Today’s creative spark came to me while I was looking for a specific quotation, for a project I’m working on. I found the quote and it immediately provided me with a wide-ranging creativity tactic.
The quote came from the brilliant mind of Roy Peter Clark. It was part of some advice he shared to an aspiring author, who was struggling and asked Roy for help.
This is what jumped out at me.
Draft earlier than you think you can. Not even a first draft, but a Zero Draft.
One of the great barriers to creativity is fear. Fear stops us getting started. Fear of failure, criticism, people laughing at us, whatever. If we don’t start, we don’t finish. We fail to create or produce anything. We’re creatively blocked!
Roy knew that a great way to start writing a book, is to write something free from the fear of failure.
A first draft carries expectation. A zero draft carries none. The stakes are as low as possible. The barrier of fear is removed. And the struggling author now has the freedom to get started. Once started, momentum is built. And they’re writing.
Whatever kind of creative work we’re struggling to get started, by adding our own version of a zero draft, we too can get moving. We’re free to start on something where there’s zero expectation, the stakes are lower than low and the barrier is removed.
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