I've been
contemplating a lot lately how much of a consumer I am, especially a consumer
of books, TV and movie media. In truth, some of this introspection renders
me a happy, happy mama as I dread what my state of mind would be without my
books! However, I am also concerned and
disappointed at times in my own “need to be entertained.”
I don’t just want
to talk a good game about what good writing looks like; I desperately want to
be a producer, not just a consumer, a desire that has become more pressing over
roughly the last five years. But, I want
what I produce to be “quality,” something worth the time others will spend
consuming and perhaps something that will inspire the next consumer-turned-producer.
With this in
mind, I am thrilled that my best friend and I are finally embarking on a
project we have talked about doing for some years now. We have finally scheduled—in
pen—time once a week to get together to write.
We will be focusing on writing songs for the time being, but I imagine
this will branch out—as creative projects often do—into other genres. Our first meeting was a wonderfully messy attempt
to focus our creative energies and come up with a plan. This all strikes me as laughably ironic: planning a creative endeavor seems akin to
choreographing a tornado.
In any event, we not
only planned some, we created some, too, and it is through the simple result—that
we penned at least ¾ of a halfway promising song—that I find contentment. As we find our rhythm, as we find and blend our
voices and visions, beautiful and messy things will happen.
"planning a creative endeavor seems akin to choreographing a tornado" -- I love this, and while in my heart I want to say that I couldn't agree more, my head is reminding me that a number of my great creative achievements were earned through meticulous work and planning. I think we all have this part of us that wants to believe that you can't control inspiration/motivation, but the dirty little secret is that those bursts don't just come out of nowhere all the time. You have to seek them out, and then you have to schedule in time to work on them once the spark has fizzled away.
ReplyDeleteYour new endeavor sounds very exciting! I can't wait to read more about it. :)
Haha, Colette! I don't mean to minimize the hard work one absolutely must invest and the planning that allows projects to thrive. I was thinking more of the seminal moment of inspiration. For me, the ideas come at all times of day or night, in all types of situations (apt or not), and in a myriad of manners. Capturing those moments is the part that is almost always out of control for me: Do I have paper and pen actually handy to write it down? Will my sieve-like memory cooperate? Will something completely inane interrupt me as I attempt to seize the concept as it slips away while the phone rings? That's the organic part I'm trying to impose some control over.
ReplyDeleteThat is why you leave notepads and pens throughout your living and working areas. Inspiration can and does visit on the periphery of our lives. Live your life more fully by following your muse. Sure hope you learned that from me.
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