Category Archives: Creativity Guest Posts

Creativity and Risk

{Note: This essay was originally posted on Chris Miller’s site. I thought it was so wonderful that I asked begged Chris for permission to share it with you here. Please spend a little time perusing his site; he has wonderful thoughts and well written words. ~Sue}

 

I spent part of my lunch hour today re-reading Neal Stephenson’s “Inno­va­tion Star­va­tion.” Two things struck me that related directly to com­mon cre­ative problems:

1. We are to quick to dis­miss things that have, in some way, been “done before.”.
2. We fear tak­ing chances on our own ideas.

The first prob­lem, Been Done Before, is the most com­mon stop­ping point for novice cre­ators. This applies to a num­ber of fields, art, writ­ing, pro­gram­ming, busi­ness.  In Stephenson’s words:

Most peo­ple who work in cor­po­ra­tions or acad­e­mia have wit­nessed some­thing like the fol­low­ing: A num­ber of engi­neers are sit­ting together in a room, bounc­ing ideas off each other. Out of the dis­cus­sion emerges a new con­cept that seems promis­ing. Then some laptop-wielding per­son in the cor­ner, hav­ing per­formed a quick Google search, announces that this “new” idea is, in fact, an old one—or at least vaguely similar—and has already been tried. Either it failed, or it suc­ceeded. If it failed, then no man­ager who wants to keep his or her job will approve spend­ing money try­ing to revive it. If it suc­ceeded, then it’s patented and entry to the mar­ket is pre­sumed to be unat­tain­able, since the first peo­ple who thought of it will have “first-mover advan­tage” and will have cre­ated “bar­ri­ers to entry.” The num­ber of seem­ingly promis­ing ideas that have been crushed in this way must num­ber in the millions.

What if that per­son in the cor­ner hadn’t been able to do a Google search? It might have required weeks of library research to uncover evi­dence that the idea wasn’t entirely new—and after a long and toil­some slog through many books, track­ing down many ref­er­ences, some rel­e­vant, some not. When the prece­dent was finally unearthed, it might not have seemed like such a direct prece­dent after all. There might be rea­sons why it would be worth tak­ing a sec­ond crack at the idea, per­haps hybridiz­ing it with inno­va­tions from other fields.

Let’s take writ­ing for an exam­ple. There is a great deal of reluc­tance to taken an idea that you feel was poorly exe­cuted upon and use it for the base con­cept of a new work. While an author could not cre­ate a slav­ish imi­ta­tion of the poor work, they cer­tainly could take the base idea, infuse it fresh cre­ativ­ity and new ideas, and then release the new work to the world. Note, though, the the reluc­tance is usual only in the case of the novice cre­ative. Pro­fes­sion­als know that there is noth­ing new under the sun: depend­ing on who you believe, there is only one plot, or seven plots, or thirty-six plots in the whole world. Freytag’s pyra­mid is a basic con­stant of the field. The trick is in mak­ing the old idea bet­ter than it was before. That’s where the skill of the sto­ry­teller and the will to risk putting some­thing new into the world comes to play.

For exam­ple, there is a comic book series called Last Blood. In it, a vam­pire pro­tects some humans dur­ing the zom­bie apoc­a­lypse.  My per­sonal opin­ion is that it wasn’t very well exe­cuted, there were major weak­nesses con­sid­er­ing the moti­va­tions and actions of the char­ac­ters. The idea, how­ever, was fascinating.

Along comes Chuck Wendig. He may or may not have known about the comic…I have never asked him. He releases a book called Dou­ble Dead. In it, a vam­pire pro­tects some humans dur­ing the zom­bie apoc­a­lypse. How­ever, Wendig brings to bear some crazy-yet-fascinating char­ac­ters and ideas that make his book into some­thing special.

Adding the crazy makes the story. That’s the risk. (See that smooth tran­si­tion to my sec­ond point?)

Look at some of these ideas. When con­densed, they sound a lit­tle suspect:

1. A midget has to take a ring to a vol­cano to kill a dark god.
2. A wiz­ard lives in in a mod­ern city and has a talk­ing skull as a com­pan­ion. They solve crimes together.
3. An alien comes to earth, is imper­vi­ous, dresses in dance tights, and peo­ple take him seriously.
4. A dam­aged kid who saw his par­ents shot dresses as a bat and takes the law into his own hands.

Sure, you can iden­tify those, and they might even sound good given that you know that they work,. However…would you try to take the sub­ject on in a new form?  Would you be will­ing to try to take the same ori­gin story of Super­man or Bat­man and put your own spin on it, while not call­ing them by name? Why not?  Peo­ple have been doing it for years. (If you think that The Man of Steel is all orig­i­nal, go look at The Man of Bronze.)

