Some time ago… I was asked these six questions about creativity, and, in my case, writing.

For the most part, the answers still ring true.

Enjoy!

How would you define creativity?

Following your heart / passion, through your medium of choice, to express your true self, and in doing so, impact others, invariably via an emotional response.

Which creative women have inspired you?

• Anais Nin – honesty, depth, bravery, gift with words / prose / language
• Juliana Hatfield – unafraid to show her vulnerability
• Missy Higgins – ridiculously beautiful voice / timbre and honest songwriting
• Bette Midler – hilarious, timeless, brutal honesty
• Laura Linney – authentic, compassionate
• Malala Yousafzai – unbelievable bravery and courage and determined truth-seeking

Where do you seek creative inspiration? 

Walking. Being outside. Art. Talking through my ideas with someone else usually clarifies and consolidates my ideas / thoughts.

How do you cope with writer’s block?

Walk away. Put down the pen. Step back. Go and walk and / or find a distraction. The thoughts usually return, with more clarity.

How did you discover writing and what does it mean to you?

1. It found me.
2. Imperative. Without it, or without at least making some time for it in my life, I don’t feel ‘right’ or 100% myself. Possibly a bit extreme to say without it I can’t ‘breathe’, but it is definitely critical.

Do you live to write or write to live?

I think it was a combination of both. I’ve always been ‘a writer’, in love with words, in love with language, in love with manipulating words to ‘perfect‘ sentences, and only slightly (read: extremely) obsessed with grammar and punctuation… but I’ve also taken more traditional, non- / less creative paths in academia and vocation to ‘pay the rent’. However, creativity has always been at the core, and enables me to be completely true to myself (and for want of a better, less pretentious word, my ‘craft’!).

Want a creative? Need Little pink typewriter? Or just want to know more about what I do?