Coming down the home stretch here with this series on creativity.  This is part five.  I’m going to provide the links to the first four parts at the end of this post.  In part four, I talked about the power of momentum.  Utilizing today’s first key is a great way to keep the momentum going.

10.  Use Your Subconscious

Put your subconscious mind to work for you.  Think about your project or read a few pages from it right before you go to sleep–then prepare to pay attention to your dreams when you wake up.  Command your subconscious (you won’t hurt its feelings, promise, it likes to work for you) to figure out the details of the next scene you have to write.  Once you get in the habit of allowing your subconscious to work for you, you’ll be amazed at how helpful it can be.  I wrote an earlier post that goes into this in much more detail.  You can read that here.

11.  Don’t Talk About It, Do It

Too many people talk about the novel they are going to write, or the art they are going to produce.  Too many people relate the whole damn story of the screenplay they play to get down on paper.  But I believe talking about it too much is a big mistake.  It dissipates the energy of the project, takes the air out of it.  So don’t talk about it.  Do it.

12.  Refill the Well

This is especially important when you are finishing a long project.  Working on an extended creative piece takes not only time but energy.  Have you ever had the experience of intensely focusing on your writing for a few hours and suddenly realizing you are starving?  That’s because using your brain burns calories.  It takes energy.  You need to keep yourself going by constantly refilling the well.  Julia Cameron advises taking Artist’s Dates, which are scheduled times when you consciously do something that pleases and replenishes you.  When I’m writing a lot, I like to read a lot–words out, words in.  Its as if I need to replenish the supply.  It is vitally important that you figure out what nourishes you and commit to doing it often.  Its not selfish, because it is paving the way for you to bring your creative gifts to the world.

Stayed tuned for the last, rousing post of this series on Friday.  Meanwhile, here are the links for the earlier posts:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four