Who is Creative?
September 14, 2000
7:39 a.m.
I'm sure I don't have to point out the dichotomy of behavior of the Clinton administration in regard to the "shocking" Hollywood report that studios target R-rated movies and Mature-rated games toward teenagers and pre-teens. This was, of course, one of those "Well, duuhhhhh," reports where everyone and their Big Brother already knew the answer. Still, I wonder how many celebrities have donated to him, and what they will think when the administration he runs tries to squish them. Interesting times.   I went to a group session yesterday night. We're going through Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way." It's an interesting process. Given that we're so early in the game, it's hard to say what it will do for me or to me. As part of the session we talked a little about what we wanted to get out of the process. I said I wanted to do better at ignoring the huge barrier that pushing oneself to be commercially successful builds between you and your work. I've talked to Lisa Silverthorne about this several times. When the goal becomes tied up in money, it changes something unfathomable in the chemical makeup of your brain. But still, if you want to be successful in the business, you can't totally ignore the commercial side of things, either. The process requires an oddly schizophrenic mindset that allows you to ignore commercialism in the process of creation, and then turn it back on after the danged thing is done. I want to get better at this. so that's one of the things I said I wanted to get out of doing "the Artist's Way" bit. And I said I wanted to work with people that are creative. As soon as I said that I knew I had stepped across one barrier already. That statement could predispose an assumption that the people I work with on a daily basis outside the writing world are somehow not creative, which is an incorrect assumption. I work with a lot of creative people. The difference, I think, is that writers are always creative...honestly. Even when we're not feeling really good about our ability to create, I think we are always more creative than the average person off the street. At least we know how to touch that creative bit of ourselves. When we're at our less creative moments this knowledge actually works against us, though. Since we know how to touch it, why don't words just flow and flow and flow all the time dangit. I'm convinced that sometimes you have to step back and look at the rest of the world to get a real assessment of where you stand. I work with people that are creative. I also work with people who are less creative than me. But that does not mean that these people who are less creative than me at whatever moment I'm working with them are unable to be creative--or are specifically not creative at all. What it means is that I haven't hit them at a receptive moment. Lesson learned. All in one brief moment of clear thought. Yeah, I know it's not an Earth shattering lesson. In fact, you guys probably already knew it. Heck, I'm sure I knew it at one point. But sometimes you forget, you know? Have a great day.  Nothing beats starting your day with lighthearted morning conversation... Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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Excellent progress on a new story this morning... |
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