Blocked? Frustrated? Procrastinating? Put yourself in Creativity Boot Camp.

Everyone who tries to do something creative knows the frustrating feelings of being blocked – or not having enough time to make progress – or working so sporadically that you can’t maintain your focus.

One solution is Creativity Boot Camp. You tackle your project in an intense, concentrated way, and push yourself far harder than usual.

I saw this when I wrote a novel in a month. That’s right, a novel in a month. A passing acquaintance told me about Chris Baty’s book, No Plot, No Problem! in which he lays out a program for writing 1,167 words a day, to produce a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, while keeping your day job. (50,000 words is about the length of The Great Gatsby or The Catcher in the Rye.) I immediately went to the bookstore, bought the book, and started three weeks later. It was a fantastic experience.

I saw the same recommendation in one of my new favorite books, Scott McCloud’s brilliant Making Comics. He recommends “The 24-Hour Comic”: “Draw an entire 24 page comic book in a single 24-hour period. No script. No preparation. Once the clock starts ticking, it doesn’t stop until you’re done. Great shock therapy for the creatively blocked. Over 1,000 artists have given it a try so far.”

If you’re intrigued, check out the websites National Novel Writing Month and 24 Hour Comics.

A friend of mine just started a blog and was having trouble meeting her goal of posting two or three times a week. My advice to her was, “Post every day.” Although she thought this was crazy, she recently told me that writing every day helped a lot.

I think the Boot Camp approach helps the creative process for several reasons.

 Because you’re racing, you don’t have time to listen to your internal editor criticize every move. You just put something on the page and keep moving, instead of sitting, paralyzed.

 Progress itself is reassuring and inspiring. Panic tends to set in when you find yourself getting nothing done, day after day.

 Because you’re so focused on your project, you begin to make deeper connections and to see more possibilities, instead of being constantly distracted by outside concerns.

 Because of the intensity, you can hop in and out of the project, without having to take time to acclimate yourself. I have a writer friend who’s married to a painter, and she says their test for working well is when they can sit down and work if they have a spare ten minutes.

 You lower your standards. If you’re producing a page a week, or one blog post a week, or one sketch a week, you expect it to be pretty darned good, and you fret and fuss about quality. Often, however, folks get their best work from grinding out the product.

 Practice, practice, practice. My novel was terrible, but I think the sheer doing of it helped my writing, just the way practicing scales helps a pianist. The more you practice, the better you’ll become.

 Because you have a voracious need for material, you become hyper-aware of everything happening around you -- and ideas begin to flood your mind.

 You can use this approach even if you're working on a creative project on the side, with all the pressing obligations of a job, family, etc. Instead of feeling perpetually frustrated that you don't have any time for your project, you MAKE yourself make time -- for a specific period.

 It’s fun! I don’t have the urge to climb mountains or run marathons, but I got the same thrill of exertion from writing a novel in a month.

*
Now for a moment of blatant self-promotion…Father’s Day and Graduation Day are coming up. Might I suggest Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill as a gift? For a description, read here.

Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill is in paperback now, and if that doesn’t seem substantial enough for a gift, consider pairing it with Churchill’s fantastic, funny, beautifully written and (rare for Churchill, one volume) memoir, My Early Life.

Both books are perfect either for Churchill aficionados or for people who know nothing about WSC. And if you don’t know anything about Churchill, run out and read SOMETHING, because he had an unimaginably interesting, exciting life.

Comments

[Florinda]

These are great suggestions for almost any project...even if you don't end up keeping the results once you stop to review them, you've given yourself a good workout and exercise helps grow muscles (or habits), eventually. I'm trying to develop my own blog more, and have encountered the "post every day" suggestion before...not quite there yet, but up to 2-3 times a week.

[kstyle]

Great post Gretchen,

I csn relate to everything you said. And thanks for father's day tip. Sounds fascinating. k

[Today is that Day]

Gretchen,

A week ago I wouldn't have put as much faith in this type of creativity, but having just lived a successful rendition of it, I can attest to its effectiveness

I am normally a fairly slow reader, but for various reasons I put off starting a 231-page book until the Saturday morning before my review of that book was due the following Monday morning.

Not only did I finish the book and internalize the content, but the review itself came out great AND I was done with it by 7:00pm Sunday night.

It was awesome to be focused so intensely on the material. It made all the difference!

- Aaron

[Sharyn]

"Boot Camp" sounds like the Nike Method - Just Do It!

[Mind Mart]

There's something to be said for just doing it. I think there some perfectionistic tendencies involved, but it always turns out better than you expected.

[Michael M]

Hi Gretchen,

Just to prove that self-promotion is a positive thing, I ordered a copy of your book for my father for Father's Day ... which I otherwise would have forgotten. And he was just telling me about his gigantic retirement reading list he was putting together. (And of course I ordered a new edition not "amazon marketplace".)

Michael M

[Dorraine Fisher]

Great post Gretchen. Those tips you gave to your friend about her new blog struck a creative nerve with me (in a constructive, good way.) I'm a struggling creative who's been working on a novel for a while and agonizing about how to find the inspiration to get it done. I think I'll try it your way for a while and see how far I can take it. Thanks.

[Katie]

Hi Gretchen, I love your blog and it has been an incredibly positive influence on my life over the past few months. I was wondering if you have any tips on how to deal with anger - not your own anger, but others'? Like your post on how to defuse a child's tantrum, only geared towards adults. I love my partner but sometimes I find myself the sufferer of much unwarranted wrath, particularly in the mornings and during times of stress, when morning grouchiness and stress-induced temper get taken out on me in the form of shouting and snapping and coldness. I find it really hard to continue being happy during such times, needless to say - although I know I have absolutely nothing to do with the anger!

[The Happy Rock]

When I get some free time in a week or so, I really may try the boot camp approach. Partly as an experiment, and partly because I really want to build up a buffer for my blog.

I have been interested in learning to quickly focus on one task until it is finished, so as to minimize distraction and wasted time.

[Susanne]

And then there's Script Frenzy. Writing a script of 20,000 words in a month. It has started a week ago of course, but who cares?

[Scott]

Gretchen, thanks for this. Something about it inspired me to enter "Creativity Boot Camp." (http://www.dontasq.com/blurblog/2007/06/07/introducing-write-write-write -- I linked back here, hope you don't mind.) Best of luck on living a happy life!

[Shawna R. B. Atteberry]

I find this post via Henrik's personal development blog. Thank you for reminding me of the creativity boot camp. I have a novel that needs to get finished, and this is probably the best way to get it done. Thank you.

[Alex Fayle]

I started my novel during National Novel Writing Month. I came up with the plot and format in a day because it was already after November 1st when I started. It took me until February to finish the book and I´m still editing it, but it´s the first full novel I´ve ever completed.

Fantastic post - thank you. And now to stop procrastinating to get back to the editing!