In conversation with Madeleine Dore
Hi hello, who are you and what do you do?
I’m
, I write things and make podcasts exploring creativity, connection and the complexities of being alive.Where do you draw your inspiration for your writing and creativity?
Be it a project or an essay, a lot of the inspiration comes from my own stumbles in day to day life.
Extraordinary Routines, for example, was born out of the feeling that I didn’t feel productive enough and I wanted to demystify the creative process by interviewing people I admired.
The same can be said for my new project, A social life, with friends—relationships of all kinds can be joyful but also messy, and I wanted to delve into how we can better navigate being a person in the world with other people.
How do you know and trust that you have a good idea, one worth acting on or that will work, if that’s even a thing someone needs before they start?
I come alive when I talk about it. I encounter threads and connections in conversations I’m having or things I’m reading. I get that panicked feeling when I think someone else might beat me to it!
Can you share with us the behind-the-scenes process of creating and putting ideas out into the world?
I spent many years thinking I needed a routine or polished process, but as I unpack in my book I Didn’t Do The Thing Today, embracing the variances in ourselves and our days can be most empowering.
I now try to guide my process by something Walt Whitman said: “The secret of it all, is to write in the gush, the throb, the flood, of the moment—to put things down without deliberation—without worrying about their style—without waiting for a fit time or place...By writing at the instant the very heartbeat of life is caught.”
Even though I spend a lot of time collecting and categorising various references and quotes, it’s often when I write about a thing that I’m ruminating on that day or week that I tend to encounter more flow. I think there is also something energising about working in a way that mimics how you want to live in your days — for me, that’s spontaneously, whimsically, curiously.
When it comes to larger-scale projects, like launching a new podcast or newsletter, I have a very slow creative process. I wrote about this recently, and broke my own process down into 11 steps. For me, what I’ve had to learn is that berating myself with comparison or expectations only makes it harder to begin. Instead, embracing being slow to start is what leads me to finally make a start.
Do you experience writing blocks, self-doubt or procrastination when it comes to writing and being creative and if so what helps you to overcome it?
Perpetually! As I mentioned, I have a very slow process that’s peppered with doubt and delay.
Yet what I found most comforting in speaking to so many creatives about such blocks is that what we label as procrastination is so often a part of the process.
We can be quick to call it laziness, yet it’s often the moments of idleness that can yield insight, meaning and satisfaction. The way I like to frame things now is to see myself as a sponge. Sometimes you need to do nothing but absorb — you need to fill up with inspiration, or simply rest. But if you sit and absorb too long, you can become oversaturated and succumb to inertia. So, like a sponge, you also need the squeeze—the doing, the action, the outpouring of ideas. Both the absorb and the squeeze have value — and each informs the other. It’s like breathing in and breathing out.
What creatives are you inspired by?
I’m drawn to creatives who explore the inner life with curiosity and thoughtfulness. The likes of Maria Popova of The Marginalia (formely Brainpickings), Krista Tippett of On Being, and the late Amy Krouse Rosenthal taught me so much about bringing a sense of aliveness to your projects.
What is your number one tip for someone who is looking to start or consistently show up for their own creativity that might be struggling to start or back themselves fully?
Hold things lightly. I think we can get so caught up with how things will unfold, when we’re going to find success, and even become intimidated by our own grand plans. When we hold things lightly, we can embrace taking small steps, and approaching things as we have the time and curiosity (rather than thinking we need a perfect routine before we can begin)
Perhaps most importantly, we can remember to hold expectations and doubt lightly too — and remember what a wonderful thing it is to have the opportunity to be alive, to have options, and to begin new things.
Where can we find and follow your work?
You can read regular ruminations in my newsletter On Things, listen to my new podcast A social life, with friends, and find my book I Didn’t Do The Thing Today in all good bookstores.