Integrating Creativity with the Business of Writing

Many writers have trouble balancing the creative and business ends of what they do. You might have a grand idea for a short story, but damn, right now you have to finish an article for a client, or pay a bill that’s about to become overdue.

Of course, what we’d all like is the time and leisure to just sit in a room and write! But real life intrudes. Here’s a system that might help you integrate the two:

1. Don’t suppress the creative thoughts that come to you, like that idea for a short story, even though you’re in the middle of something else that’s important to your business. Instead, be prepared for your creative thoughts by grabbing them. How? Always have some way of recording your ideas with you. It can be as simple as always having notepads and pens available — in your kitchen, in your car, in your pocket. It can be the recording function on a smartphone, or a “notes” feature on a tablet computer. Just make sure you always have some way with you to grab and keep your ideas.

2. Once you have those ideas captured, put them somewhere you can actually use them. I tend to use scraps of paper and I put them all into a folder that, once a day, gets integrated into my to-do list. I make time to look at the idea, see when and where I might be able to use it, and assign it to that particular place.