Creativity is an unwieldy concept. To be a creative person can mean so many things. Creativity can come in the form of visual art ranging from pencil sketches to watercolor masterpieces to sculptures created from found objects in a junkyard.
It can mean writing a ten-word poem, a two-hundred thousand word book, a series of short stories, a series of songs, it can mean designing clothes, designing furniture, or even figuring out how to successfully mix patterns in an outfit. (Do let us know if you’ve mastered this).
Regardless of how eclectic creativity can be, there’s one thing all creative people have in common. That would be struggling. Here are three of the most common struggles for creative people of all types.
Going-out guilt
We all have lives to live. That’s true. But we also have scenes to write! A chorus to finish! A drawing that’s only a third of the way done! Creative people love to work on their creative projects and creative ideas, but real life so often intrudes.
How many times have you begrudgingly gone out for dinner with friends, only to silently sulk because not only did you want to be working, but you were sure no one else on earth would understand? Trust us. There’s a whole breed of people just like you who get it.
Procrastination
This is something pretty much everyone on earth struggles with, but no one more so than creative people. No one ever says to themselves that they’re not going to write their next great novel or paint their next great painting or sing their next great song, but how often do we say that we’ll do all of those things tomorrow? Or next week?
Funny how we can be so obsessed with working on our creative ideas once we’re actually going on them, but how hard it can be to get to that point.
Getting through the middle
Beginnings to the left of me, endings to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle with you. Once you get over that initial procrastination hump and get started on your new creative project, the beginning of it generally comes pretty easily.
You’re excited to be working on something new, you’ve got all kinds of great ideas, and everything is flowing. Endings are pretty easy as well because you’re excited to finish. But in the middle? Ugh, the middle.
We don’t have any suggestions for how to power through the middle of your project. Just like we don’t have any suggestions for avoiding procrastination or going-out guilt. We just wanted you to know you’re not alone. Very not-alone.