The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering Creativity
Welcome to Syncreate, where we explore the intersections between creativity, psychology, and spirituality. Our goal is to demystify the creative process and expand the boundaries of what it means to be creative.
Creativity. It’s a word we throw around all the time, but what does it really mean? On the Syncreate Podcast, we share stories of the creative journey. We talk to changemakers, visionaries and everyday creatives working in a wide array of fields and disciplines. Our goal is to explore creativity in all its facets, and to gain a better understanding of the creative process – from imagination to innovation and everything in between.
The Syncreate Podcast is hosted by Melinda Rothouse, PhD. She helps individuals and organizations bring their creative dreams and visions to life through coaching, consulting, workshops, retreats, and now, this podcast. She's written two books on creativity, including Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities (winner of a Silver Nautilus Award for Creativity and Innovation), with Charlotte Gullick. She's also a musician (singer-songwriter and bass player) and photographer based in Austin, Texas.
The Syncreate Podcast: Empowering Creativity
Episode 106: Creative Spark Series - Creative Confessions with Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick
In creativity, there’s no one “right” way to go about things; we all have our own unique creative habits and hacks. So, in this episode, Melinda and Charlotte reveal some of their creative quirks and strategies in the form of creative confessions. This episode, like the mini-episodes that preceded it, also includes insights from our book, Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities.
For our Creativity Pro-Tip, we encourage you to reflect on your own creative practices and habits, and to share your creative confessions with us. Those who share will be entered into a drawing to receive free coaching session with us!
Credits: The Syncreate podcast is created and hosted by Melinda Rothouse, and produced at Record ATX studios with in collaboration Michael Osborne and 14th Street Studios in Austin, Texas. Syncreate logo design by Dreux Carpenter.
If you enjoy this episode and want to learn more about the creative process, you might also like our conversations in Episode 41: Creative Practice, Process, and Product, Episode 51: Curiosity & Exploration, and Episode 67: Moving Through the World with a Creative Eye.
At Syncreate, we're here to support your creative endeavors. If you have an idea for a project or a new venture, and you’re not sure how to get it off the ground, find us at syncreate.org. Our book, also called Syncreate, walks you through the stages of the creative process so you can take action on your creative goals. We also offer resources, creative process tools, and coaching, including a monthly creativity coaching group, to help you bring your work to the world. You can find more information on our website, where you can also find all of our podcast episodes. Find and connect with us on social media and YouTube under Syncreate. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and leave us a review! We’d love to hear your feedback as well, so drop us a line at info@syncreate.org.
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Melinda: Hey everyone. Before we begin today, we wanted to invite your feedback on the show. We'd really love to hear your thoughts on potential topics and guests, as well as what you enjoy about the show and how we can make it even better. So, please email us your thoughts at info@syncreate.org and we'll follow up with you.
Creativity and community are absolutely vital in challenging times. Creativity is also consistently named one of the top skills of the 21st century, particularly with the advent of AI. Welcome to Syncreate, a show where we explore the intersections between creativity, psychology and spirituality. We believe everyone has the capacity to create. Our goal is to demystify the process and expand the boundaries of what it means to be creative.
What holds us back? Why do we get stuck and how can we fully embrace our creativity? We talk with visionaries and change makers, and everyday creatives working in a wide range of fields and media - from the arts to science, business and technology. We aim to illuminate the creative process, from imagination to innovation and everything in between. I'm Melinda Rothouse and I help individuals and organizations bring their dreams and visions to life.
Charlotte: Hi. And I'm Charlotte Gullick, and I'm a writer, educator, and writing coach. We are the co-authors of a book on the creative process, also called Syncreate. At Syncreate, we’re here to support your creative endeavors. If you have an idea for a project or a new venture, and you're not sure how to get it off the ground, find us at syncreate.org. Our book, now available in both print and audiobook format, walks you through the stages of the creative process so you can take action on your creative goals. We offer resources, creative process tools, and coaching to help you bring your work to the world, including our monthly Creativity Coaching group. We'd be delighted for you to join us!
Hello everyone! It's Charlotte and Melinda from the Syncreate podcast with one of our quickies. Our Creative Sparks, where we share some ideas about the creative process. And today our topic is Creative Confessions.
