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Inspired by my bumbling attempts to teach an online writing class for Gotham Writers, I recently called upon a number of children’s book authors and illustrators with a basic question:
What do you do, if anything, to cultivate your own creativity?
Amazingly, some of them responded.
Today we’ll look at the terrific answers I received from Diana Murray, London Ladd, and Jeff Mack.
Previously I featured responses from Travis Jonker, Paul Acampora, and Michelle Knudsen. Stomp on this link and it will magically transport you there like a portkey in some Harry Potter book.
DIANA MURRAY
I enjoy actively brainstorming. I open a google doc and write any idea that pops into my head, no matter how terrible. Sometimes I’ll highlight titles with colors if I think they’re particularly promising. Other times, I’ll make notes next to them like “not relatable” or “cute but needs tension” or I’ll gray titles out if they’re particularly bad. I also add to this list when I get spontaneous ideas while doing other stuff, like walking the dog. If I don’t write an idea down, I invariably forget it, and that drives me nuts! When I want to start a new project, I refer to my list. It’s a single list which is currently 97 pages. If an idea really strikes me as interesting, I experiment with a few lines. If it goes well, then I break it out into its own document.
If you like stories about unicorns, witches, pizza chefs, sleepy veggies, or adventures in the city, Diana Murray is the writer for you.
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LONDON LADD
Probably the most essential thing for continuing my creative passions is to wake up early, between 4-5am, at least five days a week, open my sketchbook to doodle . . .
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. . . and maybe surf the internet looking for artwork that interests and inspires me to see and think in ways I may not have considered before. My happiest place is my sketchbook because it’s my most authentic artistic expression—where I can liberate myself from the world’s cares, experiment, have fun, and discover new and exciting things.
Getting up so early often is probably not suitable for my long-term health, especially if I go to bed late, but that’s an essential factor in pushing myself out of my comfort zone because staleness is scary. Other factors like deadline crunch may cause me to skip it for some time, too, which could lead to anxiety, depression, fear, doubt, and imposture syndrome creeping into my mind, which could hinder my creativity. And so could sleep deprivation, too. It is a double-edged sword, but I can’t think of any other approach that works for me.
London Ladd has been a rising star for so long, I half-expect to look up and see his face in the night sky. The rest of the world is catching on.
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JEFF MACK
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I store my ideas in Notes on my phone. It lets me forget stuff, then rediscover it.
I don’t tell anyone about my story before I’ve written a few drafts. If I share my story before I write it, then I won’t feel the need to write it.
I work on many stories simultaneously. For me, writing is like solving puzzles with many possible solutions. The solution to one puzzle may be waiting for me in a different story.
I often take parts of one story and add them to another. Characters are especially interchangeable.
Writing is an uncomfortable process. I’ve come to accept that there’s no way around it. I like to daydream, but eventually I have to sit down and work.
There’s rarely a better time to write than when I don’t feel like it.
The need to earn a living can be a useful motivation for creativity.
Jeff Mack’s most recent book — um, I think it’s his most recent — Jeff is a busy guy — has been getting Caldecott buzz. But don’t mention that to Jeff; it makes his knees itch.
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