🌱 TREE 594: You start without knowing what it is
Many of us have a romantic idea about how creativity happens: A lone visionary conceives of a film or a product in a flash of insight. Then that visionary leads a team of people through hardship to finally deliver on that great promise. The truth is, this isn’t my experience at all. I’ve known many people I consider to be creative geniuses, and not just at Pixar and Disney, yet I can’t remember a single one who could articulate exactly what this vision was that they were striving for when they started. In my experience, creative people discover and realize their visions over time and through dedicated, protracted struggle. In that way, creativity is more like a marathon than a sprint.
From Creativity Inc. by Edwin E. Catmull and Amy Wallace.
As a person who almost always creates through a dedicated, protracted struggle, it’s incredibly reassuring to have the co-founder of Pixar tell me that’s normal.
No one in the neighbourhood is safe now that Kenneth has upgraded to the Sound Sucker 6000.
Let this wash over you. I recommend headphones.
Behind-the-scenes note: At the beginning of the week I said that I was going to focus on drawing more than writing this week. I did. But I didn’t spend much more time actually drawing. The time went to planning the drawings and writing what accompanied them. The bear’s monologue is my favourite thing I’ve written since Burrito Van on Selsley Common.
FIELD GUIDE will be back next Friday. We’re on an every-other-week schedule for now.
May your weekend be full of noticing this wonderful world we are part of.
Jeff
I've only ever had a painting pop into my brain fully realized twice in my life. Ironically, those were the hardest ones to accomplish.
Great post. I was just writing about much the same thing. Creative works are often a long and difficult birth. I'm currently working on an idea I had 7 years ago for a picture book and two comics narrative that have been in "progress" for the last 20 and 15 years respectively.