Melinda: Ooh!
Charlotte: So, we know that there is a lot of ‘how to’ out there with creativity. And it makes it seem like the person is just always together. They're polished. You know, “I'm making my outline…” or “I'm composing my musical.” And we actually think it's a lot rougher than that.
Melinda: Totally.
Charlotte: Definitely. It's less polished.
Melinda: Messy.
Melinda: Messy. Non-linear. Confusing. Frustrating. I think probably what we're trying to do here, Melinda, today, is undo the montage.
Melinda: Yes. I love it. Behind the scenes.
Charlotte: Behind the scenes. So, what we were going to talk about today is creative confessions. What is it that you do when you get a little spark, or you get a little frustrated, that you do to keep yourself going? I'll go first!
Melinda: Please. (Laughter)
Charlotte: Yeah. So this is, I guess it's not embarrassing, but when I was writing my first novel, I gained a solid amount of weight, and I thought, perhaps it's because I'm writing about people who don't have a lot of food, and I'm counterbalancing it by snacking a lot. Turns out I just eat a lot when I write. (Laughter)
Melinda: I don't know.
Charlotte: Okay. Now we know. I thought it was a first novel dynamic. Not true.
Melinda: Well, you know what? I bet there's a reason for that? Because you're using a lot of brainpower, and your brain actually uses a lot of energy when it's working hard. So you need more food.
Charlotte: I love that approach. Like, I'm feeding my brain.
Melinda: Yes.
Charlotte: So, that can be more creative. Well… and the thing I love to eat is ice cream. So it might, if it's a big writing day, I'm like, it's a three ice cream day.
Melinda: Whoa. (Laughter)
Charlotte: Oh, I just… Fudgesicles -
Melinda: Okay!
Charlotte: are my friend. So, that's one of my creative confessions. I think, also, there's something about getting up and going and getting something that creates that the break that you need, it's like, you're still working on the thing.
Melinda: Definitely.
Charlotte: You're not like, trying to shove it into something.
Melinda: Yes. And maybe eating an ice cream is better than smoking a cigarette. I don't know. We all have our things.
Charlotte: I don't know either. We do all - we all have our things.
Melinda: We all have our things. But, yeah.
Charlotte: What about about you? What do you..?
Melinda: Sometimes we just have to get up and do something different. (Laughter) Like, I'm literally… I was working yesterday and I was like getting tired of sitting there. And I was like, “Maybe I'll go fold the laundry.” (Laughter) I think, “Anything to get up from this seat and stop staring at my computer…” You know? Yeah.
Charlotte: The laundry carrot.
Melinda: The laundry carrot. Right. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. So, I guess, a creative confession that I have is, you know, I'm a songwriter. We've talked about that a lot. And, you know, sometimes there are things that I put into my songs (and I know other songwriters do this too, because I've actually talked to people about it), that, you know, maybe there's things you couldn't actually say in real life… it’s not appropriate or whatever. (Laughter)
But you can put it into a song in a sort of metaphorical or poetic way that's a little bit vague and maybe points in a direction, but, you know, the person you're really writing about will never know that it's actually about them or whatever it might be. You know… and it's a way to sort of like, channel certain emotions or certain stories or something that you couldn't necessarily just like, say directly on a podcast. But listen to this song and see what you make of it. (Laughter)
Charlotte: Yeah. “You probably think this song is about you, don’t you?”
Melinda: Yeah. Right. Exactly. “You're so vain.” Yeah. Yeah.
Charlotte: So, I mean, that makes me think about, you're not a revengeful kind of person. You know, having known you a few years now -
Melinda: I'm not, but I've written some nasty breakup songs. I have. (Laughter) I really have.
Charlotte: Yeah?
Melinda: Yeah.
Charlotte: Yeah. Okay. You heard it here, folks.
Melinda: Yeah.
Charlotte: But part of the thing, I think, with your approach to your music is that you're looking for the beauty and the pain.
Melinda: Yeah. Of course. And these are sort of the universal themes of life. I'm actually starting a songwriting group with my friend Hannah and some other folks, and we were just chatting about it yesterday and, you know, it's like, “Okay, well, what do we want to have for our first songwriting prompt?” So, the idea is that we formed this group of songwriters that want to, you know, just work on their songwriting. And each month, we have a prompt and it's something really random, and you have to write a song that includes, like, this phrase or these words, or this image, or whatever.
