How To Give Yourself The Mental Space Necessary To Create

To me, a creative is a person enamoured of art and the very art of creating art. When I think ‘creative’ I think a kaleidoscope of paint strokes on a canvas, a microphone inhaling spoken word, words turning into people and emotions on a page, music that make your heart sing, a person who is weird in all the ways weird is good.

When I think create, I am always tempted to think the same thing, but recently I’ve realised that to create really is brutal work. Nothing like the romanticised version I’ve had in my head all this time.

Creation starts with imagination—the wilder the better—which is the easy part! Oh, think of the joy you get when you imagine a character’s journey through an imagined world: when you see this character clear as day, feel their breaths and their fears, watch them move their limbs, sure and steady.

Think of the joy of that finished note, that pitch ringing through your ears like magic and everything good. Or that glossy painting flirting with the sun rays from your window. Think of those powerful words about that important issue that you can weave and mix and rhyme.

Again, the imagination is the easy part—there are no limits to our thoughts.

The work, however, starts when you sit and stare at a blank screen knowing that in a few pages your character would find herself whisked off to a private school where her journey of self-actualisation would begin. The words you need to take you there, to take your readers from Once Upon A Time to your character’s big realisation? Those words are the work. And finding, using, and pruning them? That process is not fun.

That’s the thing about creation though—most of the time, it is not fun. Making a character bible, giving your character realistic motivations and flaws, deciding whether your story will fare better as theme-driven or character-driven, choosing the best POV from which to tell your story.

Standing long hours in front of your easel and ignoring aching arms and legs. Repeating words for the right pitch until your voice fails you. Listening to that one note that grates at your nerves because it just won’t fit into your symphony—why won’t it fit into your symphony?!

For me, that is the create part.

Now, of course, there are those moments of blissful madness that sometimes come upon a man and force him to produce with a frenzy a thing whose beauty shall become his due to the world. Eeeissshhhh! I was a philosopher in my past life—probably a wacky one, but a philosopher nonetheless. We all know those moments—inspiration, muse, whatever you call it. Unfortunately for us, inspiration is a slippery thing and these intense bouts of creativity (where we are actively creating and not bogged down by the banality of the process) are rare and random.

The thing is, if you want to make a living from being a creative, you cannot afford to depend solely on inspiration. As a matter of fact, if inspiration comes, welcome her with open arms, and when she wishes to leave, say your farewells with a wave. Anything other than this and she might become vengeful.

According to The Oxford Academic in The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics, mental spaces are very partial assemblies constructed as we think and talk for purposes of local understanding and action.

In simpler terms, they are ‘rooms’ in our head that are created as we think. As humans, we need these mental spaces to be able to process things we see or hear. As creatives, we need these mental spaces uncluttered to be able to create—to make something out of nothing. When there is too much going on in our head, when our thoughts buzz around like pesky flies underneath our skull, we lose the ability to create.

Some things are unnecessary in the grand scheme of things, yet in the moment they feel big enough to be worth your attention. If you are trying to learn to paint a fish and you find an interesting blog post talking about how fish gills are similar to those of toad tadpoles, by all means, save the post for later, but keep your focus on learning to paint that fish.

This is because if you give your attention to that unrelated fact, you lose valuable time where you could be learning to sketch the perfect arc for your fish. Some things are nice to know, but not everything is necessary in the moment.

I know I am guilty of this from time to time—it comes with a decentralised brain—, but I am learning to accept that I do not need to chase random facts when I am trying to create. Those are nothing but shiny pebbles. When I am searching for new knowledge or random facts, I allow myself pull at these threads. When I need to focus, to make space to create, those threads become noose to my creativity.

So, to give yourself the mental space necessary to create, be brutal with where you place your attention.

Some people believe this is the opposite of being creative, because, like I pointed out, the word creative brings with it images of frenzied work and a burst of colours and papers. The truth, however, is that when you do not wait for inspiration but force yourself to do what needs to be done, your brain has no choice but to lock in to what you are doing and work with you.

I am not saying force yourself to create when your head hurts and you need to sleep or face the very real risk of breaking down. What I am saying is that you should not make the act of creating nondeliberate.

You could be intentional about creating by setting time apart to create, and not joking with it: by keeping reminders and making schedules, by putting your phone in do-not-disturb, by letting your family know you are trying to create, by keeping your snacks and water next to you so you don’t have to take distracting trips to the refrigerator.

However you want to do it, know that to put yourself in that creative space, you need to be intentional about doing just that.

When you keep thinking about your idea for a novel, with new scenes and random quips popping into your head, you tend to renew your excitement and are more likely to give in to writing. To create the mental space necessary to create something, anticipate and romanticise that thing.

There is this thing about the brain where the anticipation for something releases the feel-good hormone, dopamine, which helps with motivation. When you constantly think about all the awesome things you could be creating, and view them through a new light every day, you give yourself no choice but to create those things.

In essence, think about something constantly and your body will itch to do that thing. Voila! You’ve created a conducive mental space that is specifically for your creative work.

Ahem… Not to be a killjoy, but know that just ‘thinking’ and forgetting to ‘be intentional’ about creating will only cause you pain.

You may think it is a good thing for your mind to have many ideas flying around, but that is only when you are trying to catch one, not when you are trying to build on an idea. For that, your haywire mind needs to quieten down to allow you work.

It’s like trying to catch chicken. When you do not focus on one chicken at a time, you risk running around the coop until you keel over with nothing but feathers and a few scratches to show for your effort.

Thinking of too many things at once means that you will be unable to hold a thought to completion. You need to declutter to make space for the creative process. Creating is work, and working while distracted is a recipe for disaster.

One way I give myself space to create is to sit with myself and go through my scattered thoughts and emotions. I ask myself what I am feeling and try to see if those feelings have a root cause I can address. If the voices in my head get too loud, I take deep breaths and talk into the room. I ask questions, and I answer those questions to the best of my ability.

‘Why do I feel irritated? Is it because the light is too bright? Is it because I feel a headache coming? Is it because I wanted to have a productive day but ended up watching Instagram reels on the couch? Am I disappointed in myself? What can I do better next time? Why do I keep thinking about what my friend said? Why is that chorus stuck in my head? (Because it is catchy and I probably need to listen to the music from start to finish to get it out)’

Sometimes I don’t have answers to why I am feeling the way I feel, but I am usually able to know what I feel and that in itself is a big step towards clearing that mental space.

When you fail to show up because your heart or your head hurts, do not fall into that toxic space where you give destructive criticism to yourself. Where you begin to pick at your flaws and forget to be kind. Where you go ‘Of course, I didn’t end up writing—I am so lazy’ or ‘I can’t believe I was stupid enough to think I could change’.

There are a gazillion kinds of writing out there, and just as many reasons why people write, but for most of us, writing is something that brings us joy. When you become overly strict about your writing, to the point of hurting yourself when you fail to follow through, you make writing painful and teach yourself to fear this very thing you should love. So, to give yourself the space necessary to create, stop making the creative process an avenue for hurt.

Be kind to yourself when you fail to write or when you write something you deem subpar. Admit that you could do better but also acknowledge that you are human and it is human to ‘err’.

One way to be kind to yourself is to engage in self-care. Go read this post where I talk about how to engage in self-care as a writer and, consequently, give yourself the mental space necessary to create.

Alright! That’s it for creating creative space. I hope you find something in here that resonates with you and helps you nurture your mind into creating magic. I’m always itching to hear your thoughts, so pen those down in the comment section, and until the next time, be well, awesome people!