Creativity is hard
New theory of creativity to drive my personal work in 2015. I think I danced around this subject informally in how I work, but I recently read a Hemingway quote and then shortly after a documentary about Star Wars: A New Hope.
Hemingway said "Write drunk; Edit sober."
I don't think chemical abuse is required for writing, but it frames a specific dichotomy well enough to demonstrate the point. The act of creation is equal parts building and demolishing.
The Star Wars documentary showed how many major scenes were deleted from the movie that Lucas ultimately released. And the film was much better for it. He had built all of this "stuff", and in doing so found a clear vision of what he wanted to express. Anything that proved ill fitting he removed in post.
I write a lot. Far more than I publish. I now see the reason I don't post a lot of pieces: I can't find clarity in what I am writing. I don't understand what I am trying to say, and the writing shows it. Conversely, my favorite pieces are ones I develop great clarity on while writing. Editing is critical to that. I will sometimes take 3000 words and turn it into 300, or 200 words and turn it into 2000.
I've done the same with videos I have made, truly seeing my vision for the first time when I'm editing. I've seen my aunt Hazel work on a single piece over and over, because she isn't quite happy with the result yet. The journey is very personal. And I would place money on the fact that most creation isn't about the results, but about the personal discoveries that the creators make along the way. Popular results fail to compare to that.
Hemingway said "Write drunk; Edit sober."
I don't think chemical abuse is required for writing, but it frames a specific dichotomy well enough to demonstrate the point. The act of creation is equal parts building and demolishing.
The Star Wars documentary showed how many major scenes were deleted from the movie that Lucas ultimately released. And the film was much better for it. He had built all of this "stuff", and in doing so found a clear vision of what he wanted to express. Anything that proved ill fitting he removed in post.
I write a lot. Far more than I publish. I now see the reason I don't post a lot of pieces: I can't find clarity in what I am writing. I don't understand what I am trying to say, and the writing shows it. Conversely, my favorite pieces are ones I develop great clarity on while writing. Editing is critical to that. I will sometimes take 3000 words and turn it into 300, or 200 words and turn it into 2000.
I've done the same with videos I have made, truly seeing my vision for the first time when I'm editing. I've seen my aunt Hazel work on a single piece over and over, because she isn't quite happy with the result yet. The journey is very personal. And I would place money on the fact that most creation isn't about the results, but about the personal discoveries that the creators make along the way. Popular results fail to compare to that.