And it's like, you know, there's so many love songs out there, right? That I’m like, it's the most common theme of all music, probably. So, it's like, “Okay, well, let's try and get like past that and write about some other kinds of life experiences and maybe write from different points of view.” You know, we talk about point of view a lot in novel writing, but you can certainly do that with songs, too. Like, put yourself in the middle of a scene or a story of someone who's got a completely different experience from you, and write from that person's perspective or things like that.
Charlotte: Do you like those things? Are they… and like, immediately you're like, “Yes!” Or..?
Melinda: I like a creative challenge. You know. It’s fun. I think it's important to approach it as play. You know. And if you can be playful about it… one thing my friend Hannah was talking about is that she, you know, had been in some different songwriting groups before and they only had a week in between. They had to write a song a week. That’s really fast, and some of the prompts were like, so random. And she's like, “It forces you to get out of your conscious mind. And like, if you read the words of a phrase and you have some kind of immediate random association, like, you just have to run with it…”
And maybe what comes to you is like, in a hip hop genre, and you end up writing a hip hop song, but you just have to do it. Like, you can't overthink it. So, I think it's really helpful - creative prompts in all different genres - to just get you out of your kind of typical ruts… that in the places that kind of often are your go to’s, and just try something completely different. Like, my friend George - he grew up in England and he's a songwriter also… we collaborate together - and he submitted some things to BBC Introducing, which is a program that introduces like, new music in the UK.
And they have this thing where they pair up two songwriters from completely different genres and they have to cover each other's songs. And so, George, you know, his style is kind of blue-sy/rock/singer songwriter-y. And they paired him up with a hip hop artist, and they had to cover each other's songs in their own style. And, it was like, something completely unfamiliar or something he'd never tried to do before. And the song that came out of it is amazing. It's so good. So -
Charlotte: How cool.
Melinda: Yeah.
Charlotte: I'm also too, thinking about creative confessions… like, it's so great that you're like, “Yeah, I like it.” But at first you’re like, “Oh no..”
Melinda: Yeah. (Laughter)
Charlotte: Like, “Oh, I don't know what to do with this.”
Melinda: Yeah.
Charlotte: I remember a friend giving me feedback on something - and I’ve probably talked about it on here before - but like, standing up from the table where we were at a coffee shop, and I was just feeling defeated, like… and then, like, it was two minutes later, I was like, “Oh, I just don't know how to solve the problem yet.”
Melinda: Yeah.
Charlotte: But that two minutes of defeat felt total.
Melinda: Yeah. (Laughter)
Charlotte: I'm like… I was like, “Forget it. You know, chuck it.” But having the insight to be like, “Oh, I have a problem in front of me that I don't yet know how to solve.”
Melinda: Yeah.
Charlotte: And I need to give the process more time. But like, the creative confession was like, “Oh…” Basically, I was like, “Fuck it. It's not worth anything.”
Melinda: Yeah.
Charlotte: So another one I was going to share and this is like, awesome. Like, a manifesting idea is, before my first book was published, going into bookstores and finding where it would be and just making a little bit of space, and just doing that wherever I went. And sometimes, if that meant I had to spine another author… I only did it one time. So, that means, in bookstores when the book is facing out.
Melinda: Yeah, of course.
Charlotte: Those ones sell more. And it's only the spine. So, I one time… I spine an author… but David Guterson is doing okay. (Laughter)
Melinda: Okay. Where are they now?
Charlotte: He wrote Snow Falling On Cedars.
Melinda: Yeah. Yeah.
Charlotte: He wrote… so, the apple one. Yeah, I think he's okay. But, Mr. Guterson, if there was that blip, you know, that one year, it was probably me. And I'm sorry.
Melinda: In that one bookstore, in that one town.
Charlotte: So, do you have any other confessions?
