Breaking & Entering: Spark Creativity – Pressing Pause and Sudden Illumination

The “need for speed” may be a wildly popular movie quote, but it is an avoidable hazard for writers. Rushing scripts out into the world as soon as you’ve typed “Fade Out” is the biggest writing mistake you can easily avoid. Instead of hitting “send,” “Pressing Pause” has an enormous upside.

If every time you believed you were done with a script, instead of rushing it off to a contest, a consultant, a rep, or even a writer friend to read, you stopped, stepped back, and paused, you could take a significant step toward elevating your material and boosting your career.

I give this advice to writers often, and now I’m setting out to make the case for why Pressing Pause is a huge hidden advantage, and how to create the space to make the magic happen.

The best ideas often come to us when we stop actively pursuing them – striving to solve problems, intent on insight, straining for inspiration.

Your conscious mind has worked long and hard. Now it’s time to let go and hand the wheel over to your subconscious to steer you in the right direction. I call this “Pressing Pause.” Experiment and you might discover that it is far more powerful than strapping yourself into your desk chair and staring at script pages.

This is by no means a new concept. Creatives in all fields, from ad men to poets, famed mathematicians and comic geniuses alike, have emphasized the importance and impact of pausing as part of the creative process.

The inspiring and thought-provoking newsletter The Marginalian by Maria Popova, is devoted to the exploration of creativity across eras and an array of fields. I was fascinated by her column, "Inclining the Mind Toward ‘Sudden Illumination’: French Polymath Henri Poincaré on How Creativity Works."

It’s a long title, but she had me at “Sudden illumination.”

Popova notes that in his 1904 book, “Poincaré observes a process profoundly applicable not only to mathematics, but to just about any creative discipline.”

Whether you call this the “ah-ha moment,” “a light bulb going off,” “a brainstorm,” “the magic of the muse,” or “the writing gods smiling on you,” Sudden Illumination is the most illustrative way I’ve heard this creative phenomenon articulated.

Rather than wishing and hoping for lightning to strike, you can actually create the opportunity.

While Monopoly’s unlucky card will land you in board game jail, when it comes to creativity, learning to stop could catapult you to the next phase of your career.

I never turn in this column, post a blog, or give notes to a writer, without first Pressing Pause to create the opportunity for Sudden Illumination to strike. It’s worth a brief wait to have a big idea spring forth from your subconscious. Experience has convinced me that these insights are invaluable.

Discover your own way to stop, step back, and make space for the magic with these proven methods. I promise to share what works for me, but each person is different. Experiment and find out what does the trick for you.

Slow down, you move too fast.

I know you’re in a hurry to achieve your ambitions and arrive at the destination of your dreams.

If you simply cannot bear to do nothing, turn your attention to something completely different. Dig through your idea file. Read a wonderful script from a movie you love or by a favorite writer. Research a different project. Offer to read a script for another writer – developing a new relationship and putting your energy toward helping someone else does good and feels good. Strengthen writing skills with an online class, or check out the tons of great free videos and podcasts. Anything other than working on what you are supposed to be focused on now.

Want a real career-booster for this free time? Focus on networking. Cultivate new contacts online and IRL. Find practical pointers to create a successful Horizontal and Vertical Networking Action Plan here.

Head into the great outdoors, whether it’s a trip to a park, the beach or just around the block. Doing something physical, whether it’s a walk, a hike, or a jog gets you away from the computer and connects you with nature. You’ll feel grounded and possibly inspired.

The sense of accomplishment that comes from completing a task is satisfying – especially in a field where seeing a project to completion often takes years. Any task on your To-Do List will work, from household chores to yard work. Do something physical that is just challenging enough to require you to focus, and has its own beginning, middle, and end.

Oscar and Emmy-nominated writer/director Richard LaGravanese, whose many credits include The Fisher King, The Bridges of Madison County, Behind the Candelabra, was one of the Guest Speakers during the first session of my Screenwriting Elevated Online Seminar. Several students asked Richard about his writing process:

Find something that gets you out of your head, concentrating on a physical task, with a tangible and satisfying conclusion. That’s a perfect recipe for a positive distraction with a sweet reward at the end. With this Pressing Pause technique, you might wind up with a moment of Sudden Illumination plus a clean house!

What helps you unwind? Whether it’s listening to music, gazing at the ocean or the stars, taking a long drive or baking bread, meditation, or yoga, letting go of what is weighing on you is a key to opening the door to Sudden Illumination. For me, a hammock is my happy place. Outdoors, swaying gently, gazing upward at trees and sky.

