What is creativity? where is it? Who is it? How can I sit there some nights writing away like a maniac and other nights I sit there with pure blankness. I'm not talking about those nights when my ideas are bad or my inner-critic is telling me I'm useless, I'm just talking about those days when it just isn't there.
How can this be? How can the material not be there? It's like working in a shoe factory but being told there's no laces to finish the job. It makes no real sense. One night I can be laying there and BOOM, a genius idea for a story or a script. But on another night.. It's blank. A blankness that is impossible to describe, but I'll try. It's like you're looking down a blank road, waiting for a car to come out of the mist. But you keep searching and searching but it won't arrive.
I'm not annoyed or anything. It's not a problem, an idea doesn't have to come TODAY. It just seems crazy that it can't. If I have a genius idea tomorrow about a disabled camel that runs for President, why can't I get it today instead?
It's like a few months back when I wrote my tea addiction story and the one about dreams - they appeared from nowhere, for no reason. Why? How? Where from? And if I have the talent to write humour like that why can't I do it all the time? Why can't I write one about coffee right now?
I don't need answers, but it just fascinates me. I kinda like it - to be honest, it feels a bit magical. Where in my brain is it coming from? Or does it come from God? And if it does come from God, will he take a commission from my work?
It's a bit like that Elizabeth Gilbert video I posted a while back. She talks about the cosmic creative forces that swirl down from the ether and give you the genius for a moment at a time. And besides, she was talking about Tom Waits and great novellists, not about anonymous bloggers who miraculously have decreasing numbers of google followers.
So, yeah-- I don't really want actual answers. If you said "well, Kid, your creativity is stored in your elbow and only gets released when it hits certain temperatures," I would feel disappointed, because I like the magic and I also like to keep my elbow slightly below room temperature.
It's 4am. I am shooting a scene at 10am. Awake is not what I should be right now. If you see an anonymous blogger filming a scene tomorrow in Central London be sure to leave him a comment.
ahhh i get your problem...
ReplyDeleteim a photographer and sometimes nothing at all strikes me in a creative way... but when the light bulb goes on, it feels good... so i guess when that happens just sit back and wait for the inspiration to come =)
Sometimes inspiration comes when you just look at things in a different perspective, like when you analyze situations or question things going on. But I get what you're saying and it gets frustrating when that light bulb just does not want to turn on!
ReplyDeleteI hope you get some sleep. My ideas just pop in my head..trouble is some just pop out as well.
ReplyDeletePay attention when you fall asleep everybody, because some of the ideas are hidden in our dreams, drink a glass of milk before going to bed and you will remember your dream...it works...:-)
ReplyDeleteKid I am also filming in Central London today..maybe is it you...:-)
I find that an idea comes if I just start writing something. Start with a random sentence and see what happens. It's not usually a good idea, but there are words on a page.
ReplyDeleteAnd some of my best ideas have come to me when I've been walking around. I'll hear a sentence of someone's conversation as they walk past me, or I'll see something strange, and something will come from there. What never ever works, for me, is just sitting around.
So you are someone famous in our midsts!
ReplyDeleteFirst time visiting your blog & like all the others, reads like a 'dissertation but at least yours is less that 10 paragraphs!!
I've never read or written a dissertation - but I was always of the impression that they tend to be overlong and boring, is that what you're implying, or is there some kind of compliment? Either way is cool - I just have no idea!
ReplyDelete