How creative are you before you create?
Before you write a note of your new piece…
…make a word cloud of adjectives to describe the piece. To describe each phrase, each section.
…draw a map of the shape, the way John McPhee would to craft an essay.
…speak, dance, time the emotional beats in real time.
…paint the color of the piece.
There’s a lot you can do – a lot you should do – before you ever get down to the work of actually creating. It is creative work, even if there’s nothing (yet) to show for it, and it’s essential for creating what you want to create.