I’ve spoken before about how expectation, self-doubt and self-sabotage can cripple the creative process. It’s a factor in my creative productivity. Just about every writer I know can be hamstrung by similar issues. Even if there are no external expectations set upon us, art itself is laden with a burden of societal expectation. If you are an artist, the world expects something remarkable from you.
Many years ago, I had a telephone conversation with a poet friend. We were talking about the inevitable response people give when you describe yourself as a writer. “Oh, have you written anything I’ve read?” My friend said something I have never forgotten but nevertheless need to remind myself of from time to time:
She said, “Writers should be recognized for writing, for starting and finishing the work. Not for how society accepts the work.”
Easier said than done, of course. We are social animals, primates who thrive on connection and acceptance. What does a child do immediately after their first experiments with paper and crayon? Run to show the results to their mother, who has the right idea: praise the passion and lip-biting effort that went into the scrawl of color.
The other members of our species need to meet creators halfway to celebrate the process and act of creativity as much as the tangible result.
Elizabeth Gilbert, who is a contemporary enjoying a sudden success many orders of magnitude beyond anything in my own experience, spoke at the TED conference earlier this month. She’s been giving this a lot of thought. Please watch, all the way through.
I’m an atheist with a great love and respect for ritual. It might surprise people to know the idea of assigning an external partner some or all of my creative power appeals to me. It resonates. I remember the first line of one of the first great literary accomplishments of humankind:
“Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles…”
The poet begins the poem by asking his muse to sing, so that when Homer opens his mouth, that song might spill forth. And boy, did it. And everyone in the audience understood what they were hearing was a collaborative effort between a man and his genius. A dance.
I know my old friend would be moved by the last minute of Gilbert’s talk, just as the audience was. Me, I sat in my chair and wept, and tears come to my eyes writing about it now.
Creators, do your thing. World, celebrate the doing.
Thanks to C.K. Sample for his own post about the creative process, which pointed me to this video
Scribtotum
Matt, I strongly believe in synchronicity, and this is exactly what I needed today. I was blogging myself about the origin of our characters, the voices… the muse. I absolutely believe that creativity comes from someplace divine, and being able to approach it from Gilbert’s point of view has the capacity to make the process so much easier. I’d like to pass this on myself in my blog for tomorrow, and will definitely link back to your blog as well.
Thank you for tapping into the universe and spreading the message I needed to hear today.
I’m glad Gilbert’s talk “spoke” to you, Jenny. Between that, and watching so many genuinely happy, grateful artists on the Academy Awards tonight, it’s been a day bookended by the emotions of creativity.
Folks, Jenny writes a lot about creativity and the writing process at her own blog — y’all should check it out.
It’s an interesting and inspirational talk, and there is a certain intriguing charm in the idea of some external force creating … um… creativity. Brings to mind the 12-Step idea of a Higher Power, serving a similar function, at that.
Of course, one might ask if it’s appropriate to attempt to replace manic-depression with hallucination, and talking to invisible people in the room. But hey, if you’re a writer, you’re already Making People Up — might as well make up one you can blame stuff on!
;-)
Griz
I don’t think Gilbert is talking about a higher power… or even if she’s advocating a literal belief in an external force. I’m certainly not… but approaching creativity as if the process was partially the result of an external collaborator may act as a kind of pressure valve. It’s make believe, which is, as you so rightly point out, something creative folks are already good at.