My point is this: every­thing new is based on some­thing old with an infu­sion of a lit­tle crazy juice. It takes courage to see the sim­i­lar­ity with some­thing that’s Been Done Before and then put a new spin on it. Do not let that stop you.CREATIVITY IS RISK. Embrace it, and do mag­nif­i­cent things.

The Contradictions of Creativity

Creativity comes surrounded by contradiction. Society Loves and Hates creativity; values and cheapens, desires and fears it. Oddly, our western world both encourages and attempts to squash those who dare try to create. Those who share their dreams are praised – but then YOU are told you best not dare to dream YOUR dreams. It’s a cruel test for the artists of the world.

Of course, the creative introvert is him or herself a walking contradiction, driven to creative expression while preferring not to deal with lots of other people. At the extreme lies a Kurt Cobain, driven to show off his creative genius, both loving the affirmation of the applause and hating the fame and all the loss of personal space that came with it. Some found Cobain’s torture unfathomable – how could someone that famous and successful not love it?

But I kind of get it. I’m one of those creative introverts. Not as extreme as Cobain, myself. But as I look back now, I think that’s part of why I chose radio as my career. Talk to and entertain thousands from behind the veil of a microphone, unseen. Probably just a coincidence that the first station I worked for used to lean heavily on a Wizard of Oz theme. Pay no attention to the man behind the mic…

Speaking of wizardry – Creativity is both Magic and Hard Work – and that’s NOT a contradiction. Though the general public may believe those two concepts are mutually exclusive, they’re not. When you create something new, you bring into the world something that has never existed before – that, by many definitions, IS magic. But the only way to do this consistently and effectively is by spending time working at it – the final product seems new, shiny and whole but behind the shine are hours, days and years of elbow grease and simple, grinding creative generation, putting together the pieces.

The magically fresh appearance of the finished work is a contradiction – makes its creation seem effortless. This may be why society devalues creative labor – why should you worry about getting paid for what you can make magically appear, artist?

“I love your new song/book/movie, just downloaded/torrented/copied it! What, you want to get paid for your efforts? Why? That song just came to you, took you three minutes to make ’cause that’s how long it is, right? Writing is just typing, how long did it take you to type that novel/script/work writer?” When the finished work appears perfect, new and whole, the labor “apparently” disappears. Magic?

Still… Creativity is Gold we mine from inside of ourselves, and there’s no reason not to keep digging. Once you begin to tap into a vein of this ore it can lead to a mother lode and unleash all kinds of creative energy! According to Carl Jung, the alchemists of old weren’t simply chemists trying to turn lead into gold, they were proto-psychologists attempting to reconcile the opposites they found inside of themselves. Jung saw this internal work as preceding his own psychological practices. Their “gold” was thus the generative synthesis they created by uniting their own internal opposing forces. Much the same is the fruit of our imaginative labors and their contradictions – the generative synthesis we call Creativity.

Even When It Hurts

To me creativity–by its nature–is a self soothing activity. Or the flip side—a self reward. Our creativity is what carries us through, or often up and out of, hard times in our lives. It can be the emotional equivalent of a life vest once you’ve been thrown overboard into an angry sea.

Sounds pretty dramatic, yes? Well, that’s the point. Creativity taps into everything that’s going on with the artist at any given time. Joy, sadness, hardship, celebration, love, hate and everything in between. Our creativity is steeped in the emotions of our current life experience.

So it seems odd that I’d say a book called Angry Sex was my emotional lifeline for a few rough months. Or maybe it doesn’t. Either way, it’s a true statement.

My character blossomed out of my own real life experience from the end of last year. Writing the book was my saving grace from an emotional state of near rage. A lot of anger. A ton of sadness. And worst for me, a feeling of frustration and ineptitude that was humbling. I wrote that book to keep from hurting. And sometimes I wrote that book despite the fact that the writing hurt me. That was fine by me. It kept the bigness of my fear and worry contained. It put it in a box when I needed it most. And it gave me a place to run when the problem felt too large.

Sounds like a lot of stuff behind a single book about basically using sex as therapy. But there were things in my life that were not happening *to* me, but a person I love more than myself, to be honest. My feelings of frustration and pure unadulterated anger were overwhelming.

So I wrote the book. My anger became the impetus for my creativity and on the flip side, my creativity became my solace during a rough period. Which is how it should be, at least in my humble opinion.

