Comments on: The Relationship between Stress and Creativity

By: dholcomb1

dholcomb1 — Wed, 19 May 2021 03:57:00 +0000

I work better with a deadline.

denise

By: Ellen Buikema

Ellen Buikema — Mon, 17 May 2021 17:52:23 +0000

With writing every day is going to be different. So many variables!

It makes sense that the longer time blocks are when writer's block step in more often. When I get stuck I walk away and do something else. Fresh eyes on make a big difference for me.

About those spiders. I'm glad you enjoyed the humor!

A larger one, may have been a wolf spider, shared the kitchen with me yesterday but seemed to have lost interest and gone elsewhere, thankfully.

By: JL Nich Author SFF

JL Nich Author SFF — Mon, 17 May 2021 17:08:22 +0000

Super funny with the spiders waving hello. I haven't seen them in a while but they must be transient. Probably train hobos. So about that good stress? Not so sure how to grasp that concept except if it causes weight loss. Although I did really well on last minute cramming for almost EVERY test I've ever taken, I suppose. Is that good stress? I do write well using the Pomodoro method - 20 minute stretches with an egg timer, which I suppose can be stress related. I find freestyle writing with longer time frames (e.g 1 hour or 4 hours) will average me more word count and sometimes better quality if I just sit down and write instead of 20 minute stretches. But sometimes I get more writers block during the longer stretches. So unless I have the beats written in depth, its a toss up on adding stress into it. So far, I miss deadlines but often not by much. I just am not good with cut offs. I tell people in advance. I may or may not make that deadline but I'll try my damnedest. I like the concept of "on an expedition" or "on a mission". My brain thought of a safari trek for "expedition"-- a lazy meandering to seek out the lost city of El Dorado. Where the "mission" struck me as a Tom Cruise effort of Mission Impossible fame--a step-by-step planned effort that had one goal. Either could offer positive stress in some ways. What about the jungle animals that might attack? Or what if I forgot my Exacto knife and don't have a way to cut the rope I'm hanging from? Improvising!! I'm such a goober sometimes. I was actually singing the music to mission impossible just now. Have a great day. Lovely article.

By: Ellen Buikema

Ellen Buikema — Sun, 16 May 2021 00:13:15 +0000

In reply to Miffie. Thank you, Miffie! Life is never dull, but all will be well. The spiders and I are at a standoff. For now.

By: Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt

Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt — Sat, 15 May 2021 17:50:34 +0000

In reply to Ellen Buikema. I tell (anyone who asks) that this story was vouchsafed to me in 2000, and I have been trying to do it justice ever since - and for some reason cannot conceive of giving up. 'Write the book you want to read,' they say. What they don't say is that the developing of the skills to tell it well can take a lot of time. Back in the late 1900s (love being able to say that, hehe), I was going to be a MYSTERY writer, even have a nice little first-in-series (and half finished second) that was submitted to agents and got some requests but never found a home. And then a mainstream story only I can write, complete from beginning to end (except for the all-important details), fell in my lap in one piece and dared me. I love the way the first volume came out - and is now up to 50 reviews - and I love each scene AFTER I finish it - so I just keep plugging away. It just IS. And the naps: they ALWAYS work, even the ones where it seems I spend half an hour twitching and trying to clear my mind. It's as if everything needs to be quiet and catch up. Your TA had it perfectly.

By: Miffie

Miffie — Sat, 15 May 2021 15:30:02 +0000

If anyone can give great tips in stress and writing after your recent adventures, it is certainly you! I find stress so numbing to creativity- and we have all had our share over the last year or two. I appreciate all your tips and glad life is starting to settle down for you. Now about those spiders…

By: Kris Maze

Kris Maze — Fri, 14 May 2021 23:12:06 +0000

In reply to Ellen Buikema. I divide my spaces when it comes to creepy-crawly things. If they are inside, fair game in destroying their comfort zone (for the sake of my own!) Outside, I let them live and do their thing. :)

By: Jenny Hansen

Jenny Hansen — Fri, 14 May 2021 19:29:47 +0000

In reply to Ellen Buikema. I let spiders live OUTSIDE. The minute they decide to try inside, I kill the crap out of them.

By: Ellen Buikema

Ellen Buikema — Fri, 14 May 2021 18:05:38 +0000

In reply to Kris Maze.

Oh, No. Not Banda! EEK.

On the off chance you aren't familiar with Banda, it is commonly played in Mazatlan. The music is a combination of German oompah and maybe Mexican norteño. I lived near the beach and would sometimes be awakened by drunken tuba players in the wee hours of the morning.

Here's an example of a good Banda group. In case you are curious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE2E5miXlQM

By: Ellen Buikema

Ellen Buikema — Fri, 14 May 2021 17:57:51 +0000

In reply to Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt. Alicia, I am in awe. It takes a massive amount of personal power to move forward as you are. Naps are good! Good ideas pop in after naps. A TA for one of my math classes told me that she'd run into a problem that drove her to tears, cry, take a nap, and wake up with a solution.