What do you need to be creative?

What do you need to be a creative person?

Creativity takes courage. Henri Matisse

From the number of intensely creative fiction writers I follow online, I’d say that most of us struggle with this. We don’t feel courageous. Not when we struggle to untangle a plot gone awry. Not when the characters don’t come to life or our poems don’t feel right or our screenplay doesn’t come together. Not when we’re sweating through a pitch or writing a synopsis. And especially not when we get yet another form rejection email. Thanks but this isn’t for us.

Feel courageous?

I want to curl up in a ball and hide under my desk. I would, but there’s too many books and notebooks under there for me to fit. It all seems impossible.

Here’s some encouragement: just the act of being creative takes courage.

You’re showing courage each time you confront that knotty plot, that unruly character.

You’re showing courage by clicking send on that query email.

You’re showing courage when you write only one sentence. That’s one sentence that didn’t exist before you wrote it. Think about that.

Matisse was right.

Then again, this is the man who is quoted as saying, “I wouldn’t mind turning into a vermilion goldfish.” So take the creativity and courage link for what you will.