Many of us have creative precursors that are early warning signs that something rattling around in our brains is getting close to emerging.

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Researching the creative process on the internet yields a few theories. Some of them are described in a very linear fashion.

One of the theories that I found went as far as identifying five distinct stages.

1. Preparation
2. Incubation
3. Illumination
4. Evaluation
5. Implementation

I can’t speak for other folks… but I’ve never found that my creativity has been experienced in anything like five distinct stages. Things rattle around in my head like a pinball machine. Then… an alignment happens and whatever needs to get out crystalizes.

I have the barest minimum of musical ability… and it certainly is not deep enough to be able to create musically.

When I’ve watched various songwriters being interviewed I don’t recall any of them indicating that their creativity followed a specific five stage process.

Most of the musical creators spoke about a moment of inspiration… a spark that ignited the process. Sometimes a snippet of a song was jotted down… only to be used months… or even years later.

They may have started with a verse or two of lyrics. Or a melody. Or even a unique riff that stuck with them over time. Many musicians say they can’t identify from where their creativity originates. It simply appears and takes control of them. Sometimes a song will flow out in its entirety… almost magically.

Many decades ago when I was in my late teens I regularly wrote poetry. The imagery would appear in my mind… then I’d write down what I saw. Most of my poems originated from tiny tidbits of ideas. A few of these poems turned into more prodigious works. None were particularly marketable and I was turned down by a number of publishers.

In my senior year of high school I wrote a one act play… and a pantomime. Both of those creative adventures required more dedication and effort… which I was happy to give.

Throughout all of those experiences a couple of things remained constant. As soon as I finished creating something… I didn’t dwell on it. Or celebrate it. The feelings of joy and accomplishment that were experienced were found during the act of creating. After something was created I would disengage from it… and quietly move on… waiting for my next moment of inspiration to arrive. That still happens to me now…. all of these decades later.

The other thing that has always happened to me was a physical sensation that acted as a creative precursor. The intensity of the physical sensation was directly related to the size and scope of the project. The more robust the project… the more intense the physical sensation would be.

And, to be clear… these physical sensations would not be described as pleasant. There is heightened sensitivity. These sensations are akin to some of my skin being peeled away… usually on my back. And… an invisible person following me around… sprinkling salt on my raw, exposed flesh.

As the creative pressure builds… trying to get out… the more intense the physical sensation becomes. Once I actually begin creating… the physical sensations disappear.

I finally finished creating Handheld Bird Photography in early January and published the eBook on January 8th this year. It was a very unusual creative process for me… as I partially rewrote the eBook three times over the span of a few years. The creative process unexpectedly ebbed and flowed. The salt shaker appeared… then dissipated numerous times. I was glad when that creative adventure culminated.

Within a couple of days of publishing Handheld Bird Photography the salt shaker was back. The physical sensations reappeared and built up quickly. Within a week I began creating Blossoms, Bugs & Butterflies. That eBook was published on this website on April 4th.

For the past six weeks I’ve been dealing with the salt shaker almost every day. Not intensely at first… more like a slowly increasing sensitivity. Four days ago all of the bits and pieces bouncing around in my brain aligned. This allowed me to create a mind-map to document content areas… which quickly evolved into a logical flow of topics for the new eBook.

I began physically constructing the new eBook on Friday last week. I’m now in the process of identifying and selecting images for the new eBook. Many images have already found their place on appropriate pages. I haven’t began to write any copy yet… I know I need to finish my photograph selection first.

I don’t know how long this eBook bud will take to form into a finished blossom. I also don’t know how my creative energies will be affected in terms of writing articles for this website… as I dedicate time to work on this new eBook.

I apologize if the number of new articles that I produce for this website over the next while are reduced. Something larger is taking shape and commanding my attention. As always I appreciate your understanding and ongoing support.

Technical Note

Photographs were captured handheld using camera gear as noted in the EXIF data. All images were created from out-of-camera jpegs and RAW files using my standard process in post. This is the 1530 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.

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