Her words inspire me to just keep writing every day now that I’m retired and there’s a bit more space in my head for creativity.
Even when it feels like every word I write is drivel, the process of getting it out is worthwhile for my mental health. And as Gilbert suggests. “It is fun!” For me, it’s also good practice playing with words and experimenting with my voice.
Interestingly, I read the book in tandem on my kindle and a paperback copy I bought for cheap on Amazon. I like having a hard copy that I can mark up and refer back to on my “empty brain” days, which oddly enough have been few and far between since I stopped teaching.
I love that Gilbert cautions against the perfectionism trap. It’s good advice for the over-zealous editor in me. She also suggests, “Just keep busy,” when inspiration evades us. I’m a huge believer that movement stimulates creative ideas.
Gilbert’s humor infuses Big Magic, and her metaphors for the creative process really resonate with me. In a chapter titled, “Have an Affair,” she compares writing to a brief clandestine meet-up that is sometimes all sneaky lovers can make happen. “Stop treating your creativity like it’s a tired, old, unhappy marriage (a grind, a drag) and start regarding it with the fresh eyes of a passionate lover,” she writes. “Even if you have only fifteen minutes a day in a stairwell alone with your creativity, take it.”
