The Creative Process- Lessons from Rick Rubin

“Any framework, method, or label you impose on yourself is just as likely to be a limitation as an opening.” - Rick Rubin

The creative process as Rubin reminds us in his beautiful book The Creative Act: A Way of Being is non-linear. It may have an overall form we can’t always see or sense, but it doesn’t always have a firm structure and it certainly doesn’t come with a map. It morphs, reshapes, circles, spirals.

I certainly felt that way while writing & re-writing my first novel, seeing how it changed as I changed & grew, how it continues in later drafts to be influenced & enriched by conversations, questions, and observations.

Cliches apart - it really does have a life of its own far beyond me & my ego. All I can do is serve it as best as I can, and then let it go, release….

At the end of this week as I submit the final draft (at this stage) to my wonderful, incredibly patient editor Benee Knauer before we begin looking for a literary agent (a process I’ll write about) - I’m looking back at desks, both messy & organized, in Brooklyn and Westchester. I’m celebrating my winding, often hard and lonely journey, even while it’s still not over. I’m celebrating the tears as much as the chuckles. And I’m rejoicing the fact that I have the utter & sheer privilege to devote dedicated time to words & art.

These Rick Rubin thoughts resonate the most with my journey & I hope they spark something in you too as creators/artists not only of your work, but also your lives:

“Art is choosing to do something skillfully, caring about the details, bringing all of yourself to make the finest work you can.
It is beyond ego, vanity, self-glorification, and need for approval.”

“The person who makes something today isn’t the same person who returns to the work tomorrow.”