Creativity Feeds Creativity

by D’Ann Mateer

Do you ever feel like your well of creativity has run dry? I confess I am often in that place. There are many ways to refill your creative stores, but have you considered adding a creative hobby outside of writing?

I know, I know. You need to write. That’s where you want to spend all your creative currency. And yet, when your creativity in your words and story begins to run dry, it’s often time to do something creative in a completely different realm.

You see this all the time with writers, even if they don’t recognize it themselves! Here are a few examples of creative hobbies of authors I know:

• Garage sale shopping—the creativity of seeing another’s trash as your treasure.
• Cross-stitching—even with a pattern there is a creative process of putting the colors on the fabric.
• Crochet/Knitting—again, a creative process in the doing as well as the choosing of yarn and pattern.
• Sewing—like the previous two examples!
• Art, including painting, photography, digital art, pottery, sculpting, making jewelry, etc.—creativity with medium and color, creativity in the visual realm instead of the written one.
• Interior Design—creativity of color and texture and space.
• Cooking/Baking—creativity in both taste and visual appearance.
• Music/Dancing—even if you don’t do these well, they can still be creative endeavors!

I realized a while ago that through the years I’ve usually had one or more of these things creative endeavors going in tandem with my writing. And when my writing feels stale and lifeless, it’s often a sign that I’ve neglected other sources of creativity to feed the cast of characters in my head.

I found that to be true again recently. I wanted to learn and do something new, something to exercise my creative muscles and my brain. Then I discovered Procreate, an iPad painting app. I’m not artistic by any means, but I’ve always wanted to be. So for less than the cost of a new release or even a good set of drawing pens, I downloaded the app. I’ve been watching YouTube tutorials and playing around with creating visual yet useful things—like stickers for my digital bullet journal. Who knows? I might even advance to drawing my graphics for social media or my blog!

Not only have I enjoyed experimenting and learning, but suddenly I’ve had new—and better, I hope!—ideas for places I’ve been stuck in writing projects.

Our creativity is one of the ways we are made in the image of God. But even God is not creative in just one dimension. He has created so many different kinds of things in this world. I believe He made us to be creative that way, too.

Next time you find yourself despairing of your lack of creativity as you write, ask yourself if you need to stop a little while and do another creative thing—have a dance party by yourself, create a graphic on Canva or draw a picture (digitally or by hand). The possibilities are endless. I think you’ll be surprised how the shift of your creative focus can revive your productivity—and joy—in your written work.

D’Ann Mateer loves the intersection of history and fiction. She is the author of four historical novels (one Carol finalist), two historical romance novellas, and three Guideposts mysteries. For more about her and her books visit www.dmateer.com. D’Ann and her husband, Jeff, live in Dallas, TX.