Melinda: Well, I mean, you know… I guess confessions can come in a variety of shapes and sizes (laughter), but I was recently visiting my dear friend Anne (who I've had on the podcast). She's a wonderful artist and painter. And I was visiting her up in northern Indiana, and she… I was playing her some of my new stuff, and she was giving me, like, good, constructive feedback on my singing, on my vocal performance, because she's also a trained singer. And I was like, a little pitchy in one of the songs, and I was playing it to her… I was like, “Oh, that's a little pitchy.” And she goes, “Yeah.” And she goes, “Have you ever tried the straw technique?” And I was like, “No. What’s that?”
And apparently, it's a thing among singers… like, they teach it in, you know, conservatories and things that you sing through a straw. And what it does is it forces you to kind of focus your breath and your tone, because you can only get a certain amount of air through a straw. So, you can do scales on it. You can, you know, hum the song that you're singing, and it just helps you with your technique and your control. And then, level two is you get some water in a glass and you do the same thing but into the water. And now you're blowing bubbles in the water and you're trying to keep the bubbles consistent.
So, this was all new to me, and she was showing me these like, videos on YouTube and Instagram about the straw technique. I was like, “Oh, this is so great. Okay, I'm going to try this and this.” So, (laughter) we jump in the car and we go around to the Dollar Store down the way, and I will say in northern Indiana, there's a lot of Amish. So, this is a sort of rural area near a lake. Where it's like this… you know, you might see like, an Amish person going by with a horse and buggy, and then, it's also like a big meth place.
So, you might see, like, you know, kind of like, whacked out people on the side of the road. So, we go to this Dollar Store and I'm searching around for some straws, and I finally found some, like, really excellent metal straws with these sort of plastic tips. Perfect for the straw technique. After searching around the whole store and finding them in a very unlikely place, there was like, a pack of 5 or 6 or something and, you know… so we go up to the register and you know, the lady - a little down on her luck but very sweet - and, now I'm practicing the straw technique before I go into my recording sessions. And I'm telling you, it is a game changer.
Charlotte: Well, it makes me think of so many things. (Laughter) There you are with your straw and bubbles.
Melinda: Yeah. Exactly. And the places you'll go.
Charlotte: Who knew you would be in a Dollar Store in Indiana for your straw? And, like, now I'm wondering, like, before Melinda performs, does she need to go do straw and bubbles?
Melinda: Yeah. It’s really… I mean, just literally doing it for a couple minutes before you sing… it’s night and day. It's amazing.
Charlotte: Awesome.
Melinda: Yeah.
Charlotte: Thank you.
Melinda: So, I'm new to the game with the straw technique, but I'm telling you, it's a good one.
Charlotte: Well, that is so awesome. And that leads me into our Pro Tip. What's your creative confession or secret pleasure? If you're willing to share with us, we'd love to hear it. Send us your confessions and feedback on the show, and we'll give away a free coaching lesson. So, we're inviting folks to please share… I mean, we've been a little tame today. Maybe there's some other things that people are like, “You know, what I do in my creative dance process…” (laughter) We want to hear it. And what does it mean? We're going to give away a free coaching session. Can you tell us a little more about that?
Melinda: Yes. So if you are willing to share your confessions with us… you can keep them anonymous or if you feel so inspired, we're happy to share some of these confessions on the air. You know, there's an event in Austin… I don't know if they have it in other cities, but it's been going on for a long time called Bedpost Confessions. And people get up and share their stories about their, you know, sensual adventures. So, it's a different kind of confession. These are creative confessions. Maybe they're sensual too. Who knows?
Creativity, sensuality - it's all connected. But we want to hear. And if you're willing to share, we'd love to hear from you. As well as your feedback on the show more broadly. And we will offer you a free 30 minute coaching session with one or the other of us, or both. So, depending on how much feedback we get, we'll pull a name out of a hat, as it were, and you could be the winner.
Charlotte: Yeah. So you'll be entered to win a coaching session if you share in your creative confession.
Melinda: Yes.
Charlotte: I don't know why that was - awesome. I don't know why that was so hard for me to say. (Laughter) Thank you for joining the Syncreate podcast today. Find and connect with us on YouTube and social media under @syncreate. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and leave a review.
Melinda: We're recording today at Record ATX Studios in Austin, Texas, with Charlotte joining us from the Hudson Valley. The podcast is produced in collaboration with Mike Osborne at 14th Street Studios. Thanks so much for being with us, and see you next time.
