Creating creates more creativity ... even while driving a car

This entry is part 6 of 32 in the series Create

Because we cannot not create

As I write this, or rather, dictate this, I’m on highway A30 in the center of Holland. As of this writing, I don’t know if dictating while driving is he legal yet but I’m doing it now while I still can.

Whenever I’m busy with a book (this is a bit of an inside joke because I am always busy with a book), it makes me think more deeply about topics the have any direct or indirect connection with what I’m working on.

10 minutes ago, I was listening to Seth Godin’s latest book, “This is Marketing.” He said something that changed my perspective. He said, “People like us do things like this.”

Now you might be thinking this is very exclusionary, that it excludes certain groups and turns the dialogue into an “us versus them.” However, as I listen further to Seth insightful commentary, I realize he is talking about the smallest viable audience and how to connect with your readers or your fans or your clients or your customers.

Just while driving, I stopped the audiobook and then, you’ll be thankful to hear that I used audio commands to then open the voice recorder and dictate for the next 10 minutes how what I just heard was relevant to what I’m working on.

Each part of why I’m writing (or rather, dictating) this today is because:

I don’t have a lot of patience for people who say they don’t have time to create.

As I probably previously mentioned, I’m still driving in the car. [Editor’s note: I came back later to copy and paste the transcript as well as add some formatting.]

It’s not that I have a seven-hour journey in front of me and I figured I could get a little bit done or even that I thought I could get a whole lot done. No, I have another 10 minutes of my trip but:

creating is so important to me and gives me such pleasure enjoy and satisfaction and I will turn my Monday morning commute into a creation section where I bang out two chapters for two different books while driving in 130 km/h through the autumn golds in the middle of the Netherlands.

Another reason I want to get this out and that I couldn’t wait to pull over later is that creating creates more creation.

Creating creates more creativity

I have long given up any belief of the idea of writer’s block. I have a much less well-known condition and that is an addiction writing in addition to creating. Either way, it’s also the antidote when I’m working on something.

I find more things relevant to what I’m working on than if I worked on that something. To put it another way:

if I were working on nothing then I would find nothing relevant to relate to nothing.

But when you’re creating something, it’s infectious and, creating one thing leads to creating another thing which usually creates many more things.

If I can write a chapter of a book while at this very moment at the offramp to my destination, then you might be able to understand a little bit more easily why I don’t believe in a writer’s block, excuses, and whining about how difficult it all is.

[Editor’s note: I did get to my destination safe and sound and guess what? Now I have two chapters of two upcoming books. What are you doing during your commute?]