Stages of Creation
Faith is to the Christian as sand is to the ostrich.
— Lenny Bruce
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(a) A preparatory stage…In order to enter this stage and keep faith with it, a person needs to be humble but persistent. For unless he is humble he cannot acknowledge ignorance and doubt, and if he does not acknowledge them he cannot learn. Yet he must not be overawed by his ignorance, for this could prove too discouraging and so weaken the persistence he needs for learning.
(b) In the second stage, the stage of incubation) a person ‘sleeps on the problem’ either literally or metaphorically… It is during this stage of incubation that a seed may take root — but if it does, it happens unseen…
© This is the stage of inspiration or illumination. There is, as it were, a sudden flash of light, a sudden catching of one’s breath…the mathematician Gauss described how: ‘Finally, two days ago, I succeeded, not on account of my painful efforts, but by the grace of God…And Paul Klee expressed through a most beautiful symbol this very experience of the creative process when he compared the artist to the trunk of a tree : From the root the sap rises up into the artist, flows through him, flows to his eyes. He is the trunk of the tree. Overwhelmed and activated by the force of the current, he conveys his vision into his work … he does nothing other than gather and pass on what rises from the depths…
(d) But the fourth stage is a sort of ‘coming-down-to-earth’. It is the stage of verification. This is a period of critical testing, when the ideas received in the period of inspiration are tested, organised and given relevant and appropriate form and expression.
— Rosemary Gordon, via Jon Wilson
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There’s a lot more waiting in the creative process than we imagine. Most of creativity happens out of sight, so we have to learn to let it unfold at its own pace. Something starts happening in the unconscious mind when we ask a certain kind of question, a question that especially concerns us, and then we stop pushing but just let the deeper mind answer that question in its own time. You have to work out a partnership with the unseen forces living inside you. You build a relationship of trust. You learn not to fret or try to force results. There’s a rhythm to creating something.
It’s a natural process that allows for an instinctive knowledge we don’t consciously have access to. All we can do is leave the door open through a spirit of humble invitation and see what shows up. When it does we can start to shape it, but even then we have to exercise restraint because you can easily destroy its voice, its soul. You need to cultivate your appreciation for its unique life force. If you don’t see it you’ll lose it in your organizing zeal or corrections. You have to learn when to quit.
Somewhere between gilding the lily and quitting too soon is the exact moment when you know it’s finished. The amateur has a hard time finding that place. This is where the honed sensibilities of an artist come into play. Bonnard had a hard time knowing when he was finished with a painting. He would even try to paint surreptitiously on his works in museums. De Kooning admitted to overworking on occasion. It’s not easy even for professionals to know when to stop. It’s a feeling as much as a judgment.
The fascinating part of creativity for me is what happens outside consciousness. We don’t know if anything is happening until we suddenly want to do something we hadn’t thought of until that moment. Once we start, the dominoes start to fall and then we’re in the thick of it, with all the endless tiny decisions along the way. Only afterwards do we have a sense of what the creative instincts wanted, and it’s often a surprise when it stands before us.
Of course we have to exert effort and control, but we also have to allow the inner genie to speak. This is why I think it’s a mistake to take too much credit for creative work. A lot of it is a gift. The artist’s work is in receiving the gift, of staying open and receptive. That’s the artistry in it. The work is in remaining faithful to the muses, of organizing your life so that they feel welcome to visit you on a regular basis.
Balancing humility and persistence, knowing your limits but not being intimidated by them, is how creative people manage to bring anything new into the world.
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