4 Ways to Tell If You’re Creatively Fulfilled

Do you feel creatively fulfilled as a writer?

A Writing and Wellness reader who commented on a former post (“5 Things Writers Can Do to Live Longer”) got me thinking about this.

Mike was talking about his difficulty with getting enough sleep each night, not only because he likes to write late, but because he was having trouble getting himself to go to bed. Here’s what he said:

“Since I’ve resumed my writing hobby/dream a couple years ago, I find getting proper sleep to be difficult. Late at night, after everyone goes to bed, is often the best time for writing. Of course, prior to getting back into writing I found it hard to convince myself to go to bed. I think because I had no creative outlet then, I was often left feeling unfulfilled at the end of the day, so I’d always want to ‘watch another episode’ or ‘read one more chapter.’”

When I read Mike’s comment, I realized I’d often done the same thing—stayed up too late because I hadn’t had a chance to delve into my creative side as much as I’d wanted to.

Thing is, I didn’t know that was the reason I was staying up until I read Mike’s comment. That was a definite “aha” moment for me, so thanks for that, Mike!

Are Writers Often Creatively Unfulfilled?

In looking at the issue a little more, I realize that in essence, this is what we’re all after—to feel creatively fulfilled. We’re drawn to writing as a way to express our creativity, but then we all face difficulties along the way that can affect whether or not we’re actually have the writing experiences we want to have.

Other things in life can draw us away from writing, for example. Family traumas, financial difficulties, and even marketing tasks can result in less actual writing or creative time.

Setbacks can make us doubt ourselves, so we lose our motivation and energy for writing. Sometimes we can be blind to our own need to change things up, and keep plodding ahead on projects that no longer feel inspiring or fun.

How are you doing in your writing life right now? Are you creatively fulfilled? Have you stopped to ask yourself that question? Here are some signs you need to look for.

Creatively Fulfilled Sign 1. You feel satisfied and at peace at night.

Going back to Mike’s point, ask yourself how you feel at the end of the day. Are you at peace with what you’ve accomplished? Do you feel calm and quiet? Or are you restless and seeking something, but you’re not sure what?

I read a quote years ago and I haven’t been able to find it again, though I’ve searched and searched. (If anyone knows the quote I’m talking about, please add it in the comments.) It said something about how the writer needed to “excrete his essence” on the page each day to feel at peace, to feel like himself.

Without that experience of expressing your creativity, you too, may feel like something is missing. It’s often a subtle feeling, existing under the surface, so if you’re watching television or playing a video game or something, you’re unlikely to be completely aware of it. You’ll continue to find ways to entertain yourself as you try to soothe the craving.

We can fall into this trap for many reasons. You may be super busy at work or with family, and aren’t getting the time you need for writing, or you may be avoiding writing because of writer’s block or self-doubt. Maybe the project you’re spending most of your time on isn’t flowing for you. Or maybe you have been avoiding other creative outlets that you normally engage in. After all, many writers are also painters, musicians, dancers, quilters, and more, and these other activities feed the writing.

Ask yourself honestly how you feel at the end of the day, then let your answer guide you to possible solutions.

2. You feel good about how brave you’ve been.

A creative career requires courage, and a lot of it. Every day you need courage to put the words on the page, but it goes far beyond that.

You need to be stepping out of your comfort zone on a frequent basis, trying new things, and putting your work out there. You have to brave possible rejection and criticism from others. You have to be willing to make mistakes and to fail.

The cool thing is that when you do these things—you summon your courage and move forward—the result is most always positive, even if you don’t necessarily reach your goal. The feeling you get when you face your fear is most always a positive and energizing one, and it motivates you to take another step, and another.

At the same time, taking regular action that requires your courage also naturally leads to more opportunities. When you stretch yourself you increase your skills, and things start to happen in your career. You’ll notice the changes as they will be obvious, and you won’t be able to help feeling proud of yourself.

Are you feeling good about the steps you’ve taken? Are you panting a little bit because they were scary, but smiling because you did it? That’s a sign of creative fulfillment.

Creatively Fulfilled Sign 3. You feel like you’re fully honoring your creative self.

This one may be easiest to view from the opposite side—do you feel like you’re neglecting your creative self? Is it taking a back seat to everything else in your life? Do you feel frustrated and upset that you’re not creating as much as you’d like?

This can be a constant challenge for writers, and one that I’ve definitely faced in my career. We have to fit writing into our lives somehow, and that can be tough, as most of us have a number of other things we have to attend to.

We may feel like there are so many other people we have to deliver for—our bosses, clients, families, and communities—that the creative self takes a back seat.

It can be tough even when feeling like we need to deliver for our editors or publishers. I’ve spoken to writers with multi-book contracts who feel grateful for the opportunities they’ve been given, but also feel held hostage by the contracts and deadlines, to the detriment of creative fulfillment.

Remember That Creativity Is Important To You

The key here is to remember you are a creative person—creativity is central to who you are, and to your happiness and well-being. Honoring your creative self means taking daily steps to care for your inner creator. These steps may include:

• Making writing a priority.
• Regularly thinking about new things you can do to introduce novelty into your life. Creatives need novelty!
• Taking regular breaks to restore the creative well.
• Taking good care of yourself physically with daily exercise, stress-relief, and a good diet.
• Continuing to educate yourself in writing and creativity through books, blogs, courses, workshops, and conferences.
• Staying aware of your own creative health, and taking a step back when you need to for restorative activities.
• Following your heart to indulge your creativity in whatever forms it takes.

When you’re honoring yourself as a creative person, you’re more likely to feel fulfilled, because you’ll be taking regular steps to be sure you are.

4. You feel like you’re having an impact on others.

Artists of all sorts create to communicate with others. Even if you love writing mostly because of the special relationship between you and your characters that you enjoy when you’re all alone, the end goal is to share your work with others.

In fact, one of the main reasons writers feel creatively unfulfilled is because their work is failing to reach an audience.

Artist Meredith at “The Palette Muse” describes it well:

“[F]or a creative person, we need to feel like our art is somehow impacting people. The end goal is not merely in creating something beautiful. That creation must go on to have an effect on someone. That is its completion. That painting doesn’t have to be perfect in order to brighten someone’s day or make them think in a new way. And it doesn’t even need to be sold in order to have that effect. It just needs to be seen.”

If you have readers waiting for your next book or blog post, listeners enjoying your podcast, or viewers on your YouTube page, you’re likely to feel fulfilled, even if it’s only a handful of folks receiving what you have to give. If you feel like you put things out there and nobody notices, however, you’re going to struggle.

How Can You Serve Your Reader?

That’s when you need to focus in on how to attract readers to your work. One of the easiest ways to do that is to ask yourself, “How can I serve the reader?” Here are some other questions that may help:

• How can I entertain my readers?
• How can I make their lives better?
• How can I help my readers in their everyday lives?
• How can I relate to my readers?
• What are my readers looking for, and how can I supply that?

Answering these questions can get you thinking about new ways to draw readers to you. It’s worth the effort, as it’s only when we share our work that we feel truly fulfilled.

Says artist and writer Malini Parker,

“I am most fulfilled when I am creating in several different areas: writing something, working on a painting, creating anew some part of my life and business. And when that creativity is serving others at some level. When these areas come together, the result is a magical synchronicity and I am filled with joy and gratitude at being able to live this creative life.”

How about you? Are you creatively fulfilled?