The five stages every creative needs to know

What a morning webinar reminded me about the rhythm of the creative process:

I joined a CreativeMornings Virtual FieldTrip this morning hosted by Christine Garvey – artist, coach, and founder of a mighty practice. She laid out something I have been pondering about for while: a framework for the creative process.

Her 5-step framework isn’t complicated, but it’s honest in a way that most “productivity systems” for creatives aren’t: It doesn’t promise a straight line from inspiration to finished work. It acknowledges the messy, non-linear reality of actually making things. And I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.

As someone building my artist project – writing, producing, performing, and releasing electronic music – I recognized myself in every single stage.

Sometimes stuck in one. Sometimes skipping another entirely and wondering why nothing’s flowing.

“In order to go deep, we need a process.”
Christine Garvey

Here’s what the framework looks like, and what it means to me in practice:

Clear

Stage 1

Space & Time

Before anything creative can happen, you need room for it. That means clearing both the physical space – your studio, your desk, your Ableton project folder – and the mental space. No half-finished to-do lists bleeding into your session. No guilt about the email you haven’t answered.

For me, this often looks like starting a new Ableton set with a blank canvas instead of dragging old projects forward. Or closing every tab (mentally and digitally) before I sit down. It sounds obvious. I still skip it constantly.

Play

Stage 2

Experiment

This is the stage where nothing counts yet – and that’s the whole point. Play means letting yourself make sounds, sequences, melodies, or lyrics that you’ll probably never use. The goal isn’t a result; it’s activation.

Some of my best ideas on the Roland TR-8S or the Korg Opsix came from twenty minutes of pure experimentation with zero intention. The moment I decide I’m “working on a track,” something tightens. Play is the antidote to that.

Fuel

Stage 3

Examples, Classes, Input

Creativity doesn’t come from a vacuum. Fuel is about actively feeding your artistic brain: listening to music that moves you, watching a documentary about someone whose work you admire, taking a workshop, reading, attending events – like, say, a CreativeMornings FieldTrip at 9am on a Thursday.

This stage is easy to feel guilty about because it doesn’t look like “working.” But depletion is real. An empty tank produces nothing. Fuel isn’t procrastination, t’s maintenance.

Generate

Stage 4

Produce & Release

This is the stage most people think of when they think of “the creative process” – the actual making.

Writing, recording, arranging, finishing, and putting the work out into the world. Generate is where ideas become things.

But notice where it sits in the framework: not first. You don’t start here. You arrive here – after clearing, playing, and fueling. That sequencing matters more than I used to think.

Reflect

Stage 5

Look Back Before Moving Forward

The stage most often skipped. After releasing something – a track, a set, a project – there’s a strong pull to immediately move on. Start the next thing. Fill the gap. But reflection is where you actually learn from what you made.

What worked?
What felt forced?
Where did you feel most alive in the process?

Reflect is how you become a better version of yourself for the next cycle.

What I love most about this framework is that it reframes the “unproductive” moments of a creative life as necessary stages, not failures.

The afternoon you spend listening to records isn’t wasted – it’s “Fuel”. The little sketch that goes nowhere isn’t a mistake – it’s “Play”.

I’m going to start noticing where I actually am in this cycle at any given moment, rather than demanding to be productive and “Generate” all the time. That alone feels like a small revolution.

If this resonated with you, I’d strongly recommend looking up Christine Garvey’s work: Christine is an artist, coach, and founder of a mighty practice, a resource for creatives navigating their practice. The five-stage framework shared here is hers; the reflections are mine. Her podcast and coaching go deep into exactly these kinds of questions for artists and creatives.

About the authorKRUBY

KRUBY is a Munich-based electronic music artist producing House-Pop at the intersection of technology, creativity, and emotion. On this blog, she writes about the music industry, the artist life, and everything in between.

The 5 stages every creative needs to know

As someone building my artist project – writing, producing, performing, and releasing electronic music – I recognized myself in every single stage.