How Reading For Fun Again Made Me A Better Creative
It can’t always just be work, work, and more work, especially in a creative career. Here’s a tidbit of the neverending journey towards creativity (and soul satisfaction).
A couple years ago, I discovered “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron, a book about finding your creativity and connecting with yourself in a new light. At the time, I was feeling lost, as I had just moved to Portland the year prior, and it was a bumpy year at that. My first office job wasn’t fulfilling that creative spark that I desired, but it was taking up most of my day, leaving me with just enough time to go to the gym, feed myself, scroll on TikTok, then go to bed and repeat it all over again the next day. I needed something to come back to myself, hence why I clicked “add to cart” on Amazon.
I’ll go into more detail about my journey through the book and the lessons it had me go through in a separate post, but one domino effect I wanted to dive into today was the domino that brought back some of my spark, including my love for reading, writing, and just creating in any way I can. One of the assignments the book has you do is called an “Artist Date”, where you go out into the world on your own and do something creative, without any judgment, just something that fuels your creativity.
On one of my artist dates, I went to see the Barbie Movie, which has quickly become one of my favorites today. What drew me in wasn’t just the frilly pink colors of my childhood dolls, the heroine’s journey plotline, or the comedic timing of Ryan Gosling, but the themes surrounding the importance of sisterhood and how it can shape every girl’s life, if you’re around the right people who support you on your own heroine’s journey. After all, I was, in a sense, on my own heroine’s journey to find my spark again.
After the movie, I made a concerted effort to put myself out there and find friends in my city, so I joined Bumble BFF and got swiping. One girl’s profile advertised her book club, called “Reading Between the Wines”, and my love for wine hooked me right in. Who doesn’t want to hang out with a bunch of girls, drink wine, and talk about books on a Sunday afternoon? Sign me up!
I remember the first few meetings and being fascinated by the choices in books, which ranged from cheesy romances found on BookTok, to thrillers with crazy twists and horror novels that kept me clutching the novels until the early hours of the morning to find out what happens next. I also looked forward to hearing everyone else’s thoughts, jokes, and questions about the books, finding things I didn’t even realize, and leaving each meeting with the Sunday Scaries flying right out the door.
As the book club continued to grow and I started to build my own TBR (to be read for those only starting their bookish journey), I also found my fascination again with storytelling and worldbuilding. Escaping into worlds has always been a favorite pastime of mine as a child, daydreaming about faraway lands, where normal rules didn’t apply. The darkest and lightest parts of myself and others could be explored without repercussion, and it was highly therapeutic.
I was able to discover new subjects in my design journey by asking questions I wouldn’t have otherwise thought to ask. Soon after, one of those questions included, “What would Twilight be like if it were written a couple of decades earlier, especially with the dark themes of monster novels from earlier time periods, rather than the romantic, sparkly, and fangless models we saw on the big screen?” I worked on a book cover redesign for the fun of it and made a post on my art Instagram, complete with a creepy, decrepit Edward Cullen hand coming out of a coffin, with gothic lettering, perfect for a horror paperback in the 80s. Nothing much happened for a couple of days, then I decided to post it on my TikTok, and fell asleep early that night to wake up for work the next morning.
When I woke up, there was a barrage of likes, comments, and follows from that ten-second-long video, well in the tens of thousands. I never had that kind of attention on anything in my life, so at first I found it incredibly jarring. Then I saw more comments asking for specific requests, and continuing the series, and I felt like I was a voice out there that people listened to. I immediately got to work and started pushing out more redesigns from a different time, including from other popular series like The Hunger Games. Some of those TikToks clocked in at HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of views, and it literally started from ordering a book on Amazon. Knowing that my work actually could get seen, all while enjoying a hobby I loved, made my craft even more fulfilling.
Reading for fun sparked my creativity and put me in a community of women who also had fascinations with stories from another time, another world, or even just a slice of life of someone who could be their neighbor. The mundane has a purpose, just as much as the fantastical, after all, and the fantastical sometimes is the only thing that grounds us. The creative brain needs inspiration from all angles to maintain it’s spark, as did I.
Recently, I went to an Author event at my local Powell’s bookstore, where I got to hear Lisa Jewell talk about her latest book, “Don’t Let Him In.” I’ve read “Then She Was Gone” from her the year prior from a coworker, and I was so excited to hear her thought process for the crazy twists she came up with (seriously, if you’re looking for a good thriller, she’s got plenty!) To hear her talk about her experiences shaping her stories in such a matter-of-fact way was fascinating, as her relationship with the creative side of herself was synonymous with an old friend or a reliable business partner.
I wanted that relationship with my creative self too. One where I felt comfortable enough to tell her my day, my fears, and my worries, but also my hopes, my ideas, no matter how stupid, and have her laugh and say “go for it anyway.” Even in my day jobs, the side gigs, and everything life throws at me, it’s always important to make time for that old friend. That is the ultimate way to find your spark, again and again.
If you haven’t attended an author’s interview and Q&A session, I highly recommend it! Go with part of your book club if that makes it less anxiety-inducing!