The last time I took a new job I wasn’t a writer. Well, I wrote white papers and technical manuals so I could put pen to paper. But I didn’t have a personal writing practice. But four months into a new job and I’m surprised how much creativity is a part of my job.
Sheesh, that sounded dry. Bear with me – I think I’m pulling a thread that as writers we are practicing all the time and might not be giving ourselves credit for.
Getting Started
I think of this as the first law of writing – I’ve heard it over and over as advice from great writers. You have to start. Just let the words tumble out onto the page without judgment. Knowing that you can, and will, go back to edit later but first you just have to let it flow.
This cornerstone of creativity is such an incredible life practice, isn’t it? Just start. Whether it’s the day, the week, the job, or the essay we are writing, we have to make the move to get out of our head and begin. I say to my kids that everything comes with practice…and writing has given me the chance to start over and over again. And I’ve found that it helps with the rest of my life.
Make Room for Characters to Grow
I recently did a podcast with brilliant blogger and author Brian Hannon (writingfromtheheartwithbrian.com) where he brought forward an article by Sierra Godfrey 4 Ways to Write Complicated Families. One of her tips was to allow room for characters to grow. If we want to see people in a three-dimensional view, we have to allow for growth.
I was mulling this over when a question came up at work about our status report practice. The team that I lead came from the acquisition of a company and I’m in charge of the pace and direction of how to align the team with the overall company patterns and practices.
It’s a lot of change. The melding of the two cultures is impossible without growth. I realized that one of my jobs is to use my creativity to envision what we might look like after we’ve grown and then to cheer the team along. It’s an act of creativity that I believe we use again and again in leadership, parenting, partnership, friendship and more. We hold the space for others to grow and develop, all the while loving who they are now.
Write It Out
I rarely start an essay knowing the ending. Like the other day I wrote a short vignette for my personal blog about coaching my 4-year-old son to share. “Say ‘yes.’” I whispered to him. And then not five minutes later he asked me to go look for worms with him. When I hesitated, he whispered, “Say ‘yes.’”
I laughed – and then wrote it down. I had no idea of the conclusion until I wrote it down. Then I realized that it was a reminder that what we put out in the world is what bounces back to us.
The same thing happens to me with work. I start an email and don’t even realize the conclusions or questions that I have until my fingers hit the keyboard. It might be about something mundane like licensing or big picture like strategy but either way, the questions come as I type. There’s a difference between thinking and writing that we leverage when we start writing.
Creativity as a core requirement for job responsibilities might not be what we think of when we put together a resume, but I believe it’s a primary skill for work and life. Perhaps I’m taking some creative license. But I think that’s the magic of a writing practice. Right? Write?
I’ve published a related post about the different ways we see things on my personal blog: Comparing Our Differences
Please check out these other items of interest:
More about Wynne Leon and her story-telling journey
Workshop about creativity jump start that I delivered with Dr. Vicki Atkinson
Speaking and workshops on leadership through creativity to build resilient teams
Podcast about the how and why of creativity
Articles and corporate creativity resources
Corporate evaluate your team needs for creativity
Individual creativity survey for individuals
My book about my journey to find what fueled my dad’s indelible spark and twinkle can be found on Amazon: Finding My Father’s Faith.
You can find me on Instagram and Twitter @wynneleon
(featured photo from Pexels)