Atomic Habits author James Clear shares his five-step approach to the creative process in a recent edition of his 3-2-1 newsletter.
The creative process
- Discover – Read a lot. Observe the world. Notice.
- Collect – Immediately record anything that strikes you.
- Generate – Build on your notes to brainstorm lots of ideas.
- Combine – Connect previously unconnected ideas.
- Refine – Edit, edit, edit. Select the best.
I think a lot of writers do all these things, or some variation of them. I see items 1 and 2 — discover and collect — as the input, information-gathering part of the process. The discovery and collection phases bring the writer the raw materials. Items 3, 4 and 5 are the processing part of the process, where we take our raw materials and begin to create something. Number 5, refine, is always the toughest part of the process for me. I feel like I either edit too much or not enough. Rarely, it seems, do I hit the sweet spot.
Have a great, creative weekend.
AI-generated image from an AI-generated prompt: Create a highly detailed, high-resolution image illustrating the creative process as described by James Clear in his five-step approach. The main subject should be a diverse group of writers engaged in different stages of creativity: one reading and observing, another jotting down notes, a third brainstorming ideas on a whiteboard, and the last two refining their work on laptops. Incorporate a warm, inviting light to emphasize a collaborative creative environment. The style should be modern and inspirational, capturing the essence of discovery and refinement. Ensure the image is in sharp focus, showcasing intricate details in expressions and tools. (Blogger’s note: I have not attempted to correct any of the AI-generated spelling or images.)
Andy writes! 
i dont have a creative bone in my body. Once every 10 years I decide I want to learn to draw and go buy pencils and paper and drawing books. Then, the hard way, I re-realize… I can’t draw!
I don’t even have an imagination! 😂
I don’t believe you, Mark. Every human is creative. Creativity is basically problem solving — so every time you solve a problem, you are exercising your creativity! It may not be in the conventional sense, but it still counts. Engineers are creative in their own way.
Five great verbs for a happy life! “Atomic Habits” is on my reading list.
✅ I really appreciated this post — especially the balance between structure and creativity in Clear’s advice. That tension hit home for me. I loved Atomic Habits, but I kept overthinking the setup and never quite followed through. Taking a free execution quiz through Archetype6 helped me realize I’m an Architect, which explained a lot about why I kept perfecting my plans instead of acting on them.
Here are 3 takeaways I wouldn’t have reached without that shift:
One thing I’m still working on: how do you leave room for creative flow without tossing out all your structure?
how do you leave room for creative flow without tossing out all your structure?
That’s an excellent question, Khalid. Creativity can flourish within constraints. I wrote a bit about this several years ago, when this blog was devoted to higher ed marketing, in a post I titled “Constraints and Creativity.” I believe some of what I wrote then still applies today. For example, this paragraph:
Congratulations on developing a structure that works for you, and best of luck getting creative within those constraints!