Regular visitors to this site know that I’m quite literally 175 years old. What you may not know is that just five short years ago — at the ripe old age of 170 — I had a series of micro-epiphanies regarding the creative process, the most important of which was this:
I’d always thought art was about sitting around, waiting for inspiration to strike. As a result, I did a lot of waiting and not that much creating. But it turns out, art and inspiration don’t have to (entirely) work that way. You don’t have to just wait. There are actual techniques you can use — habits that help drive inspiration, ways to tackle a blank page and to catch ideas as they spark through the day. Why didn’t anyone tell me that before? Like, when I was 140?
Anyways, hoping not to lose any more time, I began to gather up a personalized set of these techniques — what seemed to work for me. And then I started to wonder, what techniques have other artists come up with?
The result of that question is this here brand-new cv.com feature: “Conversations about Creativity.” Over the next several weeks, you’ll be hearing from dancers, poets, computer graphic effects artists, illustrators, stand up comics, musicians, and a host of other creative professionals about how their creative process works, how they deal with dry periods, and what they do to stay productive, keep their work fresh, and generally tap their personal woosh.
The first interview goes live tomorrow, and new ones will follow each Thursday. In the future, if you ever want to jump straight to the Creativity in Practice page, you can bookmark it right here.
I’ve really enjoyed these initial interviews, and I feel like I’ve learned a lot already. I hope you’ll enjoy ’em too and come on back for more.
Tomorrow: a conversation with Jeff Raz, clown, actor, playwright, teacher, and the star of Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo.
-Cecil
"…something like the supervisor of an entire team of political agents…"
I’m a funny poet on a lot smaller stage. I write poems for all different occasions. my step son from years past got married a few weeks ago. i bought a card with a small boy and girl on it. i carried it around for weeks waiting for something to pop in my head so i could write it in there. i didn’t want it to be corny or sound too canned,but nothing came. then one morning very early, i awoke from a deep sleep and wrote the poem that i had been longing for, in about 1 1/2 minutes nonstop. why it came then I have no clue, it just did. i enjoy writing poems they’re fun and give me probably more satisfaction than the recipient. anyway, I stumbled onto your site. it’s great. very insightful. I’m going to turn you on to my nephew, he can really come up with some deep poems that will make you think twice or maybe even 3 times. his name is tony luckett. i hope you’ll have a spot for amateurs to send in their takes on different subjects. stay well.
Thanks Dennis — I enjoyed the comment and would love to see more from folks about what they’ve encountered in the creative pursuit…..
-Cecil
I find that writing on my blog in a relaxed way is good for the muse and keeps the sparks flying.