Who we are colors, shades and shapes our work and if you look close enough you will see veins of me in everything I write. Because I’m in the marrow of my work and it in me. Even when it hurts.

Creativity sneaks up on you when you least expect it. It’ll happen when you’re looking at the most mundane item, like a pile of mashed potatoes. You’ll start with scooping out the middle to make a hole to pour in the gravy. You’ll fill in that hole and watch as it overflows with lumpy brown gravy. You’ll imagine the hundreds or corn citizens that will be marched up that gravy volcano to sacrifice themselves to the potato gods. You’ll start to ask yourself questions like “I wonder who the are?” and “I wonder what they would do it this was really happening to them?”

As a writer, you can’t be afraid to allow your mind to wander into places where others fear to tread. You can’t be afraid to ask questions others would be scared or embarrassed to ask. You need to be the one to ask “What if” and to allow your mind to fill in the answer for you. Once you’ve allowed your mind to be open to new possibilities it will take you anywhere you can dream.

Let’s go back to those potatoes for a minute. What happens when you start to eat them? Those lumps in the potatoes, what are those? And the lumps in the gravy? If you’re a god eating a volcano, why are you eating that volcano? Are you seeking revenge on someone who wronged you or are you just a bored god that feels the need to punish his corn subjects?

Perhaps it’s not even your plate of food that draws in your attention, but as you’re lying on the couch just starting at the ceiling tiles, or that popcorn stuff. You start by counting them, but soon your eyes go in and out of focus. You’ll see shapes appear and you’ll imagine those shapes starting a war on your ceiling. Who is on which side? Which side is good and which is bad? Why is one side good and one side bad? You’re staring at a white ceiling, fill in the colors. What does the banner or flag for each side look like? How many are on either side. What sort of weapons do they have? Are they even human or something completely different?

For me, creativity is what happens inside my brain when I’m not thinking about it. It’s allowing my mind to just wander and ask questions of where it’s going or where it’s been. Writing isn’t about creativity, it’s about demanding answers from your brain as to where it’s been and then giving the characters found there a life to live beyond your imagination.

Take some time to let your eyes go out of focus while staring at your plate of food, your ceiling, the pattern on that painting, the stitching in your favorite shirt, that pile of rocks, that stand of trees. Don’t allow your brain to limit where you can draw creativity from and it’ll sneak up on you when you least expect it. You’ll be happy it did.

ART CREATIVITY INSPIRATION

 

art 1 |ärt|

noun

1 the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power

• works produced by such skill and imagination

4 a skill at doing a specified thing, typically one acquired through practice

art for art’s sake used to convey the idea that the chief or only aim of a work of art is the self-expression of the individual artist who creates it.

To this I would add: or the self-designated art critic to ponderously ramble on about what the artist was trying to communicate. I’m specifically relating this to paintings. I would also include myself in this, but hopefully without the self absorbed attitude. I’ve written a few poems over the years. Actually it feels a bit pompous to say I wrote them. More accurately, I transcribed them as I just started hearing words and had to grab a pen so I could write them down. I guess that is what I would classify as Inspiration, but more on that later.

Can’t it just be a pretty picture the artist felt like painting?

I’ve included the definitions, or parts of them, not to fill space, but to hopefully clarify what I’m thinking to others, if not just for myself. The art ‘critic’ comment comes from a more red neck point of view. It bugs me when people try and say what an artist was thinking when they created something, especially when it was finished a couple hundred years ago. I just want to scream, “Stop sounding like a pompous ass!” Get out of my way and let me enjoy it myself, or move on to something I do enjoy.

Another reason I included the definitions is some of them stood out to me. I had never thought of defining things that way. I’m specifically referencing #4. I’ve always thought one needed to have natural talent to create art, knowing that one can learn more to further refine their art. Yes, that is practice, but #4 doesn’t reference anything I’ve associated with art before. It’s not talking specifically about producing an item of pottery, a painting, composing a song. It is talking about being skilled at a specific thing.

Huh, that means that working an assembly line can be art; cooking in a diner; waiting tables in a diner; collecting trash, and any other seemingly mundane activity I don’t typically give much thought to.

But now that I think of it, cooking/waiting tables in a diner is art. Before liberating myself into the coffee world, I was in restaurants for 17 years. Most of those 17 years was spent in fine-dining or upscale styled restaurants. Many of these were high-volume to the point of having to hold steaks on the side because there was no more room on the grill. But thinking back to my short stint in a diner style breakfast kitchen in a hotel, WOW! I started there to fill in while the other two guys recovered from an accident and a brain tumor. When they got back to full speed, it was a fairly silent ballet that blew me away. They were barely moving, yet food was flying out of the kitchen. They took ‘economy/efficiency’ of movement to a level worthy of being called art.

