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One weird habit has kept me consistently writing for the past four years.
Before I was known as Ev Chapman, Prolific Creator. I was Ev Chapman, Wannabe creator.
I spent 10 years starting all sorts of creative projects only to have them fizzle out after a few months. The longest project I ever kept up was my vlog which I did for a whole year (you can still go and watch the old ones on my Youtube channel!).
So what changed? I changed how I thought about creative work.
Rather than trying to work on the things I thought I *should* work on. I decided only to work on things that sparked me.
I don't try and push through to get something published that I'm not excited about. I switch gears if things feel forced and I completely abandon some ideas that just don't do it for me anymore.
It's not about being undisciplined. I'm very disciplined. I sit down and write everyday.
It's about creating an environment where writing feels easy & fun - the more we do that the more our brains associate it as being easy & fun (& when things are easy and fun our brain wants to do more of it).
One of the things I do to make sure my writing environment always feels easy is have a toolbox of things that I can turn to when I feel uninspired.
So that way rather than just giving up and doing nothing. I have some tricks in the bag to get my creative spirit stoked again.
Like literally walk. I lace up my shoes and just start walking. Walking clears my head, and paves the way for ideas like no other activity.
The more creative people I meet, the more I realise this is an absolute hack to get creativity flowing again.
I have a few different strategies when I walk.
There really is something about moving our bodies that gets our brains working.
I had something else planned to write for this newsletter today. But it just wasn't sparking for me this week. So I went back into my ideas list & found this draft - and something about it sparked me.
Within half an hour it was ready to go. I could have pushed through for hours trying to write that other thing that didn't spark. But instead I chose to follow my creative spirit.
The point is - keep a few ideas on the go, so you can shift gears if you need. It doesn't mean I won't write about my other idea later. Next week it might spark me again & the idea will just flow.
You just have to find the right timing for your ideas.
My Spark Inbox is where I keep all the notes from things I'm reading & consuming. It's literally a pandora's box for me (except good things come out instead of bad!).
It is full of things that have sparked me while reading. So on the days I feel utterly uninspired I reach in and just start to fish around for something to write about.
It's always guaranteed to spark something.
Having a toolbox of things that bring you creative inspiration is like a cheatcode to getting into creative flow. You're toolbox might look different to mine. The key is to have other things that help spark you again.
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