Tag Archives: creativity

April 10, 2026

My Stamp

By suehealy

Do you ever dream about being in a house that isn’t yours? I do, and often. The one that returns most, and has for decades, is set in a large, empty apartment where I’m completely alone. It’s full of shadowy corners and strange, Escher-like staircases and lifts that lead nowhere or arrive at unexpected floors.

Last night, in that unfamiliar space, I painted the walls. I chose bold colours, added artwork, layered in luxurious details. I made it mine. When I woke up, I felt quite smug, before remembering it hadn’t been real.

But also remembering that it kinda is. I am living my dream.

That dream, you see, is closely tied to my waking life now. Last autumn I bought a slightly neglected one-bedroom flat in Baron’s Court, a lovely part of West London/ North Fulham, and I’ve been slowly handing it back its mojo (and saving it from the ignominy of renters magnolia and lino). It’s a blank canvas for me, somewhere I can pour all my creative energy. I don’t have much money, so the work happens gradually, piece by piece—but it’s becoming mine, and the satisfaction of that is immense. I feel I want to exhibit it.

That same creative momentum has begun to spill into other parts of my life too—my writing, my painting, even the way I organise my days.

So here are some Before pics and some, if not quite After pics, some ‘getting there’ images.

BEFORE

AND NOW the Getting Theres:

There’s still a great amount of work to do, and I have workmen coming over the next few months to deal with that which baffles me – plumbing, tiling, electrical stuff and carpentry, but the vibe is nailed down now.

Don’t mind the mess…

Painting my kitchen yellow, ceiling and all (and me, apparently).

So, expect more of these as i go on this renovation journey. I might even do a video!

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February 28, 2016

Open the Doors

By suehealy

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The marvellous Northern Irish painter Betty Brown and her portrait of Medusa.

There are artists and writers who believe ideas are fed to them from “somewhere else”, a parallel universe perhaps, where these images and characters and stories truly exist.

Clearly, that “somewhere else” is a very vague concept and means different things to different scribes: it could be a religious concept, a spiritual one, or even tied in with scientific theory such as ‘brane cosmology’. Whatever your persuasion, writers who hold such beliefs say it is very important to allow your mind to be open to receiving these ideas – wherever they come from.

Personally, I’ve had moments when I felt plugged into a conduit, receiving stories, characters and ideas fully formed, all wrapped up and ready to go – though I hesitate to say if this was a spiritual event or just the  way the brain works in creative mode.

And it is a rare enough event – I can never conjure ‘the writing rapture’ but if I write often it’ll roll around every now and again. And when it does, it’s a  magical moment when stories and characters cascade.

All we can do is sit down to write every day and hope for the best – most days you’ll get coal but if you keep at it, the diamond muse will show up sooner or later.

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May 4, 2013

Freestylin’

By suehealy

 

Freewriting is what you write when there’s no one looking. Freewriting is the madman in your brain taking the controls and sending words all the way down to the tips of your fingers. Freewriting is where you’ll find the most brilliant story ideas, if you look hard enough.

To freewrite, just write. Write the first word that comes to mind and then follow it with another. Set an alarm if you can. Don’t worry about grammar, structure, character development – just write. And when you’re done, stand back and take a look. Is there anything in there you can use. I’ll say there is!

Here’s an example:

‘Right now I’m sitting at my computer and the coffee cup is on the edge of my desk. It looks a little like an iceberg, as it is white and chipped and cold because the coffee has been in it since the morning as I didn’t do the washing up last night and the sink is full of plates and saucers. All those plates look surreal sitting unwashed in the sink like that. All at different angles like a Picasso painting with ketchup instead of paint dribbled over the plates. I wonder if Picasso got his ideas from waking up one morning and seeing his jumble of washing up in the sink I wonder if all the museums in the world actually have pictures of Picasso’s washing up and not his mistresses and Guernica and does that mean the joke is on us?’

The above freewrite might seem silly but it’s also an example of how freewriting could, potentially, inspire a proper piece of writing. This daft thought about Picasso’s washing up could easily be worked into a comedy radio play where a hung-over Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse wake up after a night out on the town and dare each other to paint a picture of the mess of washing up in the sink. Thus, the modern art movement is accidentally launched. Another possibility you could take from this freewrite is the concept that something generally considered ugly and in need of repair or attention (washing up) can lead to tremendous artistic inspiration – and this idea could form the kernel of a short story or a poem.

Here, chose one of the prompts below and let it lead you into a three minute freewrite.

I wish I had said….

It was no use pretending….

A long time ago…

For the first time ever….

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August 26, 2011

Stories from the 11th Dimension?

By suehealy

I’m told many writers feel ideas are sometimes fed to them from “somewhere else”. That “somewhere else” is a very vague concept and means different things to different scribes. Nonetheless, writers who hold such beliefs say it is very important to allow your mind to be open to receiving these ideas – wherever they come from.

Certainly, I have had moments when I felt plugged into a conduit, receiving stories, characters and ideas. This is a rare enough event – I can never conjure it but if I write often it’ll roll around every now and again. And when they do, they are really magical moments when stories and characters come swimming to me, all done-up, pre-packaged and ready to go.

So who knows… one thing’s for sure, if you keep on working those brain-gym exercises, freewrites and the spidergrams – you’ll get something of the ‘writing rapture’ soon enough. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this….?

A friend sent me this Elizabeth Gilbert TED talk in which she “muses” on this topic. I think it’s must view for all creative types.

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