You can read this post or follow along as I read it.
cre·a·tiv·i·ty/ˌkrēāˈtivitē/
Noun: The use of the imagination or original ideas, esp. in the production of an artistic work.
For some reason I felt called to write about creativity today. I guess because I’ve been feeling both very creative and creatively frustrated the last three weeks. It is as if the object of my creation lies just beyond a veil … I can sense its presence and yet, I cannot seem to lift that veil and reveal its beauty to the world.
Donatella Versace once said that “creativity comes from a conflict of ideas.” The thing for me is that not everyone sees the same conflict, so your particular resolution — the birth of your own creative expression — will never be exactly like someone else’s.
For me, as a fiction writer, creativity is often the ability to see juxtapositions where others do not. Creativity is not necessarily creating something new per se, but seeing what is already there with a new perspective, from a new angle … or sometimes simply an ever-so-slightly different perspective or angle.
There may be nothing new under the sun, but you can still experience everything as if it were new. That is creativity. The ability to evoke, inject or experience new-ness.
“An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.”
Edwin Land
Failure more than often goes hand in hand with success. Creativity is, at its core, a form of experimentation. Will this go with that? What happens when I do or add this? Sometimes those experiments fail. But in the failure you learn and can improve with the next try. Trust me, I have files upon files of failed short stories, novels and poetry!
“Creativity can be described as letting go of certainties.”
Gail Sheehy
When you experiment with your expressions of creativity, you are essentially opening yourself to the unknown. You are uncertain as to the results. And yet, with child-like abandon, you string those words together, splash that paint on the canvas, add that herb to the soup.
Allowing yourself to be creative is a courageous act because you are opening yourself to failure. But that’s the wondrous part of it. What wonderful things will come out of those failures? There are plenty of stories of someone doing something to achieve result A, failing at that by getting result B and discovering that result B is something wonderful all its own. You never know what your creative experiments will turn out.
“Anxiety is part of creativity, the need to get something out, the need to be rid of something or to get in touch with something within.”
David Duchovny
Anxiety is uncomfortable. And when we are uncomfortable, we do something to make that discomfort go away. The princess atop the 99 mattresses tosses and turns. The inventor creates a new widget. I sit down and tell the stories of the characters haranguing me in my head.
“Clean out a corner of your mind and creativity will instantly fill it.”
Dee Hock
I hear a lot about “writer’s block” and frankly I don’t think I fully understand it. Yes, I’ve had my moments where I don’t know where to go with a particular story line or character … but that doesn’t exactly block me. I just move on to another story line or character or project until that answer I’m seeking percolates to the top of my mind.
I suspect that “blockage” occurs when your mind is full. It happens when you believe you know where your story is going and are trying to force it to go that way. But stories are not always so easily led. Sometimes they, like children, want to go their own way. And sometimes, you should let them.
“A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something.”
Frank Capra
I have a hunch that this post will make you think of something to say to me. So why not put it in the comment box below. 😉
