Creativity Lessons from My Motorcycle (Jan. 08)

I was grumbling about all the chrome on the bike. Not a fan of shiny, polish-needing parts on anything, I was using a toothbrush to clean the wheels of the bike. No, I’m not a neat-freak, but the bike is black and chrome, and it had started to look unkempt, insect-spotted and dusty. So I was polishing, wiping, washing and toothbrush- wielding. It felt like the whole bike was made of chrome.

Dan rolled up in the driveway behind me.
“What’s new?” he asked, getting off his bike.
“Polishing up Suzie Lightning, then going for a ride,” I said.
He considered the cloud cover and said, “Every minute you spend polishing that thing, you aren’t riding it. And you bought it to ride, not polish.”
He was right, but I said, “Gotta keep it clean.”
“Sure,” he agreed, “but you can keep it clean at night or when it’s cold. Take advantage of what you have.”

The same is true of creative work. Artists and writers can spend a lot of time on prep work, and never get to the actual writing or art. Cleaning the studio, the house, doing laundry all are important, but the wrong time to do them is when it is time to do creative work.

Leave the cleaning for a time when you aren’t creatively charged or know that you have just enough time to do one load of laundry. Life is short, your creativity is calling you. Go answer.

Image of all-chrome bike: http://www.motorbiker.org

–Quinn McDonald is a trainer in business communications and a certified creativity coach. See her work at QuinnCreative.com (c) 2008 All rights reserved.

The Word Whore

If you are a freelancer writer, you know your life’s purpose–you get the jobs the in-house writers can’t manage, don’t want, or that take up too much corporate time. You don’t get praise, but you get a check–the equivalent of leaving money on the nightstand.

Now, I ask, is this a bad thing? It depends on how you handle it. It you want to be the word-wife with a house and white-picket office, a flower-box window view, and 2.5 weeks of vacation a year, then freelancing simply is not for you.

If you  are the tough writer with a heart of gold, you don’t mind getting last-minute calls when you’re desperately needed.  The voice at the other end of the phone pleads with you because he’s spent the night on the couch in the office– the regular writer has a headache. You get work because its tedious or other writers have refused.  If this is your life,  then you are a freelancer at heart. You will never be invited to the holiday party, and you won’t be publicly recognized in meetings. It’s a good life, though.

Freelancing a good life if you are fast, flexible, and willing to take a backseat to the legitimacy and prestige of the corporate writer.

Like the original working woman, your power is behind the scenes. You are called on to perform the work that is too dirty or too hard for in-house writers. But you get paid well (only if you set the price firmly ahead of time) and get respect (only if you don’t let the client treat you like, umm, you know. . .)

If you are very good, you can become a word mistress. Everyone knows who you are, you get smiled at when you visit, but people don’t know exactly how to treat you in the office. They might defer to you in public, and talk about you behind your back. But in your client’s conference room, you do your work well and are appreciated.

You won’t get a lot of praise, and if you start to look needy, you’ll get dropped. Each client wants to think you work for them alone and are always available just for them. Don’t parade your writing adventures in front of your client, but do let them see the vast experience you have, how nimble you are, how you can switch positions within the company. You may have to wear a mask or costume–be a marketer one day, a bean-counter the next, a tech expert the day after. But versatility is valued.

The word whore can occasionally become the word wife–by getting a corporate job. Yes, it gives you a certain security, maybe benefits, but in your heart you know sooner or later the corporation will turn you out for a trophy writer, a younger, cheaper version without the experience, but with a generous capacity for Kool-Aid.

So choose your game wisely and with truth in your heart. You’ll be happy in your chosen profession.

–Quinn McDonald is a freelance writer, creativity coach and trainer in the field of business communication. See her work at QuinnCreative.com (c) 2008 All rights reserved.

No More New Year’s Resolutions

New Year’s resolutions? I’m against them. Why would a creativity coach be against something so apparently helpful? Because I don’t think New Year’s resolutions are helpful. Most of them are chosen randomly—losing weight, being nicer to co-workers, being more thoughtful in traffic. Many are vague (all three of the above are) and most are geared to work against the resolution-maker.

Setting a goal brings with it the bothersome work of self-motivation, accountability, and self-judgment. None of that sounds intriguing, much less fun. It sounds like something to do until we get bored—on January 3.

When my clients charge into the New Year, fueled with determination to root out their bad habits, I suggest that bad habits are generally nothing more than good habits dialed up too far. Generosity, certainly a good habit, can be dialed up until it becomes the bad habit of overspending or buying someone else’s affection. Judging others sounds like a bad habit until we realize that explaining morality, ethics and response to bullying to our children involves judging in a good way.

A better way to tackle resolutions is not to dig out the bad habits—pulling out the roots of good behavior at the same time. Instead, resolve to increase things you do well. That nice feeling you get helping others? Get more of it. Let that car in the other lane get in front of you. Get out of line in the grocery store to pick up the item you forgot, instead of leaving your cart in line, forcing people to wait for your return. Smile while you do this.

Are you a good friend? When you hear that juicy bit of gossip, break eye contact, look down, then look the gossiper straight in they eye and change the subject. Refuse to pass on gossip, snarky remarks or that embarrassing email someone sent you.

Because you are already good at these tasks, finding more ways to put them into action won’t be hard. You are following your inclination to make the most of your talents, rather than working against yourself rooting out a bad habit.

And you’ll find yourself still doing well in July, instead of feeling guilty by the second week of January. It’s a great feeling.

Image: http://www.gapersblock.com

–Quinn McDonald is a life- and creativity coach. She writes Imagination Works, a newsletter that supports creativity. (c) 2008 All rights reserved.