The gift of an uninterrupted hour (What creators do)

I’ve learned something lately. During my writing time on my book — not this blog — I’ve begun tracking words written in addition to time spent each day.

It will be no surprise to you possibly, but it’s a great surprise to me: That the difference in writing for half an hour and writing for an hour is not double the productivity, it’s four times. 

In other words I’m writing significantly more than would be expected by adding that extra half an hour.

In even more other words, the muse takes a little coaxing. You have to warm her up. Once she’s put down her mirror and cleared her throat and gargled a little fire water and is set to perform, she’ll belt it out if you let her run.

I run an art gallery with my wife. We run a ten-year old at home, with big galoofus dog in tow. We’re busy (in the most relaxed ways). So at times I’ll write half an hour here, fifteen minutes there, half an hour again later.

Which is good and fine. I’m doing it. I’m doing the creative work. Daily. When I can, as I can. But daily. Which is what pumps the blood for any creative endeavor, the dailiness of it.

Yet . . .

When I give myself the gift of an uninterrupted hour, the intensity of my work soars. An hour and a half, even better! It’s as if you enter a slipstream and glide to a destination beyond your destination.

I say this to all those who lead already full lives: If you seek to create something meaningful, the gift of an uninterrupted hour, daily, will get you there.

Meaning and momentum accrue in an hour.

Half an hour is good if that’s all you can muster. An hour is a wormhole into the creative dimension.

Part of the What creators do series.