Creativity Is Not a Straight Line
It's more like a puzzle (with a few missing pieces)
We all know that feeling.
Staring at the blank page.
“How do I start?”
It seems logical:
Beginning.
Middle.
End.
That’s how we were taught.
But I don’t believe creativity works like that.
I think it’s more like a puzzle.
You dump the pieces out.
You don’t know where anything goes.
You don’t even know what the full picture looks like yet.
And there isn’t one correct way to solve it.
When we’re stuck, what we actually need isn’t clarity.
It’s momentum.
And sometimes momentum comes from doing things ass backwards.
Starting at the end.
Building the middle first.
Grabbing the weirdest piece and seeing what it unlocks.
It doesn’t matter how you get there.
All that matters is that you arrive.
And most important… that you enjoy the ride.
Sometimes the Chorus Comes First
I love writing songs.
But they rarely show up like, “Hello, I am Verse One. Let us begin.”
Usually I’m just messing around on the piano.
No agenda.
No outline.
And suddenly—
Boom.
There’s a hook.
Not the whole song.
Not the structure.
Just a spark.
And you build from there.
Every project is made of pieces — lines, ideas, titles, images, feelings, insights.
Eventually, you have to assemble them all.
But there’s no rule about the sequence.
You can start with the ending to a story.
The punchline to a joke.
The name of a game before you even know the rules.
The picture only becomes clear once you start snapping pieces together.
Legend Has It
Quentin Tarantino says he builds around what excites him first.
Sometimes it’s a scene he can’t stop thinking about.
A monologue.
A moment with heat.
Sometimes it’s even the music that sets the tone.
Energy first.
The structure comes later.
That’s puzzle thinking.
Stop Trying to Be Linear
We were taught:
Introduction → Body → Conclusion.
But that’s editing logic.
Not creative logic.
Creative logic is messy.
It’s:
Work the edges.
Group by color.
Follow curiosity.
Skip around.
Leave gaps.
Come back later.
The Meta Layer
This newsletter didn’t start at the beginning either.
It started with one simple observation:
Creativity is like a puzzle.
That was it.
So I started writing.
Not knowing exactly where it would go.
Not knowing the structure.
Not even knowing how I fully felt about it yet.
And somewhere in the middle, clarity showed up.
Most of my jokes, scripts, games, and newsletters start the same way.
A line.
An observation.
A flicker of curiosity.
Then I follow it.
The structure reveals itself as I go.
Whenever I force the structure too soon, the idea shrinks before it can breathe.
HomePlay
This week, try this:
Take one idea you’ve been stuck on.
Don’t start at the beginning.
Instead, ask:
What’s the most interesting part?
What’s the ending?
What’s the hook?
What’s the weirdest piece?
Build from there.
No outline.
No perfect order.
No waiting for clarity.
Just puzzle work.
If you get stuck…
Flip the pieces over again.
And if something feels missing?
Don’t forget to check under the couch.
Cheers to your creativity,
Gil
P.S. Wanna connect about a TV or film project?
Need a speaker or comedian for your next big event?
Got a puzzle you’re stuck on?
Hit me up at gil@gilrief.com or visit gilrief.com.
