Here is the video to go with the blog post if you would rather listen to it. (The blog post will not involve the rambling the video did. WARNING: spoilers in the video.)

The movie that inspired this post is called The Menu. The premise is that these people have been invited to this elaborate dinner where things start out pretty light but quickly turn dark as the evening progresses. (It’s labeled as a horror, suspense, and dark comedy type of movie. So warning: it’s not for the faint of heart.) I enjoyed it a lot because there were elements I saw in this movie that applies well to the issue of “creativity” that authors face.

In the movie, the main chef used to love to cook. He started out flipping burgers, and he was very happy doing this. It was an art. (Likewise, our writing when we are enjoying our work stems from the simple act of telling the story that is in our hearts. But over time, we will probably come across some creativity killers that will rob us of that joy. In the movie, the chef lost his passion by catering to others who ultimately took all of the joy from him.

Each table in the movie represented a creativity killer that the chef faced. I’ll list these out below and apply them to the writer’s own creative life, so we can be aware of them (and protect ourselves from them).

Table 1: The Critic

This is the group of people who will nitpick and tear down your story. Usually, the stuff is minor, and the criticism often doesn’t offer anything of real value. It can be something as little as a typo or two in a 70,000-word novel. It can be the bickering over passive vs active voice. It can be someone telling you that you should use “better” language to tell a story, like using words other than “is” or “was” or “walk” or “said”. Little stuff that ultimately makes no difference to the story itself.

How do you tackle this? Ignore the critic. These people aren’t there to help you. They are simply there to pull out their red pens and criticize your work. They find enjoyment out of nitpicking things. Let them nitpick, but you do not have to listen to it. As long as you and your readers are happy with the book, that’s all that matters.

Table 2: It’s All About the Money

Often in writing groups, the focus is on the money. Writers will brag about how much they make. Some will even show charts. The bottom line for these people is that writing is a business. To write for any other reason is to be “less than” in the eyes of these people. They might say your passion books are just as valuable, but you know that they have this “you’re a hobby writer” mentality that makes them look down at you. To them, there is no reason to write and publish books unless you plan to make money. This can put pressure on you to write stuff you don’t enjoy but feel like you have to for the sake of the money.

How do you tackle this? Realize that it if VALID to write and publish a book for pleasure. Out of all the people in the world, your book does have an audience. Of course, the problem is finding the audience. Visibility is an issue. But your book is worth having in the world. Only you can tell the story you have in your heart to write. It’s okay to have fun. Also, keep in mind that money does not always equal happiness. I remember a time when I was in a writing group and there was an author who was crying because she was miserable. She was making good money, but she hated what she was writing. She felt trapped. She wanted to write something else but was too scared to take the leap. I don’t know about you, but if writing is going to be like that, then what’s the point?

Table 3: All Work and No Play

In the pursuit of making money, authors can get into the trap of working all the time. They spend as much time writing and marketing as they can. After a while, this will take a toll on you. Even if you enjoy what you’re writing and you have an assistant, the nonstop urgency to do more only snowballs until you burnout.

How do you tackle this? Take time to do other things. Give yourself a life outside of the writing world. Find people and/or hobbies that allow you to relax. The key is to do stuff you enjoy. (Don’t make yourself spend this time on people or things you hate. That will only make you more miserable.) When you give yourself time to decompress, you’ll fill up the creative well again. Also, to better learn the craft of storytelling, it can be nice to watch movies, TV show or to read books that you enjoy. So you are still “working”, but in a fun way. (Still I would allow for purely non-writing stuff in my life to give me a balance.)

Table 4: The Overzealous Fan

While it’s fun to have someone who loves our work around us, you don’t want someone who is crazy. I’m thinking specifically of the book/movie “Misery” by Stephen King. Now he took this to the extreme in showing this “overzealous fan” dynamic, but if you are aware of this, then you know what I mean. This is someone who goes overboard. They want to be too intimately involved in your life. This can make you uncomfortable. (For the record, I do NOT have anyone like this in my life, thank goodness. And I think most authors never face this.) But it is something that would kill your creativity if it happened to you. Also, if you have a reader who loves your stuff and tells you they want to see you write something a certain way, it can be hard to NOT write it because you want to please them. You might have to choose between writing the story in the direction you want to go vs. the way they want the story to go. That is probably a more realistic dilemma that you’re bound to face at some point in your writing career. If you write according to someone else’s vision, that will hinder your creativity.

How do you tackle this? If you have someone too involved in your life, set up boundaries that put some distance between you and that person immediately. You don’t need to answer emails right away. You don’t have to text anyone. You don’t have to call anyone. You can even block if things get too nuts. I don’t have experience with this personally, but that is the stuff I would do. Now, I have had to decide to write the story my way instead, and I have politely told the person that, and the person understood and was happy with my work. So it’s often a matter of just being honest (and nice) about things.