The Creative Gap (021)

What we imagine in our head as our masterpiece of art and storytelling sometimes doesn't appear on the page with all the full glory that we feel it is supposed to have.

Sometimes that inspires us to start over; a lot of the time, though, it is discouraging. We doubt and fret and even give up. Which of course is the worst "solution" (and I put that in quotes because it is not, in fact, a solution at all!)

This is what is known as the "Creative Gap", that space between what lives in our minds and what we actually create. It is so frustrating, but in this episode I talk about where this comes from, what audiences feel about it ("Holy shit! Two cakes!") and what we need to do to combat the emotions that come from realizing the gap exists. (I remember the days of my childhood when I didn't realizing it, when I just created whatever I wanted and though it was great. So great! ...but like opening Pandora's box, we can't shut the lid and go back to that magical time, alas).

I hope this episode gives you some inspiration to write and challenge the brain weasels!

Links:

Brainpickings Ira Glass quotes: https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/01/29/ira-glass-success-daniel-sax/

[Note: Links to Chris Fox's work have been removed due to his far-right wing bigotry, which I refuse to help promote. At the time I recorded this episode, I was unaware of his fascist leanings.]