Never having been one of those people who puts their head on the pillow and instantly drifts off, I find my mind is highly productive while lying in bed waiting to fall asleep. I’ve unwound from the day. I’m relaxed and comfy in bed. And “Ka-Boom,” the big idea that I’ve been searching for to help a writer or consulting client take a leap forward hits me! I reach for the phone and email a note to myself, to ensure that it doesn’t slip away. And then I can sleep!

Sleep not only allows you to rest and refresh, it can help you tap into your subconscious.

Legendary comedian, writer, actor, and producer, John Cleese, famous for Monty Python, Fawlty Towers, and A Fish Called Wanda, has devoted decades to the study of creativity, and even written a book on the subject, Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide. When he first began writing comedy sketches at Cambridge, he discovered his creativity:

Watch a ten-minute distillation of Cleese’s recommendations for enabling creativity from his talk at the 2008 Creativity World Forum here. It’s practical, profound, and witty.

In case you wake up during the night or in the morning with a flash of insight or a dream-inspired story solution, keep a notebook or your phone with a recording app on your nightstand.

I did promise to reveal my personal go-to for Pressing Pause and opening myself up to Sudden Illumination, even though it’s a bit private, and you might even find it odd. I call it “Shower Thinking.”

I can’t fully explain this phenomenon, but I think it may be a combination of several of the above factors. Never a morning person, I’m a nighttime showerer. It’s a clear dividing line marking the end of my workday, so nothing is looming over me. I’ve stepped away from the computer, and out of my work environment. I’m doing something that could be considered productive, but is so routine I don’t have to think about it. And I am definitely relaxed.

While this may make me sound like an oddball – I’m not the only one!

James Webb Young, a driving force behind the creation of the modern advertising industry, wrote in his 1935 book, A Technique for Producing Ideas:

The sheer amount of Sudden Illumination that strikes me in the shower is ridiculous and wonderful. I never set out to solve a problem, only to find that most of my best epiphanies happen here.

This is so consistently effective that I build in this space with projects I’m producing, and with my work with consulting and mentorship clients. I simply allow a day between completing my read and initial impressions and scheduling a call to discuss my notes.

My “first impression” is just that. I want to approach the material the way anyone in the industry might when handed a script. The initial insights I have is valuable to the writer, as that is how it works in the real world. You likely won’t get a second look from someone in the industry, but I believe you deserve it from a consultant.

I know I can offer more by deliberately Pressing Pause after actively working on the project. The note that wasn’t instantly obvious but can elevate the project. A clarifying insight that closed the gap between what’s on the page and what the writer is aiming for. The “itch to be scratched” for a piece to reach its full potential. The right words to inspire a writer.

As offbeat as this avenue for Sudden Illumination may be, it’s the one that works for me, time and again.

Pressing Pause allows your subconscious to take over. Harnessing that illusive extra boost of creativity – however you choose to tap into it – has the power to take your work to the next level. That’s crucial to advancing your career.

When you’re working with a consultant, Pressing Pause is a way to get the most out of the experience. Turn in your work only when you’ve taken it as far as you can to get the most bang for your buck.

In the professional realm, your work should be honed before you query. But don’t neglect this step even if a rep or exec has requested your script. You won’t get a second chance to make a first impression. And honestly, it’s doubtful they’re holding their breath. Even if someone in the industry is anticipating a revised draft from you, giving yourself an extra day or two that could lead to delivering a stronger script is more important.

While I was writing this article, real life offered up a perfect illustration.

I’ve been working with a writer with a terrific premise for a short film. It highlights his distinctive sense of humor that interweaves the broadly funny with sophisticated depth. We’ve poured over it as part of his mentorship hours from my Screenwriting Elevated seminar because I think it could be a great “calling card” – showing off his unique voice. And it has the potential to be filmed, which would be a huge step forward in his quest to direct.

The latest draft arrived in my inbox. The next day, I got an email from him to disregard it, before I even had a chance to download the script. Another draft followed quickly thereafter, with this note:

     *hits send*

     *rereads script, finds huge GLARING mistake*

     *bangs head against wall*

     *fixes said mistake, and finds 2 more*

     *fixes those*

     *finds a way funnier way of doing something, and fixes that*

     *rereads script again*

     *prints PDF with wrong file name*

     *fixes file name*

     *resends file*

     *throws hands in air in resignation*

I’m reprinting this verbatim, with his permission, to make a point. While this is hilarious – he really is a funny guy – do you see The Big Picture Lesson here?

By stepping away and coming back to reread the script, he found “a funnier way of doing something.” Returning to the material elevated it.

That’s my goal for you.  Step back. Press Pause. Rest. Return. 

Your reinvigorated mind will come up with new solutions, Sudden Illuminations that will spark your creativity and make your work stand out.