Before getting my degree in Culinary Arts, I was a Music Performance Major. I loved performing. Not because I’m sort of spotlight-loving-diva, but just to pass on the Art I had worked hard at practicing. I’m referencing #1 here. I wasn’t the one in the spotlight in front of people, which is probably why I never had ‘stage fright’. Now I did get nervous about performing, but never till just before I would start playing. Bugged me to death as I had no time to deal with it, just push on. The music was front and center, I was just the one channeling it so to speak. I think this was better than taking anything available to alter one’s perception of their environment. I remember in my solo performances for contest, I would completely loose myself in the music. By this time, I have worked the song so much, I could see the music in my head, not that I was looking at it like a photograph or reading it like sheet music, it was just there because it was so much a part of me by that time. As soon as I would lift my bow to the violin strings, I would close my eyes, breathe, and start playing, getting lost in the music and letting it take me where it would. When I was done, it sometimes felt like coming out of a trance. I ran sound the same way; even adjusting things on the soundboard with my eyes closed for an entire song.

When I go to a performance by someone I admire, as much, or sometimes more, my enjoyment comes from how they are while performing the music and not what they are performing. Watching a talented musician lose themselves in the music, and having FUN doing it WELL, adds so much to my enjoyment. I would even venture so far as to say it is a worship/spiritual experience. (Oh boy, I think I just came up with another topic to post on.)

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creativity |ˌkrē-āˈtivitē|

noun

the use of the imagination or original ideas, esp. in the production of an artistic work.

Here we go again with another misconception of mine. I’ve always linked Creativity with Art, making something pretty. So this made me sad as I never really thought of myself as creative. Boy was I wrong. Knowing this years ago could have saved the hassle of a lot of self esteem issues. I could make different things, and some of them were even pretty or tasted good. But that was because someone else told me what to do and how to do it. I thought you needed Inspiration to do that.

Because of all the music theory thrown at me when my parents started me on violin at 3.5yoa, Dad (taught band & choir 17 years) voicing his pet peeve at people wanting to play the song like they heard on the radio instead of “reading the music”, I’ve always been great at sight reading music. This is a problem when trying to play jazz or blues. Playing music from sheet music never seemed especially Creative to me. Once you got the notes down, it was just a matter of following the director. But jazz/blues involves actual personal Creativity, or at least a different form of it. I enjoyed the semester I was able to take jazz lessons, but it was a struggle. I was so used to “READ THE MUSIC” that to ‘get over myself’ so I could create music that wasn’t written down proved more difficult than I imagined. Now, I know all the key signatures, their scales, and chord progressions, but being told to ‘just play in this key’ tends to make me musically stupid in a hurry.

Go ahead, play. You’ll hit some wrong notes, but so what. It’ll come eventually. Yeah, still not something I’m able to do yet, but wish that I could. Some of my favorite times at Bluegrass festivals are the jam sessions that pop up at the end of the day. I so wish I could join in as it looks like they are having so much fun ‘just playing’ and seeing what happens.

I did a little better in the culinary and coffee worlds. In these, and the music world, learning the foundations will help you know where you can take it, Creatively.

In food, I love it when chefs take ingredients people would never think of putting together, even turning their puzzled nose up at the idea, that turns into an incredible dish. My favorite way to exhibit Creativity in food is to stand in front of someone’s open refrigerator and cabinets for several minutes. Then I start cooking. It’s fun to watch the perplexed look on peoples’ faces and tell them, “I don’t know.”, when they start asking what I’m making.

After I learned the foundations in coffee and all about scientific stuff about milk, and developed a skill for duplicating it consistently, I could start creating Latte Art. It could be said latte Art is more for the person doing it, proving that they can, than it is for the creation of a better tasting drink. Whatever design appears does absolutely nothing for the taste of the drink. It just proves you did the milk and espresso correctly. It does make the drink look more appetizing. And since we eat with our eyes first, it lets the customer know that things are done correctly, and hopefully leads to better tips.

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inspiration |ˌinspəˈrā sh ən|

noun

1 the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, esp. to do something creative

• a sudden brilliant, creative, or timely idea

2 the drawing in of breath; inhalation.

• an act of breathing in; an inhalation.

#2 Huh? I would never have considered the simple act of breathing, Inspiration. But then I’ve had a lot of my long held misperceptions challenged in writing this. That goes a long way to changing my perception of life.

The simple act of breathing is Inspiration. This is an act I never think about, except when I have a cold, but happens continually, automatically even. Thinking about everything that takes place while breathing really does prove out why it is included as a definition for Inspiration.

