audience! Write for you first and foremost, regardless of how cringy, how self-indulgent, how sloppy it may be at first. Art is always for the artist as a priority. Anyone else who comes to appreciate it is a nice addition, but you must always seek the expression of the self, for that is the ultimate goal."
"Write for you first and foremost, regardless of how cringy, how self-indulgent, how sloppy it may be at first."
"One piece of common writing advice is to spend hours a day working on a piece of writing, as if spending a long time on your work is the only way for it to be successful. I think that's wrong because writing is a marathon, not a sprint."
What advice would you give to a young writer who wants to change the world?
"Write that shitty first draft."
"1. Have a plan B. 2. Have a plan C. 3. But still, keep writing."
"Forget - remember - forget - dream - forget..."
"Be bold. Be strong. Never stop. The work is never done. The truth is hidden in your blindspot."
"The truth is hidden in your blindspot."
"The world needs you! Go forth and be yourself. That's the only way to bring about any meaningful change.
"To a young writer who wants to change the world, I would tell them that I am figuring shit out too, bro... Freddie Mercury didn't have shit figured out either at such a young age, but in 1975 he was considered a genius for writing 'Bohemian Rhapsody.' Sometimes you don't have to have a goal, I guess I'd tell the young writer. Just keep being a fool, keep at it, keep running. Maybe you will be a genius too."
"What sets your heart on fire?"
"I would tell a young writer that the world is full of words but few of them are worth listening to. Be the kind that's worth listening to.
"I would tell a young writer that you can do it! I'm tired of trying, but I'm sure you can do it."
"What would I tell a young writer? Read, Read, Read. Write, Write, Write."
"Inspired by Roxane Gay: the pen is not mightier than the sword, the pen is the sword."
"Keep writing and build a good writing habit."
"Just write. You know what you need to do. Have no fear. Fear is a dagger in the dark that severs your ties to who you are, and what you will be. With courage, that dagger fades, and instead you will find that you have the ability to speak your mind and your heart in the same way that your favorite person would create."
"You know what you need to do. Have no fear."
"Be bold. Be strong. Be loud."
"The world needs changing so please don't lose that zest for life. We need your thoughts, your ideas, your feelings. But don't let the world change you. When you start sharing your writing it can feel like you need to adjust yourself. But that is the fatal error."
"Ditch the damn rules."
And an honorable mention apropos of nothing:
"Today an Uber driver made me cry with kind words. I tried to tip him, and he insisted I didn't. How wonderful to be held in a Hyundai."
"How wonderful to be held in a Hyundai."
