Creative Process

In this post, I share my own creative processes. That’s why I did not refer to external sources, as these processes can vary from one person to another. I have applied these processes in almost every creative work, such as logo design, web design, and writing—just to name a few—whether during weekly course assignments or in my own personal creative practice. This was especially true during my bachelor studies, where we focused on writing, photography, and film music in various courses.

When someone says that a text, image, song, film, or work is creative, a spontaneous question arises: How was it accomplished? How did the creator bring living, inspired thoughts to life? And what impact can it have on the audience? In the course “Understanding Artistic Processes,” creative processes are discussed in three different fields with Professor Houman Sadri, a researcher and lecturer at the Department of Language and Literature and the Department of Cultural Sciences at the University of Gothenburg, along with several guest lecturers who are experts in their respective fields, and with classmates. In this study, I will highlight and analyze my own creative processes in writing, the obstacles that can arise when one wants to write, and how to overcome them from my perspective. This analysis will include a personal reflection on the creative processes.

Writing creatively is a project that requires practical processes; generally, these processes are the same as in any other project, meaning it requires effort at both the individual and group levels. However, what sets creative projects apart is passion and discipline—in other words, working with both heart and mind, where joy follows the creative processes in parallel. Creative processes can be divided into seven fundamental phases: inspiration, reflection, composition, evaluation, improvement, peer review, and development. To clarify how these creative processes appear from my perspective, all phases will be visualized in a mind map (see Appendix 1).

To begin with, the inspiration phase can be identified as something or someone that gives ideas for creating something, or it can be a brilliant idea that suddenly comes, according to the Cambridge Dictionary. It is not easy to explain the concept of inspiration. In the first seminar, which took place on March 11th, Professor Sadri asked questions such as, “What feeling do you get when you read a text?” and “How does it inspire you to create something?” In other words, inspiration begins when you see, hear, read, smell, or taste something that gives a sudden thought that awakens your creative emotions to write about something. After the first seminar, we had a week to write about something that inspires us; it was an initial phase to start putting my thoughts into motion, and I wrote about something I consider very meaningful to me. During the second week, we had a guest lecture by Dr. Ariel Kahn, a senior lecturer at Middlesex University, who shared his experience in creative writing, which gave me a better understanding of how to describe the environment in a text and connect it with my emotions. Several peer reviews in smaller groups followed the second seminar and a seminar with Professor Sadri, where we discussed each other’s texts, making the texts more developed.

The most wonderful thing about inspiration is that people see, interpret, and experience things in their surroundings in different ways; each person receives varying signals from the same thing based on their background, experiences, and knowledge. This helps a creative creator to make something unique. The audience with similar experiences feels connected to the text they read because they find it relevant to their experiences, while readers who haven’t experienced the same events can empathize and imagine what something or someone looks like, etc. In both cases, a text written creatively highlights a striking issue.

Between the inspiration and composition phases, there is a reflection period. This means that we can imagine the brain as a sponge that absorbs a large amount of information about many ideas; then, the brain needs time to categorize ideas and past experiences. It then opens certain files related to the ideas and starts to pay attention to details of the things one wants to write about. During this period, it is good to ask oneself why I should do this; that question helps the brain retrieve many answers and begin connecting things to see one’s vision more clearly. In other words, ideas take time to mature, and one can help the brain retrieve thoughts and solutions by simply asking a few questions, without expecting immediate answers, thus motivating the subconscious to find answers and solutions. The brain will automatically arrange thoughts and understand the experience, how emotions and the environment were, and how it can be presented in the text. Another advantage of the reflection phase is that reflecting on thoughts helps organize and visualize the goal to be achieved.

Afterward, one starts the composition phase step by step. First, there is a preliminary study to gather information and understand how to carry out the project. For example, when I wanted to write, I had basic knowledge about what to consider when planning to write, so I began to recall this knowledge, and sometimes some research was needed. Then, one starts planning the work by answering a number of questions, such as: What experiences should be focused on in the text? What is the purpose of the text? What type of text? An article, novel, or something else? To whom is the text directed? These questions help clarify the direction of the project and how the idea seen in one’s mind’s eye will be realized. The second and third steps, planning and execution, run in parallel. One plans the actual work and writes down the thoughts that flow in the mind; otherwise, one risks losing numerous good ideas. During this phase, it is very important to invest in the idea, even if some challenges arise along the way; solutions must be found, and one should not procrastinate or give up on the idea.

