Start Before You Feel Ready

You don't have to feel ready to begin.

We tend to think creativity starts with a feeling.

Inspiration.

Motivation.

Confidence.

A clear idea of what we want to make.

But most of the time, those things don't arrive first.

Sometimes you have to pick up the pencil before you know what you want to draw.

Tear the first piece of paper before you know where it will go.

Put down the first brushstroke before you know what the painting will become.

Starting can be the thing that makes you ready.

I notice this in my own creative practice. If I sit down and wait for an idea, I can spend a lot of time thinking about making something without actually making anything.

But if I start doing something—anything—the process begins to take over.

I choose a color.

I make a mark.

I move a piece of paper.

I add another.

One choice gives me something to respond to, and that leads to the next choice.

I don't need to know where I'm going.

I just need somewhere to begin.

Maybe that's why a blank page can feel so intimidating. It seems to ask us to know what we're going to make before we've even started.

But the blank page doesn't need a plan.

It needs one mark.

Once that mark is there, the page isn't blank anymore.

Now there's something to respond to.

Do I want another line beside it?

A different color?

A shape?

A piece of torn paper?

The question changes from What should I make? to What might I try next?

That's a much easier question.

And sometimes, somewhere in that process, an idea appears.

Not because you waited for it.

Because you started.

This doesn't mean everything you begin will turn into something you love. Some things won't go anywhere. Some will become experiments. Some may end up covered over, cut apart, or tossed away.

That's part of making, too.

The goal isn't to guarantee a good result before you begin.

It's to give yourself something to work with.

So when you find yourself waiting until you feel inspired, confident, or ready, try making the beginning smaller.

Don't make a painting.

Make one brushstroke.

Don't make a drawing.

Draw one line.

Don't make a collage.

Choose one piece of paper.

Don't decide what you're making.

Just begin.

You can figure out the rest once your hands are moving.

An Invitation

Give yourself five minutes today.

Choose something simple—a pencil, a pen, some paint, a few scraps of paper.

Don't decide what you're going to make.

Make one mark.

Then respond to it.

Add another.

Keep going until the five minutes are over.

You don't have to finish anything.

You don't even have to like what you make.

You only have to start.