Teeth and Elizabeth Gilbert
The spark of creativity is one of the most singularly electrifying experiences of the human condition. To bring something, no matter how small, out of nothing — a clever turn of phrase, a pleasant melody, an arrangement of paints on a canvas — is a powerful experience. In dental school, I miss the creative spark intensely. The longing for time to write a melody on the piano or a poem in a notebook makes me wonder: would I feel the opposite way were I in music school? That is to say: after countless assignments to “compose a melody in this time and this key signature,” would I crave a list of facts to memorize, a test in which the subjective was eliminated and I could objectively, predictably achieve success?
I don’t know. I think, though, that it’s easy to get tired of too much structure. Every life needs some breathing room. Anyhow, if you would like to hear more about creativity, consider listening to Elizabeth Gilbert (the author of Eat, Pray, Love) give a wonderful talk at TED 2009. (Via kottke.)
Comments
Sagert
My vote: Yes. You would miss facts, objectivity and that sort of thing. When I was studying writing, I found over and again that my favorite authors, and often my favorite classmates, were the ones with a background which was not English or creative writing. I found creative writing for creative writing’s sake pretty boring. People who can make (or see) the connections between objective and subjective can synthesize some interesting stuff. Maybe not a direct answer to your (rhetorical?) question, but that was my experience, anyway.
Alexander Micek
I strongly suspect you are correct, Sagert. The book jackets that speak of their authors who have held 50+ odd jobs start to make sense, no? As the saying goes: “Professionals are people who learn more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.”
Nils
I think I could start a small Bartlett’s (isn’t that what they call a book of quotes?) of my own from the stuff I read on this site. I like that quote about knowing more and more about less and less as well as that MLK Jr. quote from the previous quote. TumbleDry never fails to be a source of illumination.
Alexander Micek
Thanks, Nils! I’m a fan of quotes as things that augment ideas rather than platitudes attempting to stand on their own — I think they can be wonderful to supplement arguments. But again, I’m merely the librarian, not the author. I hope to make that leap someday.
Which reminds me — I know the posts here are rather sporadic. Since life is my primary muse for writing here, the schedule is necessarily… unpredictable.