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Author: Friend_Carol, Contributing Editor
| The creative process often seems mysterious. It is mysterious because, for the most part, it takes place in a part of our minds to which we do not have conscious access. If you redefine yourself to include that hidden aspect of yourself as a respected partner in the creative process, you will quickly discover that you can become more 'creative.' As you experience your new creativity and learn to trust it, you will also gain confidence in your ability to solve problems creatively. The technique I am about to explain is called 'brainstorming.' It's extremely simple. Undergraduates quickly and easily learn to do this, so I'm sure artists can, too.  To brainstorm merely means to separate the having of ideas from the evaluation (or judging) of those ideas. Sounds simple, doesn't it? It is simple -- yet it drastically improves the number and quality of ideas! Before describing it in more detail, I'm going to explain why I think it works. This is also very simple stuff. THE MIND -- A BRIEF OWNER'S MANUAL Start by thinking of yourself as comprising more than just that self-conscious 'you' that gets embarrassed sometimes, that worries about the bills as you're driving or walking down the street, that presents yourself to the world. Just for convenience (nothing to do with Freud), call that self-conscious part of yourself 'ego.' Every single one of us is much deeper, much richer, and far more creative than merely our egos. Before we get to that creative aspect of ourselves, though, let us briefly consider another part of our minds. We can think of this part as being mostly concerned with running our bodies. It's usually doing the driving, managing the walking or the cooking, etc. It operates by habit almost all the time. Sometimes, noticeably in a life-threatening physical emergency, it takes over -- then we notice! Normally, however, we aren't aware of it, and don't have to be. This is the part that's in control of holding your brush and stroking it over the paper, canvas, or wood (except when you're learning these techniques, or consciously trying to change them). Let's just call that 'animal'; it's not the part of ourselves we're interested in today, either. The third part, the really interesting and creative aspect of ourselves, we can call 'Self.' Western culture tends to suppress Self. I'm going to explain some simple ways to encourage Self. If you feed your Self properly, you should never suffer from any kind of creative block -- and there's practically no downside. YOUR SELF It's helpful for ego to have some understanding of Self: Self is like a very young child: It's uncritical. It has no sense of time. It's very easily encouraged or discouraged. You can literally stand in front of a mirror, look into your own eyes, and say nice things to Self -- and Self will believe you. Be as cynical as you like (it's only ego that can be cynical, anyway). Self doesn't know from 'cynical'; Self will believe ego if ego just acts serious. There's another way Self is like a young child; it's continually ready to forget the past and move on. So even if you haven't encouraged Self in awhile, it's right there ready to play, here and now. So a first technique for becoming more creative, pulling off a difficult new technique, or solving a problem (or a block) is simply this: Go stand in front of a mirror and tell Self what a good visual artist it is. Just say, "I am a very good visual artist." (You can substitute "creative" or "excellent" or whatever you like here.) Try to say this with a straight face, which is hard if you're me, but should be easier for most of you. But even if you can't be straight with yourself, Self is still going to hear the encouragement and permission ego just gave it. BRAINSTORMING Now we're ready to learn the new technique. Brainstorming is usually carried out in small groups, which is how I taught it. The rule is to follow this process: Elect a secretary whose job is merely to write down everything. Express ideas the moment they come, which are written down by the secretary -- no one being allowed to express any negative (or positive) opinions (technically, no feedback). After the flow of ideas stops, evaluate the ideas on the list, and choose the best one to implement. Easy, right? And it can be carried out by a single person instead of a group. Begin by trying to define your problem ("I don't know what to do next" -- what color to use, whatever). Now let Self give you some answers. Some of these will be ridiculous answers, and immediately ego will want to pour scorn on these. (Ego likes to make itself important; sitting back and judging is one of the easiest ways to do that.) Well, just don't let ego do that. How can you prevent ego from inhibiting Self? Easy: just write down absolutely everything Self comes up with, no matter how ridiculous ego