Creativity and faith: A conversation with Author, Liz Pike

Author Liz Pike is passionate about encouraging others to embrace their creative calling.

We had the opportunity to chat about all things creativity and faith, we pray that you’re encouraged by all she shares…

Your book ‘Circles’ explores creativity. Do you think there’s such thing as a ‘creative person’ or do you believe everyone has some sort of creativity within them?

I wrote about this in a blog post recently (http://elisabethpike.tumblr.com/post/183542070741/are-we-all-creative).  I believe that we are all creative to a degree as we are made in the image of God and he is the ultimate creator.  But there is always a choice, we can choose to pursue creativity in our lives or we can choose not to.  And even when we are on that road, we can choose how fast we go.  The only way to get further in our creative walk is to stay dedicated, keep writing, drawing, dancing, to give it room in our lives.  The other day I had this thought.. what if the true gold in my life is the third novel that I write?  The only way to get there is to write the other novels first!  I can’t think of a better way to spend my life than to keep writing and see what treasures are unearthed.     

What initially inspired you to write your book?

It was born from a frustration to be creative.  So funny that having children really crystallised what I wanted to do – which for me was to write.  Before, I was working in a job that was ok. I wasn’t really career driven but it kept me going. I was finishing a novel that I had started on my MA but there was no urgency.  As soon as the children came along, I realised how precious time was and that what I really wanted was to write.  So it was a gift and a challenge at the same time. I began writing short pieces about what it was like with the little ones.  I think I was surprised by how all-encompassing it was and it gave me a lot of writing material.  So I gathered all these bits of writing on my computer and a couple of years later, when Ben was at preschool a couple of mornings a week, I had the time to pull it all together into a book.

Writing a book can be a rewarding process but it can also be challenging, what kept you motivated throughout the writing process?

I loved it!  Being a magpie is in my bones.  I love taking disparate threads and pulling them together.  For me it felt very satisfying to tie it all together as it was something I had been thinking and writing about for so long. I also run writing courses based around themes – for example trees or the sea, and I just love pulling threads together for these courses too.  One thing I would say to anyone else writing with another job alongside or with children is to give it time. Sometimes the circumstances in our lives dictate how much time we can give to a certain project, but if you have peace in your season, then you will still produce good work, it might just take a bit longer.

What has surprised you about the process of publishing a book so far?

What has surprised and delighted me is the response from people who have read the pre-release copies of the book.  Those who have read Julia Cameron’s ‘The Artist’s Way’ will know about ‘true north’, as in what is the one thing that is truly important to you?  For me, it is for my writing to connect with people.  So hearing great feedback has been a blessing and a joy.  It is why I write.  If you read the book and love it, let me know! It makes me happy!

If there was one message that you hope people take away from your book, what is it?

Just have a go.  Take a step.  Be bold.  Don’t worry about what others think. What’s the worst that could happen?  Creativity is not someone else’s ground, it is for everyone, it’s a playground, go and explore! 

Have you experienced a creative drought? If so what did you do to get yourself out of it?

There are times when I don’t feel like doing a particular thing, so I tend to have lots of things on the go at once, that keeps it interesting, I can just switch task.  I write articles and have a second novel on the go and am also working on a graphic novel about my experience as a parent of a child with type one diabetes.  I also hand letter poems (https://www.facebook.com/littlebirdeditions/) and run writing workshops (https://www.facebook.com/writefromtheheartshropshire/) so there’s lots of variety! If I’m feeling really uninspired, I will either read (which is never time wasted!) or go for a walk to soak in some extra vitamin D and also I think walking helps with creative thinking.  My husband works from home two days a week and we have hilarious lunches where we’re both really into our projects and we just talk really quickly.. ‘What do you think I should do about this?’, ‘Do you think this looks ok?’ ‘Can you look over this email?’  It helps to have a sounding board sometimes.  And also, there are so many distractions (my mobile phone is the no. 1 distraction), but sometimes just sitting there until you achieve what you set out to (one sketch, or 500 words of a story, say) is the only way.