Art Does Not Come from Ideas

29th June 2016 | for Creatives | intuitive writing & pantsing, art, Robert Olen Butler, short stories, writing, ideas  |       

"Please get out of the habit of saying that you’ve got an idea for a short story. Art does not come from ideas. Art does not come from the mind. Art comes from the place where you dream. Art comes from your unconscious; it comes from the white-hot center of you."

— Robert Olen Butler

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