79. Creative Intuition: Finding Balance Between Craft and Instinct

In this solo episode, I explore the delicate balance between external writing resources (craft books, courses, workshops) and your internal creative intuition. I'm talking to writers who feel overwhelmed by all the advice out there while trying to maintain their authentic voice.

What I'm sharing:

Resources and intuition aren't opposites—they're dance partners that should work together. I want you to think of craft books and courses as offerings from other writers' journeys, not commandments you must follow. Creative intuition isn't "winging it"—it's sophisticated intelligence drawing on everything you've experienced.

Four gentle practices I've discovered:

1. Learning and Letting Go: Sit with advice before applying it; let your project tell you what it needs
2. Internal Compass Check: Feel whether advice makes your work more alive or less alive
3. Selective Bibliography: Choose 1-2 craft resources that consistently nourish your creative spirit
4. Conversation Practice: Engage with craft advice as dialogue, not gospel

What I want novel writers to remember:

Trust your creative ecosystem—you're already a complete creative being. Create resource boundaries, honor your creative seasons, and remember that your novel is a living thing that grows through collaboration between conscious learning and unconscious knowing.

You don't have to choose between being studious and intuitive—you can be a "whole writer" who honors both craft knowledge and creative authenticity.

📚Learn more about my coaching and editing services at nicolemeier.com

Transcript

THE WHOLE WRITER EP 79 - Creative Intuition

[00:00:00] Nicole Meier: Hello, beautiful creatives and welcome back to the whole writer. I'm so glad you're here with me today on this solo episode. All right. Today we're exploring something. I know so many of you wrestle with that push and pull between all the resources, advice, and shoulds in the writing world, and that quiet, persistent voice inside you that knows things, the books or courses don't teach.

[00:00:24] Nicole Meier: It's about finding your way between structure and surrender, between learning and trusting between the external wisdom we gather and the internal wisdom we already carry. If you've ever been overwhelmed by all the craft books on your shelf, or wonder if following your gut means you're being lazy or undisciplined, this episode is for you.

[00:00:45] Nicole Meier: And if you've ever felt like you're losing your authentic voice in the sea of writing, advice, oh, this is especially for you.

[00:01:00] Nicole Meier: Welcome to the whole writer. A place where we talk about what it means to show up as a writer, not just a better writer or a more productive writer or a published writer, but a whole one. Someone who's grounded in their voice, in their community, in their creative path, even when the world tells them to hustle, compare, or conform.

[00:01:21] Nicole Meier: I'm Nicole Meier, a multi published author and book coach who believes that nurturing the person behind the page is just as important as refining the words on it. Each week we'll explore the terrain of riding life with honesty, warmth, and practical wisdom, creating space for you to write from a place of wholeness rather than depletion.

[00:01:41] Nicole Meier: Whether you're drafting your first manuscript or publishing your fifth book, you'll find conversation and companionship for the journey here. So settle in, bring your questions and your curiosity, and let's discover what it means to write and live with authenticity and purpose. Let's start by honoring what I call the sacred tension, because here's what I've learned, the relationship between resources and intuition.

[00:02:09] Nicole Meier: Isn't actually a battle, it's a dance. And like any good dance, both partners need to show up fully. Side note here, I danced in both high school and college, so I feel like I'm allowed to use this analogy as cliche as it might seem. All right. The problem comes when we try to make one more important than the other.

[00:02:30] Nicole Meier: When we dismiss our intuition as just feelings or when we ignore practical craft as limiting our creativity. Both approaches leave us incomplete as writers. I remember working with a writer who had read every craft book imaginable. She could quote the authors by heart, but when she sat down to write, she was paralyzed because her internal editor had become this chorus of expert voices all arguing about what she should do next.

[00:02:58] Nicole Meier: She lost touch with her own creative compass entirely. On the flip side, I've also worked with writers who pride themselves on pure intuition riding by the seat of their pants. But their work lacked the structural foundation to carry readers through a complete emotional journey. Their intuition was beautiful, but it needed practical craft to become a bridge others could cross.

[00:03:21] Nicole Meier: I often talk about this dilemma over on my Substack newsletter. So let's talk about what resources actually are, because I think we've gotten confused about this. Resources, whether they're craft books, online courses, writing communities, or mentorships. These aren't rules, they're not laws, they're tools and maps and stories from other people's creative journeys.

[00:03:46] Nicole Meier: Think of them as letters from other writers saying, here's what I discovered. Here's what worked for me. Here's what I learned the hard way. Their offerings not commands. The most liberating realization you can have as a writer is this, you get to choose what serves your work and what doesn't. You get to take what feels alive and true to you and leave the rest without guilt.

[00:04:11] Nicole Meier: I have a writing craft book that I love like 80% of the time, but there's one chapter that makes my creative spirit feel cramped and anxious every time I read it. You know what I do? I skip that chapter every single time, and I don't feel guilty about it because I've learned to trust that my creative intuition knows what nourishes my work and what doesn't.

[00:04:33] Nicole Meier: Your intuition is actually remarkably intelligent about this. It knows when something feels expansive and when something feels constricting, it knows when advice lights you up with possibility and when it makes you want to close your laptop and walk away. So let's talk about creative intuition next, because this is where things really get interesting.

[00:04:56] Nicole Meier: Creative intuition isn't just winging it or making it up as you go along. This used to be me, and it took me a long time to figure out this approach wasn't serving my novel writing process. Instead, creative intuition is not the absence of skill or knowledge. It's actually a very sophisticated form of intelligence that draws on everything you've ever read, experienced, felt, dreamed and wondered about.

