Inspiration as Process

The inner workings of a creative mind

Creative minds are not always… how can I put this politely? Well, perhaps not as stable as they could be! Inspiration can sometimes be elusive, slipping through our fingers like sand or like a half remembered dream that fades away after your first coffee/fag of the day. But, how do we open the door to inspiration? Do we really have to suffer for our art? Is it really, as Edison said, “1% inspiration, 99% perspiration”? To explore this I have attempted to give you my personal take on the Inspiration Process.

Creative Osmosis

Inspiration acquired through absorbing the fashions and trends around us. “A man will covet what he sees daily” so Clarice Starling is advised by Hannibal Lecter in “The Silence of the Lambs” while helping her create the profile of a serial killer. I’m not suggesting that creatives are serial killers (though some are more than capable of murdering a brief!) but I do believe that what they do, normally without realising it, is to covetously absorb their visual environment on a daily basis. In doing so, they build up a bank of knowledge from which inspiration is drawn. The important part to bear in mind is that this process is not done intentionally. This is something that we all have the ability to do but it is the creative thinkers who have the greatest access to access the absorbed information. In my opinion, this goes along way in explaining the ebb and flow of fashions and styles in the creative world. When, for example, a retro 70’s theme seems to be prevalent in the media or in high street fashion it normally coincides with what’s happening in the advertising, design, marketing and PR worlds. One could argue that they are a reflection of one another, and to some extent, I think that is true but on a deeper subconscious level I believe creatives simply just ‘tap into the vibe’.

Idle Brain

I few years ago I brought a dishwasher after much nagging. I couldn’t really understand the nagging because I tended to do the washing up anyway! The strange thing was that I really missed it. What I had not realised was that some of my most inspired ideas seemed to strike while I was up to my wrists in soap suds and yellow rubber gloves! What I came to understand was that while I was performing this mundane chore, my brain was allowed to wander. Washing up does not over tax your cognitive processes. In fact, it is probably fair to say it bores them; like small children that get bored, it looks for something to do and starts bouncing much more exciting ideas around simply to fill the gaps. These gaps are often filled when you are, for example, watching TV or reading a book. You need to use your imagination to a greater or lesser degree to assimilate, contextualise even understand the information that you are receiving. But while washing up you don’t! I still have the dishwasher and would not be without it. Realising that what I was missing was ‘Idle Brain’ time I did the next best thing… replaced my marigolds with a hyperactive beagle called Rosie who needs two walks a day. Dog walking is good for providing‘Idle Brain’ time (as long as you don’t take your dog anywhere too beautiful or meet other dog walkers who strike up conversations). I recommend grey, drizzly early mornings or twilights – in secluded, dull fields!

Necessity (The Mother of Invention)

As creative professionals we have all, on occasion had to come up with ideas in too short a time and/or with too little information. This is when the ‘Necessity’ process kicks in. We would all happily keep ‘tweaking’ our masterpieces indefinitely but as we all have bills to pay this is not possible. The ability to turn on the creative part of your brain is rare, although I have met a few very gifted writers who seemed to be able to do this. I say ‘seemed’ advisedly because what I believe they are doing is what we all do when we have to and that is to fall back on our experience and expertise. To utilise ideas that we know have worked in the past. This combined with the adrenalin rush caused by panic can produce some surprisingly good results! The two writers I refer to are comedy script writers who, on the day of recording in front of a large studio audience would, on-demand, have to re-write lines that did not receive the laughs that were expected. In the pub afterwards I asked how they could do this and was surprised to be told simply, “because we have to!” If the show is not funny, it gets pulled. Then they, the entire crew and production team would all be out of jobs. This necessity (or survival) is commonplace in the creative industry. Those that succeed have long since perfected the art of delivering against all odds.

The ‘Muse’

The Ancient Greeks often referred to the ‘gifts of the muse’. A muse being someone or something that draws out our creativity, acting upon it like a magnet and helping us to channel it into any given direction. Many artists, poets and musicians throughout history have believed themselves dependent upon their muse. Lizzie Siddal to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (the model they all fell in love with), Yoko Ono to John Lennon and Laudanum (a funky little cocktail of alcohol and opium) to acclaimed British poets such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Rime of the Ancient Mariner). The (mis)use of drugs, alcohol and beautiful men/women have been cited for their positive creative and inspirational side effects. Personally, I find half a pint of lager does the job just as well!

For any creatives reading this, I hope you will be able to identify with at least one, if not every, cognitive identified here – please do comment if you feel I have missed a vital process though! And for those indisposed to creativity, my ambition here is merely to provide a little insight so that you may be better equipped upon your next encounter with someone of a ‘right brain’ orientation! However you process inspiration and its subsequent, tangible output please consider the merits of your fellow creatives. Even the best of ideas can be improved upon; take the time to get someone else’s perspective and take it on board, with an open mind. As the old wives tale goes, “two heads are often better than one”! So don’t get all possessive of your work. Share and see what happens…