This should make it much easier to be Inspired.

a sudden brilliant, creative, or timely idea

This is how I’ve always defined Inspiration. This is what has driven my poetry. I almost said ‘written’ again. Yeah, sure, I held the pen or tapped at the keys, but I was only recording words nobody else was hearing. So I thought this was how writing was done. This is also why writers really amazed me.

How do they get struck with all these words? Song writers too. Where do all those notes and lyrics come from? But getting to know a decent number of writers via Twitter, I realized that too is another misperception blown to pieces. I still find it somewhat hard to believe a person can sit down at a designated time and say, “OK, now I’m going to write.”

But where does one find Inspiration? As I’ve learned to shed some of my more legalistic background, I’ve learned Wisdom and Inspiration can be found anywhere, not just in the specific religious world in which I was raised.

Can one just ‘decide’ to be inspired? I think so, in that one can decide to look for it.

Until recently I was working an early morning opening shift at a coffee shop with a great view of the sunrise. (I posted many of these on Twitter.) The amazing colors and cloud formations were truly beautiful work of Art. I chose to be inspired by the beauty to focus on the positive throughout the day.

Watching cooking shows gives me Inspiration of the different things I can do with my food. It also gives me the Inspiration to find my Creativity and come up with unique coffee beverages. One season special we did at a shop came out of watching Alton Brown do a show on pepper. He was describing the Szechuan Peppercorn (& how it’s not really a pepper, but part of a flower) and he was using the same words we were using to describe our espresso.

So I let Inspiration ignite my Creativity and started to figure out what the completed recipe would taste like. We were coming up on winter so I wanted it to be warm and comforting. Szechuan Pepper has a broader flavor profile and a much more subdued nature than White or Black pepper, more of a warming flavor than a hot flavor. Now what else would help round out this flavoring and mix well with our espresso/milk combination and yet let the coffee flavor remain dominant. I went to my favorite place for flavor Inspiration – Penzy’s Spice. It’s a bit overwhelming and headache inducing your first time in the store, but it’s a treasure trove of goodness. (Yes I can get a little existential about food/coffee)

Keeping in mind the flavor descriptors of our espresso, I looked for anything to compliment and contrast those flavors. I finally landed on Chinese 5-spice powder and French Basil. After a few trials and willing guinea pig customers, the Winter Spice drink was put on the menu. As long as I could convince people to try it, they loved it. I can understand their concern. If I wasn’t adventurous with food, I wouldn’t think putting ‘pepper’ in my coffee would be very tasty either.

I’ve come the realization that Inspiration isn’t something I have to (or should) wait for. I can seek it out by putting myself in situations that are inspiring. Look at, read, listen to things that can lead me to Inspiration so I can let my Creativity out and make Art.

Now if I could only get inspired to clean my kitchen.

The Therapy of Art

The years one spends in grade school are often volatile and unpleasant. In my own experience, I saw my peers seeking out physical pleasures, mind numbing drugs and self injury in an attempt to deal with their ghosts. Although health classes rightfully teach the subjects of nutritional, physical and sexual health, they rarely approach mental health. In consequence, those who do not happen to learn healthy methods of dealing with stress seek out whatever else they can find to relieve the pressure.

As many of my friends and I were artsy, creating beautiful paintings or literary works came naturally. Although we still derailed into behaviors we didn’t recognize as dangerous at the time, art was our safe haven. Tear spattered pages of written poems recounted the story of stress, pressure and confusion. Frequently, dark images spread themselves across canvases. I often wonder if the adults and lucky parents who were shown these works of art ever wondered at their inspiration.

Beyond grade school, we see art used in countless ways to facilitate healing and change. Therapists and psychologists recommend a form of self expression not only to relieve stress, but to help clients better understand where their stressors come from.

Imagine a world where people sought out art instead of drugs or sex to relieve stress. It may seem childish to most adults to sit and draw a crude picture, but that is a socially learned assumption. If children in middle school or high school were taught that art is a fundamental way to relieve stress, they would grow into adults with that knowledge. In a few decades, drawing in your free time wouldn’t seem so childish anymore.

As a twenty-something facing graduation in just a few short months, stress is a constant in my life. The business of the past few years has caused me to exercise my artsy side much less. While I still partake in traditional college activities to relieve stress, I find my true relief exists in art. No longer having the time to draw my own lines, I plan to proudly buy myself a small coloring book. Art, no matter how simple or masterful, has a place in everyday life. When no one else will listen, paper and canvas lend a welcoming ear.