For example, I had a desire to write to express my feelings and what was swirling in my head. In the beginning, I thought I did not have sufficient knowledge of how to do it, so I postponed the whole idea. And when I had basic knowledge, I thought that no one would understand what I meant, and many authors had already addressed the issue better. I doubted a lot because of my overthinking. Another difficulty I faced was how to write a good sentence in a certain language because I am a compound and sub-coordinate bilingual. When I want to describe something, the first word that comes up may be in Swedish, sometimes it comes in English, or an expression comes up in Arabic. This means that a sentence that should take 2 seconds to formulate takes several minutes instead. In the end, I chose to write, thanks to a statement by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, an author, who said in an interview, “Write, write, write, and write again, and you will get it right.” A mistake I made was thinking about the main and secondary characters in the writing, the environment where events take place, time, narrator, actions, and so on. While it was good to consider these points, these thoughts scared me. That is why it is important to start with small steps toward the goal and not overthink. It should be noted that time-setting is an important factor in the processes; the purpose is not to procrastinate but also not to stress. The fact is that a set time frame helps to achieve at least one milestone of the project. During this course, we had a few days to start the milestones of the assignment, which I think helped with the procrastination I had.

Furthermore, the evaluation phase involves reading a text with the aim of checking the context; if something is missing or could be improved, it can be revised. When one sees that the text hangs together, one can ask a peer to read the text to get feedback that can develop the text. One technique that can be applied is reading the text as a third person; the benefits of this method are that one gives oneself constructive criticism and is kinder to oneself; many people criticize themselves very harshly, but if they were to say something to someone else, they are kind. This means that one should not undervalue the work, as it creates despair, and this happened to me. One must think of reading to assess whether the text is good as it is or can be made even better.

The peer review phase can be called a type of co-creation, where one asks someone else to provide feedback on the text and how they perceive the text from their perspective; four eyes see more than two. On one hand, discussion and reflection can have an excellent impact on the work. On the other hand, it can sometimes crush one’s creativity if one chooses inappropriate people to discuss the text with. The word “peer” in English or “jämlikar” in Swedish means “people who have the same abilities as other people in a group” according to dictionary.cambridge.org and synonymer.se. Therefore, it is good to think carefully before asking someone what they think about what has been written. For example, I had many people around me who, when I wanted to present an idea and the concept behind it, the first words out of their mouths were that it would never succeed or was incomprehensible. Until I moved to Sweden, I saw how classmates, when someone presented an idea, the first words would be, “That was interesting,” and then they would ask how they had thought about it. If something in the idea was unclear or missing, they would ask, “If you think like this, how will it be?” So, they provided useful and valuable feedback on an idea. Something that cannot be denied is that all those negative experiences kept me from sharing my text with my classmates; the thought was that they would not understand the whole idea. I can say that this is a weakness that needs improvement.

Last but not least, this course helped me to organize, design, structure, work effectively, and bring my ideas to life. The assignments we received during the first two weeks of the course were simple, which helped me to work better on my text. Initially, I thought it was a linear process, but in reality, it is an iterative process; in other words, one goes back and forth in the processes. Before this course, I had an idea, but first, I did not dare to do it, and then I exaggerated the processes, sinking into the details. Now I can say that it’s simple: you just need to start and think about continuity, meaning constant small improvements. To carry out a creative work, you must be both a dreamer and a doer—fantasize, dream big and different dreams, but take action. A brilliant idea can be born in a second, but realizing it takes long processes. Writing is an entertaining activity whether you want to write for yourself or publish it for an audience. It can be noted that if you want to sell your creative work, you should balance your creative and commercial mindsets. It is very important to invest in your idea, which means being aware of your processes to bring your idea to life. Over time, you can further develop your processes and become more productive. Having passion for what you do is a necessary factor for making continuous improvements; in other words, passion is like a driving force that motivates someone to do something with joy.

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