Posts Tagged ‘Process’

How’s your entelechy?


16 Apr

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Posted in Creating, Intent, Practice, Work, inspiration | 2 Comments »

Great post from Emily McPhie about a word and concept I was unfamiliar with. It’s called entelechy. I especially liked the two quotes she shared:

“Entelechy is a particular type of motivation, need for self-determination, and an inner strength and vital force directing life and growth to become all one is capable of being.” – Deirdre Lovecky

“The tricky thing about being in the entertainment industry is that basically no matter how much money is involved, how good the life is, the thing that still compels you is that thing inside.” – Tim Burton

So how strong is your own entelechy? How deep is your drive to make whatever it is you feel compelled to make? What one step, no matter how small, will you take today to move (at least) one step closer to your creative goals?

Creativity = Connectivity


16 Dec

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Posted in Creating, Practice, Process, inspiration | No Comments »

Very meaningful post from The Talent Code’s Daniel Coyle about the idea of connectivity, which he suggests could replace the word creativity. Here is the section I found the most valuable:

“The deeper question is, how do we create more of these explosions?

To answer that, let’s look at what those connections really are. They are neural links — connected wires in our brain. Ideas don’t just float in the air — they exist, as electrical circuits… In fact, we could replace the word “creativity” with a new term: “connectivity.” And to maximize creative connectivity, you need to do two very different tasks:

1) gather ideas

2) connect them

For the gathering phase, we need lots of inputs, lots of filtering and categorizing. To be good at this is like being a human vacuum cleaner, hoovering up ideas and funneling them into various memory bins.

For the second phase, we need time and space to let the connections form and grow. It’s what management consultant and author Jim Collins refers to as “the white space” — the area of the day when real thinking happens.

Look closely at any creative person, and you’ll see that they have structured their lives to create acres of white space; Charles Dickens took endless walks through the city; Einstein played violin; Collins unplugs all electronics and goes “into the cave” from 8 a.m. until noon every day. All are good examples of Flaubert’s code: “Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.”

We’re living an interesting moment. For gathering ideas, it’s unquestionably richest time in history; we are standing in a torrent of stimulus and ideas. For finding that quiet place to connect those ideas, however, it’s exactly the opposite; white space is scarce and getting scarcer. Which makes it all the more valuable.”

Also be sure and click on the Jim Collins link. His thoughts on “white space” are priceless.

Anatomy of a poem


30 Oct

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Posted in Creating, Muse, Process, inspiration | 2 Comments »

treefort2

As a break from the grind of outlining and writing my current screenplay project, I’ve been working on some poetry. In my writing workshop the other night I had my group read a piece I’ve been working on, and I thought it might be minimally interesting to someone (or not) to see how a poem comes together. This of course is speaking only for myself. So here ’tis:

Beginning – most of my poetry starts with a visual of some kind. Or should I say, most of my poetry is inspired by some type of visual imagery. It could be a single thing or a combination of a lot of different ones. This particular idea came as I was sitting in a church parking lot, looking at a tree fort that someone had built in their backyard.

And then – for some reason, things generally seem to work better in my writing when they start with pencil and paper. Not sure why…maybe it frees the mind to roam without the fear of “permanence” of being typed out. With this particular poem, I wrote out the entire first draft in one sitting, but just as often I will scribble various words and images, then let it sit for awhile.

Inspiration – In addition to the visual that keys the poem, I try to be open to whatever else is floating around in my mind, with the hope that something might bubble up and connect itself to the current idea. For this poem, some of the word ideas that came included the wonder of childhood, the longing for the past, and the mystery of looking deep into the sky on a starry night, wondering how far the inky black extends…

Surprise – maybe the most important element in any creative work is the surprise. In this case, the poem began with a lighter tone, even playful. I sensed something more hiding in the fun, but it didn’t come until the work was actually being written. Beginning with “And then late, late into the dark…,” there is a definite shift in tone to from playful to melancholy. See if you agree. The trick seems to be to stay wide open to whatever from wherever. Positation!

Meaning – it was a lot of fun to hear other people read the poem and then come up with their own interpretation of what it meant. It gave me a little taste of what it might feel like for a painter to have an audience deconstruct a painting. I happily confess my “meaning” for it wasn’t nearly as profound as the meaning that an audience attributed to it. Which was lovely, actually.

I’m going to post two versions – the original and a revision that came after my workshop feedback. Would love to hear what you think as well. What works? What doesn’t? What would you change and why?

And remember, poems are best read aloud.

Here is a link to both versions. And thanks for taking a look, if you do.

