A Girl's Writing Is Never Done (c) Shauna Gilligan 2026
One wishes that with the spring light comes hope – of life, of new starts, of peace. And, perhaps, humbly, one hopes for creation.
Creation is, as Rita Ann Higgins says in Hurting God (Salmon Poetry, 2010), “a combination of the gut, the heart, the mind, the notebook – then the hard work starts.”
Let the combination, and the work start, or rather, make a start within a sliver of light.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the hard work of creativity, of life. How the best always seems the most simple and the clearest. How behind this clarity is years and years of graft and inspiration and struggle.
Ira Glass says “You just have to fight your way through that….”
This short video encapsulates all of this – take 2 minutes, 18 seconds out of your day and enjoy!
THE GAP by Ira Glass from Daniel Sax on Vimeo.
Natalie Goldberg has written a lot about the concept of composting (in publications such as Wild Mind, and Writing Down The Bones) and creative practice.
So it’s about letting ideas filter, allowing characters to grow, permitting narratives to form at their own pace.
Psychologists (such as Sternberg and Lubart) have analysed the role of creativity in society and businesses.
But there is something so simple about moving from the mind to the body in the act of baking…..and you get rewarded for it too. Yes, let those ideas compost, get that body moving, free up your mind, leave those ingredients do their thing and, if you can, get out into the air; let those feet do the thinking.
Later you can enjoy that apple slice and experimental something with the left over pastry and apple. And when you’ve had the coffee and slice, it’s time to return to the work. You will probably have a few lines to get out of your head.
Happy baking. Happy walking. Happy writing.
Shauna Gilligan Writer 