Over the years, I’ve read several books about the craft of writing. They’ve taught me about structure and grammar and omitting needless words and the importance of shitty first drafts. All good. But they don’t really get into the creative process itself. So I was intrigued when I heard an interview with Rick Rubin about his book The Creative Act: A Way of Being.

The Creative Act: A Way of Being
By Rick Rubin
Penguin Random House, New York, 2023

This isn’t a conventional book. It’s not a how-to, and it’s not a recipe book for producing great art.

Instead, it’s a collection of short reflections, most of them only two or three pages long, gleaned from Rubin’s career as a legendary nine-time GRAMMY award-winning music producer and executive. Rick Rubin co-founded Def Jam Recordings and he has worked with artists such as Adele, Johnny Cash, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Petty, and Jay-Z.

Taken together, these reflections offer insight into being an artist/creator and inspiration for doing artistic, creative work. But they’re not prescriptive. Rubin doesn’t instruct. He invites.

To begin with, Rubin says:

“To create is to bring something into existence that wasn’t there before.” [p. 1]

That covers a lot of ground: from the Mona Lisa to a parking garage to a home-cooked meal.

Thankfully, it means we’re all creators.

Rubin emphasizes that the Universe itself is a work of continuous, unfolding creativity. Stars are born. Planets form. Rivers sculpt valleys out of mountains. Life emerges and blooms with color. The Universe hums with dynamic creative energy. An artist’s job is to tune into this energy – Rubin calls it Source – draw from it, transform it and share it.

How do we do this?

Rubin suggests the key is being open and receptive to the signals the Universe is sending us. The artist needs to perceive Source with beginner’s mind or childlike innocence, without filtering or editing.

Although it’s not an instruction manual, The Creative Act describes four stages of a creative project.

Collecting seeds: The first step in any project is collecting ideas, basic elements, a phrase, a few notes of a melody, a design motif. We’re just gathering at this point, not evaluating or sorting or choosing. And we’re patient. This stage could go on for weeks or months.

“Collecting seeds typically doesn’t involve a tremendous amount of effort. It’s more a receiving of a transmission. A noticing.” [p. 144]

Experimentation: In the second stage we experiment. We explore each seed to discover how it wants to develop and where it wants to take us. Rubin suggests it’s important to be guided by our own excitement and interest.

Many of these experiments will fail. That’s OK. Not all seeds sprout and flourish.

“Failure is the information you need to get where you’re going.” [p. 155]

It’s important not to shut down the experimentation phase too soon. Again, stay open and receptive for as long as possible.

Crafting: In this stage we finally set boundaries, narrow down the project and focus on execution. This stage requires discipline, habits, skills, maybe even deadlines. Rubin says it’s perhaps the least glamorous stage. Nonetheless:

“To hone your craft is to honor creation. It doesn’t matter if you become the best in your field. By practicing to improve, you are fulfilling your ultimate purpose on this planet.” [p. 333]

Crafting is both a building up and a taking down. Creating the work and then stripping it back to only its most essential elements.

Completion: In this final stage, we put finishing touches on our work before sending it out into the world. This is the time when we share it with a few people to get feedback.

Releasing a work takes courage. We’re often afraid of being judged, criticized, or worse, ignored. We might fear never having another idea again.

But Rubin says it’s important to develop the habit of finishing.

“Despite our insecurities, the more times we can bring ourselves to release our work, the less weight insecurity has.” [p. 197]

The point of all this isn’t perfection, it’s expression. Expressing who we are through the work, expressing our point of view about the ideas we’ve received.

The artist serves the work.

The Creative Act is different from the books I typically read. It’s spiritual, even mystical in places. Yet it also echoed ideas I’ve read from other authors. Rubin’s thoughts about the creative force of the Universe reminded me of Stuart Kauffman’s Reinventing the Sacred. Some of the reflections on craft sounded a lot like Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

I’ve highlighted just a few of the ideas that resonated with me. I’m sure you’ll find plenty to inspire you too.

Ultimately, Rubin says, creation is an act of faith.

“We are required to believe in something that doesn’t exist in order to allow it to come into being.” [p. 278]

Thanks for reading.

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Related Links

The Tao of Rick Rubin
Interview with Rick Rubin on The Ezra Klein Show podcast. February 10, 2023.