This blog is the summary of my lab experiment. I have undertaken a creative task and am keeping a record of the nuts and bolts of creating a graphic novel. But the meta-study is larger in scope; I'm studying the creative process itself. One of the curious phenomena I experience as a creative guy is flagging interest. I've often wondered what gives me energy to sustain projects? And more importantly, what causes me to lose that energy?
Last week I embarked on a new series of tasks for Draft Four, namely, making panel shapes and blocking characters. I got to page 86 and tedium set in. I, the subject in this psychological science experiment, want to think about tedium and its negative affect on creativity. Here's what happened.
1. Repetitious actions bore me. The act of spiffing up the word balloons two weeks ago (Draft Three) just about did me in but I soldiered on breaking up the tedium by marking my daily progress.
2. To add to the visual impact of each page I've been connecting panels and word balloons (Draft Four), figuring out who sits where, and how to create a coherent novel without characters showing up in odd places at odd times. But it was repetitious work.
3. With my interest lagging in panel arrangement an idea resurrected itself which I've had in the back of my mind for ages. I took the bait and have been working on it now for four days. It's related to Ecclesiastes so I took a tiny detour guilt free.
4. My best analogy: while engaged in creative writing and plot development I had no need for new ideas. Dopamine jolts kept me going. But when the repetitive panel-linking-actions took over the dopamine dried up. Like a drug addict needing his fix, my mind wandered to a new project that requires a ton of concentration. I was a sitting duck, vulnerable shell-less clam, and patsy for the old bait and switch con. (My journey to the Nobel Prize for Mixed Metaphors continues).
5. For the last four days I've worked on this new project (details below) somewhat anxiously, knowing panel connecting must be done. But I ignored my inner nag; I was getting high on this new project. I rationalized: "I'll get back to panel connecting soon, this new project is cool, it'll give me a bone to throw to family and friends who've seen nothing of this graphic novel, I'm learning more about Ecclesiastes, I crave the buzz this new task affords," on and on.
6. After four days I completed ground work for the new project and was just about ready to embark on phase two of the new project when it occurred to me, "Whoa. This is bigger than I thought. I can't continue postponing panel connecting. I will stop this new venture."
7. While that inner debate raged I took comfort there are no subscribers to this blog waiting impatiently as I putz around with some tangential project. My inner team of rivals got noisy; that should have tipped me off I was getting off track. I think rationalizations trip the dopamine trigger, too.
8. But I am now exercising self discipline once again and, fully chastened by this slight detour, am committed to the boring but necessary task of linking panels.
The details of that side project
I read Peter Enn's entire commentary on Ecclesiastes again (226 pages) and took pages and pages of notes: key words, key phrases, and key interpretations by me. I entered those into a Word doc table.
Collected 122 of 'em! I arranged them alphabetically, honing the text to be as brief as possible. (Even as I type the dopamine courses through my veins again; this is one awesome project). I then divided those 122 quotes into six categories (to aid in the presentation of masses of data on an adjustable round chart).
I then designed the top wheel of a volvelle and planned to enter all 122 text boxes (488 total) into a new file.
When I realized that entering all that data, creating all those tiny boxes, creating the template for 60 key words per side, arranging 60 guide lines spaced six degrees apart, I lost interest.
I have now returned to Ecclesiastes University with my tail between my legs. Wheels will have to wait.
No comments:
Post a Comment