Paid to be Creative

As a freelancer, blogger, and the person responsible for Faith Promise’s websites and outreach, a good portion of my time each week in and out of the office is spent coming up with creative ideas or implementing creative thoughts.  I’m also surrounded by other people (like our graphic artist, my Pastor, and others who teach) who are faced with creative deadlines on a weekly and daily basis.  Because of this, the whole concept of creative routines is very interesting to me.

While I do not endorse the content of his writing, I found this quote by Stephen King to be very fascinating:

There are certain things I do if I sit down to write,” he said. “I have a glass of water or a cup of tea. There’s a certain time I sit down, from 8:00 to 8:30, somewhere within that half hour every morning,” he explained. “I have my vitamin pill and my music, sit in the same seat, and the papers are all arranged in the same places. The cumulative purpose of doing these things the same way every day seems to be a way of saying to the mind, you’re going to be dreaming soon.  (entire quote)

It’s an interesting way of putting things, and it makes me consider what things around me each day contribute to or hinder my creative thought process.  Surely my messy desk, full inbox, and constant drone of Twitter aren’t helping things.  It makes me want to fight for more order and stillness in my life.