On being creative…
One of the most common questions I get from readers has to do with how I come up with "so many ideas." The truth is that the well of creativity is so deep that often the bigger problem is "too many ideas." Sorting through them, choosing the ones that stoke my creative flames, is the biggest challenge.
I have a lot of thoughts on creativity. This stuff gets a little "spiritual," I suppose, so feel free to take it or leave it.
Most people have a creative passion. Some of us suppress it. For years, as an "academic" I buried the creative-side of my personality that I embraced in my teenage years when I was involved in music, theater, and creative writing. I didn't even realize it was happening. When I buried my creative side, something was missing. I had a lurking sense of discontentment, struggled with minor bouts of depression, and found myself turning to the "strong drink" more than I should have.
Creativity is elusive in today's fast-paced, production-oriented world. The "starving artist" is an unfortunate reality. We've treated "productive" disciplines and "creative" disciplines as if they're unrelated. History teaches us another lesson. Arguably, the greatest inventor of the Renaissance (and in human history) was also one of the era's greatest artists—think Leonardo Da Vinci.
Yes, the same man who created the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper was also responsible for some of the greatest scientific innovations in history including models that later inspired airplanes and helicopters, the parachute, a robot that could stand, sit, and walk, through pulleys and gears, an accurate clock, scuba gear, and a variety of other things.
I don't think any of this was by chance. We treat the "analytical" and "creative" components of the mind as if they are wholly divided. In truth, though, innovation always involves creativity, a willingness to take accepted knowledge and discovery and put it together in ways that result in something new.
If we want to make scientific progress, if we want to "invent" things that can solve many of the biggest problems the world faces today we need more than "analytical" or "scientific" minds. We need to nurture creativity.
If you've read my books, you've probably encountered the term "awen" before. It's a term from Druidry. It is a spiritual force that refers to flowing inspiration or creativity, the creative "spark" that is connected to life itself. Use that little link above to learn more about the idea. There's a reason why we often feel more "alive" when we're engaged in creative endeavors. Creativity connects, at some level, to something at the heart of human nature. We all have creative urges--the question is how do we tap into them, embrace them, and nurture them?
All that said, to return to the original question, I can't point to a definite "source" for my ideas. I draw on my experiences and studies of various religions, my observations of human experience, my observations of nature and the world, and from hearing tales and stories told by others.
I believe that as human beings we are wired for "story." Even if you watch the news (which I avoid as much as possible) they call a report or segment a "story." The reporters don't tell us all the facts. That would be impossible. On the scene, the reporter has to decide which facts are relevant (e.g. is the man's blue sweater, the temperature, the gnat buzzing in the air, etc., relevant to the story, or not?). They tell the facts that serve the story that they've decided to tell. That's why the news is rarely entirely objective. That's not to say it's totally biased all of the time (though that's debatable). Still, it's always subjective because every "story" told is told by human beings who collect millions if not billions of points of data and select those facts that fit the "story" that they see worth telling in any situation. News becomes dangerous (in my view) when it claims to be objective and denies its bias and subjectivity. When we treat the stories that the talking-heads give us as "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth," we are denying innumerable events, facts, details, that might allow us to see the same events from a different perspective; facts that tell a different story.
History books, too, are always subjective. How many things happened in the past that were never recorded? How many things happen in your daily life that seem irrelevant and leave little impressionable impact on the mind? The very act of deciding which facts are relevant enough to tell, to preserve, to include in the "story" is subjective.
All we have left is story. If someone asked you what you did today you'd tell a story. It might not be a fully-developed plot, but it would still be a story. You'd leave out a lot of details because they don't serve the "story" of your day. If someone asks you what you did today, would you say "I took 22,000 breaths, used the bathroom ten times, and clipped my toe-nails"? Probably not. You'd eliminate the details that you decide aren't relevant to the story.
One secret of creativity is limitation. We often think that we need to remove all constraints to "free" the creative mind. In truth, limitation often inspires creativity. Every story I tell involves working within limitations. If all my heroes/heroines were all-powerful, without flaws or limitations, I doubt any of you would be reading my books (or this e-mail). I have my covers produced for my books and my titles selected before I write or plot a story. I usually have a very, very, rough outline for a series and where I'd like to see it go. Then, I commission the covers. After that, I start writing. Sometimes, the cover itself inspired something in the story. One example of that is the "cat" on Shift for Brains. My artist added it because he thought it was funny. I loved it! So, "Garfield," Malinda's pet cat that provided Nicky a lot of angst, was born.
Limitations often help focus the mind into constraints that allow creative energy to work. Gravity, technically, is a kind of limitation. It also keeps your feet on the ground and allows the world as we know it to function. Limitations happen everywhere and, if embraced properly, can be a source rather than a hindrance to creativity.
Different authors do different degrees of "plotting" before they write. Some are total plotters. They have pages and pages of detail on outlines before they start. Others are called "pantsers," they start with a situation and just write, and write, and write, letting it flow (Stephen King is like this, by his own admission).
I'm sort of a hybrid. I suppose you could say I'm a "plantser." I use a structure for a story, I write "toward" certain plot points or "beats" in an established structure that I'm using, whether it be Save the Cat (one of my favorites), the Hero's Journey, etc. Google those terms if you'd like. These provide a basic skeleton upon which I can hang the "meat" of my story. It's a form of "limitation" that nurtures my creativity.
When I sit down to start a new book I try to think of a good opening scene, something that will "hook" a reader and illustrate the character and situation who is about to be challenged, threatened, and grow as the story develops. I usually have an "end" in mind when I start and a few sentences that "mark" where I'd like to see the story turn. Then, I allow the characters themselves to take me from beat, to beat, plot point to plot point.
When I try to outline too much before I write, it's always ME who moves the story forward. I think in my books it's better if my characters, with their personalities, the ways they approach problems, etc., are responsible for moving the story along. Since characters change and develop, I often find that in the "plotting" stage of a book (before I start writing) I just don't know my characters well enough to know how they'll react. They come to life while writing.
As the author, I'm setting up "targets," and I'm challenging my characters to get there. Yes, technically, I know that characters come from my mind—but that's what creativity is about. Characters are born, situations emerge, that never before existed. Even if they are the product of a single mind, they are born in the minds of every reader who gets to know them. That's why I sometimes joke that some of my best friends are people I made up. I certainly spend a lot of time with them! I've even known a few authors who develop a crush on their own characters (not that I'd know a thing about that... cough... cough...).
I'm not sure if any of that totally answered the question. I suppose, though, it gives you a little insight into how I go about creating a story. Often, after all the limitations are set and the characters come to life, the "ideas" are theirs as much as they are mine.