Phineas & Ferb & Positation


09 Oct

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Posted in Creating, Creators, Fear, positation, self-editing | 1 Comment »

phineas-and-ferb
The answer is Friday. As posted earlier this week, sometimes creativity is simply the process of looking at familiar things in new ways. Hence Mr. Phineas and Mr. Ferb. These two are all about making uber-cool stuff, seemingly out of nowhere. Sure, it’s just a cartoon. But for me, the real life takeaway is the fact that it’s all about the fun, and self-editing just takes away from your creative energy. Even more better (yes, I know that sounds wrong – but it’s Friday, remember?) they are all about positation. That’s a real word. I know ’cause I learned it in college – Bill Ball was a theater instructor in SF for many years, and positation was his way of saying “yes!” to every idea, without all the self-editing we use on ourselves. Here’s what a couple of his students had to say:
“Bill had this word, ‘positation.’ He would say, ‘Never say no.’ Of course, this was good for him because he didn’t like people saying no to him. But it was also a wonderful way to work on a play, to be open to any suggestion. Then, through doing what you might not want to do, wouldn’t have thought to do, you have another thought, and his mind would feed on whatever idea you’d come up with, and you’d end up exactly where you really wanted to be. It’s sort of a lesson for life, too, though of course there are times one should say no.” — Kitty Winn

“The point is that if you entertain everybody’s idea, eventually you get to the right one. But unless you say yes all along the way, you might not get to that great idea. … Bill had some genius in him. He was a very nutty person. He was a man who did not play by the rules. … But he had a power to lead and he was willing to stand in front of everybody and, if he had to make a fool of himself, he’d make a fool of himself in order to get done what he wanted to do.” — Annette Bening, former ACT student and company member

So next time you find yourself self-editing, think of Phineas and Ferb and instead say “yes!” and keep working on that backyard roller coaster. BTW, the platypus’s name is Perry.

simple is good


07 Oct

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Posted in Creating, Work, innovation, inspiration | 1 Comment »

Sometimes creativity is simply about looking at new ways of doing something.

My 4 C’s


09 Sep

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Posted in Creating, Creators, Fear, Joy, Practice, Work, inspiration | 5 Comments »

I thought it would be a perfect first contribution to this, my first “Be Mused” blog if I shared my four basic C’s of creating. Number one is to Conceptualize. The basis of creation is to have a concept on which to build. No concept- no creation. Most of our concepts are built on others’ concepts. We stand on the shoulders of other creators taking what they’ve learned and fashioning it into something different, sometimes better. So in reality all creation occurs as the result of a previous creator. Number two is Courage. This for me is key in starting a project, particularly a new one. Getting past self-doubt long enough to press forward and see an idea come to fruition requires an “eye of faith,” if you will. Before the physical there is a spiritual, or an internal creation which I have to believe-in long enough to make my idea into something real. When a project is in its infancy I repeatedly refer to that image in my mind’s eye in order to move forward. This, in and of itself serves many purposes. It took six days to create the earth and only then was it a paradise. Thirdly, I would suggest Collaboration. This goes hand-in-hand with conceptualizing but is something more. The encouragement, experience and different viewpoint  of others (whether experienced or not) are an invaluable part of the process for me. Fourth and finally, there has to Celebration. I feel that without a celebration it is much more difficult to begin the process again. These celebrations can be small and internal, but make sure you have one. Being able to celebrate a creation even when it turns out “other than planned” opens our minds to mistakes and better ways of getting things done. We understood this well as children and were much less easily frustrated as a result. Children celebrate everything and I believe this is why they are so creative, because they are free to be that way by their own virtue.

I recently completed my first sewing project. I haven’t sewn since Junior High School. There is another blog for another day in that story. I decided that I was no longer afraid of sewing (Courage). I chose a project that was meaningful, and would be a joy when finished. I decided to make a dress for Ellie. (Conceptualize). I sought out the advice of a seamstress/friend to purchase fabric. I sat next to two ultra-talented seamstresses during its completion both my  sister Jennifer and my good friend Carolynn. They led me almost effortlessly through the process with their calm wisdom and experience. (Collaboration) And when I was finished, despite whatever flaws or mistakes had been made I felt joy and accomplishment ( Celebration) I am likely to do this again soon!! Incidentally, I took Ellie in her new dress for a photo shoot which is yet another case of collaboration and conceptualization due in large part to my sister Amy’s inspiration on the matter of photography. I conceptualized her new haircut two weeks ago and collaborated with my neighbor who is an excellent beautician and yesterday it was created. I hope you will all celebrate with me! Ellie temple new dress Edit

Be Mused

every fire needs a spark