[00:05:23] Nicole Meier: Pretty cool, huh? Your creative intuition is the part of you that recognizes patterns before your conscious mind does. It's what makes you write a scene that doesn't quite make logical sense, but feels absolutely necessary. It's what tells you a character needs to do something unexpected, even though you can't explain why.

[00:05:44] Nicole Meier: When we create from creative intuition, all of our reading, all of our practice, all of our lived experiences become the foundation for something fresh and alive to emerge. I just love that. So how do we let resources and intuition dance together instead of fighting each other? Here are some gentle practices I've discovered.

[00:06:06] Nicole Meier: All right. Number one, the learning and letting go practice. When you read craft advice or take a workshop, spend time afterwards just sitting with your current project, don't immediately try to apply what you learned. Instead, ask yourself, ask your work. What from this feels true for you? What wants to be integrated?

[00:06:28] Nicole Meier: Let your project tell you what it needs. Practice number two, the internal compass check. Before you implement any advice, pause and feel into it. Does this suggestion make your project feel more alive or less alive? Does it open up possibilities or shut them down? Your body often knows before your mind does practice.

[00:06:52] Nicole Meier: Number three, the selective bibliography approach instead of trying to follow all advice equally. Choose one or two craft resources that consistently feel nourishing to your creative spirit. I'm gonna say that again because it's important. Choose one or two craft resources that consistently feel nourishing to your creative spirit.

[00:07:14] Nicole Meier: Let those be your primary guides and treat everything else as interesting, but optional. And number four, the conversation Practice. Think of craft resources as joining a conversation rather than receiving commandments. Read, actively questioning, agreeing and disagreeing, letting yourself have opinions about what serves your work and what doesn't.

[00:07:38] Nicole Meier: Alright, before I move on, I think that I'll recap those practices for you. So number one, the learning and letting go practice. Number two, the internal compass check. Number three, the selective bibliography approach. And number four, the conversation practice. Okay, I wanna talk about something called trusting your creative ecosystem.

[00:08:03] Nicole Meier: Here's something I would love for you to consider. You are already a complete creative being. You don't need to be fixed or completed by external resources. You need to be nourished by them. I cannot stress that enough. Your creative intuition has been developing your entire life. Every book you've loved, every conversation that moved you, every moment of beauty that stopped you in your tracks, all of this is part of your creative intelligence.

[00:08:35] Nicole Meier: You're not starting from scratch. You're not empty or inadequate. You are rich, you are complex. You are a creative being who gets to choose what additional nourishment will help your unique work flourish. I just love this quote from Author Rka. The only journey is the one within. That's because your writing journey is ultimately about discovering and trusting your own creative truth, not about becoming someone else's version of a writer.

[00:09:08] Nicole Meier: Writers, if what we're talking about today is resonating with you. This idea of honoring both your craft knowledge and your creative intuition. That's exactly the kind of work I do with writers inside my coaching and editing services. Whether you're looking for a big picture, manuscript evaluation, in depth developmental edits, or ongoing monthly coaching.

[00:09:30] Nicole Meier: My goal is always to help you find clarity, confidence, and momentum in a way that feels creative and authentic to your voice. You can learn more about these options@nicolemeier.com.

[00:09:46] Nicole Meier: So let me offer this practical but gentle guidance for your daily writing practice. Before you write, take a moment to sense into your project. What does it need today? What's trying to emerge? Let this guide whether you turn to craft resources or to trust your intuitive flow. Also, think about creating resource boundaries.

[00:10:08] Nicole Meier: Maybe you read craft books only on certain days or only in between projects. Find a rhythm that serves your work. Also, think about practicing resource gratitude without resource dependence. Here's what I mean by that. Appreciate the wisdom that others share, but remember that you are the authority on your own work.

[00:10:29] Nicole Meier: No one knows your story like you do, and remember to trust your creative seasons. This is something else I talk about over on Substack. Sometimes you'll be in a learning season hungry for new perspectives and techniques. Sometimes you'll be in an integrating season where you need to step back from input and let your intuition lead.

[00:10:50] Nicole Meier: Both seasons are necessary writers. Here's what I want you to remember as I close. You don't have to choose between being studious and being intuitive. You don't have to choose between craft and authenticity. You get to be a whole writer, someone who learns and trusts someone who gathers wisdom and listens within someone who honors both the practical and the mysterious.

[00:11:18] Nicole Meier: Your creative work is not a problem to be solved with the right combination of resources. It's a living thing that wants to grow through the unique collaboration between your conscious learning and your unconscious knowing. Trust yourself. Trust your work. Trust the dance between what you learn and what you already know and remember, the most important resource you have is your own creative spirit, which has been guiding you toward this moment, this work, this conversation with the world all along.

[00:11:51] Nicole Meier: Thank you for being here with me today for doing this brave work of writing and for trusting yourself enough to listen to both your teachers and your heart. I'll see you next time on the whole writer. If you're craving support in integrating everything we've talked about today. If you want to strengthen your craft without losing the heart of your story, I'd love to walk alongside you.

[00:12:14] Nicole Meier: Through manuscript evaluations, developmental edits, and monthly book coaching, I help writers like you to create stories that feel whole and alive. You can find all the details at nicolemeier.com or at the link in the show notes. And of course, if you just want to keep learning together, stay tuned for more episodes like this one.

[00:12:38] Nicole Meier: If you want to check out my coaching programs for fiction writers, visit nicolemeier.com. That's M-E-I-E-R. And if you like this episode, I'd love you to take a minute to leave a rating and review for this podcast. This will help more writers like you to discover the show and to get going on their writing journey.

[00:12:59] Nicole Meier: Thanks so much for listening. Until next time, happy writing everyone.