Paradigm Diagrams

Strategies – Practices – Attitudes for A Creative Life
and Growing a Writer’s Brain

               What does it take to coax life from the creative ember within us? To keep the flame burning? Beyond writer tips of the day, what are the deeper attitudes and strategies that not only foster creativity, but sustain it over the long haul? To put it simply: What do we pay attention to and how do we do it effectively? The first step is to set aside popular myths and magical thinking about how creativity works

                As I put my 10,000 hours into writing The Story of Baha’u’llah I dis-covered that experienced writers, scientists, and Baha'i writings come together to support the same truths. Seasoned writers speak of apprenticeship in learning the craft. Scientists talk about the 10,000 hours of an “expert-in-training.” Baha’i writings affirm that, “The one in pursuit of anything must undergo difficulties and hardships until the object in view is attained and the great success is obtained.”

                Creativity is not about talent, but “effortful study,” say scientists, by which they mean “continually tackling challenges that lie just beyond one’s competence.” Studies show the brain’s ability to “reshape and reorganize itself” throughout life – to change in response to experience. Yes, you can create a writer’s brain. Experts are made, not born. But how to go about it?

                “What would a systematic approach to creativity look like?” I wondered. My answer came together in a paradigm – laid out as the nine-pointed visual you see here. It invites us to strategies, practices, and attitudes that nourish and sustain a creative life. It calls on us to 1) engage in study and practice, 2) benefit from working in groups, and 3) operate in a learning mode,
in which we evaluate what works and adjust (revise) where necessary.

                The intention is not a tight prescription, but rather a gathered focus for developing both craft and the creative self – and for creating a culture of encouragement. There is always something new to learn, “something more difficult and demanding asking to be tried,” as author Marge Piercy says. Encourgement is what keeps the writer in the room.

                The paradigm can begin a conversation with writers about “What works?” and “How does it work for me?” I write about it in my blog Luminous Realities: Exploring the Creative Process. Hilighted here are selected blog posts that explain the basic paradigm and different pieces of it in writing life.