thinks it is. As I said before, Self is uncritical. It's ego that goes around critiqueing everything before Self can even finish expressing it. Ego wants to 'take credit' for everything we do, but you have to stop that for now -- just for now! After the painting is hanging in the gallery, ego can strut around all it wants -- Self doesn't even want the credit. Self is all about process, not results. Self just wants to play. So simply scribble down everything Self suggests. The mere act of recording what Self has to say is enough encouragement to keep it generating new ideas. Even when some really good ideas appear, though, you still have to keep ego from critiqueing (this time to praise them). Just keep writing it all down. Once all the ideas are out there, it's ego's turn. Ego is the critical partner, the one who is good at evaluation. It's ego's job to choose between the ideas that Self just gave you. If you're really familiar with young children, perhaps you can see how ego is a bit like the self-important older sibling of 18-month-old Self! Once ego and self learn to play together nicely, life becomes so much easier and more pleasant. CREATIVE BLOCKS Ever wonder about those creative blocks? Normally they occur when ego becomes overly involved in the creative process, thinking itself the creator. This happens notoriously when a writer whose first book has been published, to some acclaim, begins that second book: Ego keeps thinking about the critics, worrying about the reception of what hasn't even been written yet! It gets in the way of Self, second-guessing everything Self tries to do, judging before there is enough out there even to get a good look at it.  TRUST YOURSELF Self never thinks about how others will react, is never conscious of self (like the very young child). Self is utterly focused on that thing out there to play with (an idea, a canvas, paint, a brush). Self just wants to play. Sometimes, if you are in the middle of a block, just giving Self a new toy to play with and then letting it play -- not standing over Self demanding results, not watching every moment waiting to pounce on any promising beginning! -- is enough to break the block. Or go for a long walk; ego is less dominant then, as the animal part of us manages the walking. Or fall asleep; sometimes Self gives us the answer in our dreams. Self is always eager (and able!) to solve our problems. Just reading this article -- if ego believes what it reads -- may be enough to loosen the reins. Self is incredibly creative and intelligent (to the extent those differ). At least, it's incredible (which means, literally, 'unbelievable') to ego, which thinks in terms of being in control. In fact, my hypothesis about the idiot savante -- that rare autistic person who performs, instantly, amazing feats of mathematics and other kinds of puzzle-solving -- is that this is a Self continually focussed on only one kind of 'thing' that's out there, with a damaged ego that somehow cannot be in control of Self. (Since it's ego who relates to others, this is not a great thing overall.) Self does NOT correspond to the Freudian notion of 'id.' Trust your Self, give it encouragement (toys, praise, the chance to play). Self is never intentionally destructive. It doesn't need the control ego wants to impose. Ego has been socialized by our very poor educational process, and parenting, and media, and many other factors, to believe it needs to be in control. So ego tries to control Self. But you can teach ego to trust Self, to let it be, particularly whenever you are engaged in any creative process. Remember earlier I said, 'If you feed your Self properly, you should never suffer from any kind of creative block -- and there's practically no downside?' Well, here is the downside: Self doesn't care about money, either. It does not foresee the need for clothing, food, or shelter. So you need to be a good manager for Self, the kind of manager who shields employees from the worst of what's happening at upper levels of the company while providing the tools to get the job done. You take care of business, and let Self take care of the playing, the creative side of art. |
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| Carol (a Friend, or Quaker) took up transparent watercolor painting about 18 months ago. Previously she spent 40 years occasionally messing around with gouache, with no idea what she was doing: just loved pushing colored water around on paper. In a previous, more able-bodied life, Carol was a professional writer, most frequently a consulting documentation specialist. She has also written articles, essays, poems, plays, and a novel (poems, plays, and novel not available for publication). Carol lived in Manhattan for over 20 years, and still misses it. One day she hopes to become a visual artist -- creating art WITHOUT a narrative structure! | |
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