The Joy of Creating with Nothing on the Line

I'm sitting here basking in the afterglow of three creative days in a row. 

I didn't write a single word of fiction, poetry, or screenplay during those days.

But, I still managed to be creative... and in the best possible way. I recommend that writers take on a creative task that has nothing to do with writing. It's nothing you're trying to excel at or compete at or become professional at.

Just a creative act.

At the beginning of May, I took a fly fishing trip. The fishing wasn't great, but I remember spotting a fallen tree with a huge burl. As I understand it, if a tree gets injured, it can get a disease that will cause it to grow a burl... think of it as a tumor on the tree... a tumor made of wood.

When I spotted the burl (a big one!) I thought to myself, "When I come back to fish in June, I'm bringing a pruning saw to get that burl. I bet I could make a bowl out of it."

And that's just what I did... I brought a pruning saw with me on the June trip, that is.

(By the way, the fishing was much better... 4 ten-inch brook trout and one twelve-inch brown)

I don't know anything about woodworking. I don't have a lathe. I don't have a band saw. 

I do have some tools, and I ended up using them... a hand-held grinder, a sander, and a drill.

Damn it if I didn't make a bowl!

And, I thoroughly enjoyed the creative process. I think it's super healthy for writers to get away from writing and create in other ways. There's nothing like creating when there's nothing on the line... and maybe that's when we do our best work or at least enjoy the process the most.

Making this bowl, I had nothing on the line. I could throw it away if it didn't turn out. The tools I bought to finish the bowl (mainly sanding and drilling tools) will be used on future household projects. I wasn't entering the bowl in a contest. I wasn't trying to sell it.

Most importantly, I wasn't taking my sense of identity from the bowl-making... something that can happen when we write, putting too much pressure on the act.

I was just creating for the love of creating and bringing something into the world that doesn't yet exist, save for my effort.

I try all the time to remember when writing use to feel that way... just the joy of the creative act.

Too often the creative act gets polluted by impure thoughts: Is this story right for the market? Will it find an audience? Could it land me an agent? Will it get published? 

Maybe I can bring my bowl-making energy to the keyboard next time I try to write. Maybe, if I can get in that zone, I will create my best work... unhindered by the thought of "what will this achieve?"

Or, at the very least, I might truly enjoy the writing more by not worrying about the fate of the writing.

Here are some pics of the bowl from beginning to end.

Jeff "Van" Vande Zande is an English professor at Delta College in Michigan. In 2022, Montag Press will publish his dystopian novel, Falling Sky. His latest collection, The Neighborhood Division: Stories, is now out through Whistling Shade Press and available: here.