This is a repost from 2017. I have been traveling and have not had the time to create fresh content. This essay of Gilbert’s is timeless no matter if you are a writer, artist, or musician. I reread it from time to time just to give myself a reality check!
I’m a huge fan of Elizabeth Gilbert. She became instantly famous with her novel, Eat, Pray, Love but many readers don’t realize that she was a writer way before that and has published other noteworthy books. She writes a lot about creativity. If you haven’t read her book “Big Magic, Creative Living Beyond Fear” it’s a great read on the subject. Also, she has a riveting TED Talk that is well worth a watch.
A friend forwarded this essay of hers on writing. I enjoyed this so much and thought I’d share. You could substitute the words creative, artist, or musician for the word writer and it would still apply.
Thoughts on Writing
(https://www.elizabethgilbert.com/thoughts-on-writing/)
Sometimes people ask me for help or suggestions about how to write, or how to get published. Keeping in mind that this is all very ephemeral and personal, I will try to explain here everything that I believe about writing. I hope it is useful. It’s all I know.
I believe that – if you are serious about a life of writing, or indeed about any creative form of expression – that you should take on this work like a holy calling. I became a writer the way other people become monks or nuns. I made a vow to writing, very young. I became Bride-of-Writing. I was writing’s most devotional handmaiden. I built my entire life around writing. I didn’t know how else to do this. I didn’t know anyone who had ever become a writer. I had no, as they say, connections. I had no clues. I just began.
Continue reading “Elizabeth Gilbert on Writing and the Creative Life”
CHECKLIST
No matter what rut you’re in, creative or otherwise, the only way to escape is by momentum. Whether it be a running start with or without an external assist (think tow truck) as in a class. Here is a free tow truck- watch the 
After a bit of a dry spell this summer (literally and figuratively), I decided to take the sage wisdom of other creatives and just SHOW-UP. Anything is better than being miserable. So I have been just showing up to my studio with no great inspiration, choosing to do whatever caught my fancy. “Junk collage” started me off, then I joined an informal mosaic group on Monday mornings that a friend of mine started. Then
there is nothing like SIGNING UP. I have a couple of holiday shows now I need to create for. Deadlines are a great motivator. I bought a new bag of clay and I’m ready to go.
Creative dry spells are no fun. There is a certain desperation and despair about these times. But just like being physically out of shape, the only way to get in creative shape is to start moving. It’s uncomfortable at first and discouraging to begin again. Creative muscles get sore too. That means baby steps. Show up 10 minutes a day if that’s all you have in you and work up to more.
I’ve kept a journal off and on since I was a junior in high school. It was an assignment in my English class. Long after the assignment was over, I kept on as I found it to be a way to clarify my thoughts and anchor myself quelling my teenage anxiety.
poetry started emanating from me. Not only was the process satisfying creatively, it started becoming food for my visual artwork. As time passed, my writing has continued to rescue me from the darkness of the world events. (I choose not to write about them either).
Now I believe just write- daily in whatever form suits you. For me sometimes that can be a few lines, an entire poem or just editing something I’ve written the day before. Anything to tame the squirrels running loose in my brain. It’s a creative act that can be achieved with the immediacy of pencil and paper. You don’t need paint, canvas, a studio, clay or kiln. It’s a relatively quick process. Paint pictures with letters, words, and sentences. When you aren’t inspired visually, find inspiration & clarity in your written expression. Free your psyche to give your visual art more direction than it’s ever had before.
It all started with my decision to sell my artwork online. I spent hours setting up my shop on Etsy, learning how to photograph my artwork, figuring out shipping and then posting listings. Now I began the hard work of self-promotion so that my little enterprise could get found among the virtual soup that contained thousands of others.
It was an easy fix. I deleted the Facebook & Instagram apps off my phone & IPad. It took a couple of days for my mind to feel free of the social media sirens calling my name. I could be fully present again. My Instagram, Facebook & Etsy accounts are still active. The difference is that I manage them rather than them managing me. I peek in twice a week now either post &
of concepts that fascinate me. For example, a few of my favorites are migration, germination, metamorphosis & salmon. I will make a list of every sub-concept I can think of that has to do with that topic, pick a few & then tie them together into a piece. The Illustrations that are shown in this post are from a triptych titled “The Spirit of Ghost Ranch.” In these mixed media pieces, my goal was to embody different aspects of 
By Alanna Pass 
