The Road to Creative Thinking is dicey but abandoning this road makes us as good as Robots.
Consensus in the creative process is almost impossible. The brainstorming process is a ruthless one.
In trying to explore ideas for a film, my friends and I realised two things. One, consensus in a creative endeavour is almost impossible. Second, the brainstorming process is a rather ruthless one. When we meet and try to work on a creative project, we keep samosas and water bottles nearby as a relief to anyone who is agitated. It’s a quirk but it helps.
I generate stories that are loud on mental health, and brush off the taboo around psychedelia, but these ideas are too out of the box for many and so are easily shunned. In my experience as an aspiring filmmaker, I’ve always had people associating me with complex ideas and overly aesthetic palette. I take pleasure in that but does everyone really understand this realm of art?
What leads to unpublished work and just ideas in the head is this fear of being judged and all the basics of how creativity can be subjective is forgotten. The courage to create is directly dependent on how much money and love it creates. There is a constant dilemma of – to please or to survive. “Is this too creative for the industry ?”
In a study by Maria Konnikova for the Scientific American, she mentions – “Creativity is about the untested and the untested is uncertain. We may glorify the most imaginative among us, but in our heart of hearts, imagination can scare us. As a general rule, we dislike uncertainty. It makes us uneasy. A certain world is a much friendlier place. And so, we work hard to reduce whatever uncertainty we can, often by making habitual, practical choices, choices that protect the status quo. You know the saying, better the devil you know?”
This tendency to walk the safe road, sends all the vivid and broad ideas to trash. The Bollywood actor Abhay Deol mentioned on social media about how some of his movies were “too art house” for the industry, but that didn’t stop the film from reaching the Tribeca Film Festival.
He talks about how most of his films were ahead of its time, but still received love from those who shared the passion. He adds, “I always believed that the audience is way smarter than we give them credit for. Had I not believed that, I wouldn’t have made the films I’ve made.”
Novel ideas are a risk but doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take the leap. Always jump on this highway, start slow and carve your vision. I’ve learnt that the encouragement in going ahead and brainstorming further, lies in the uniqueness of the idea. Think of it this way, engaging your brain in a vision you have put together brings excitement, that pushes you to continue the creative process. Start working, get running on your ideas, don’t wait for someone else to take the lead.
A friend of mine, about a month ago, started working on her first poetry collection to be published online. She has written a lot of poems even published a few, but this was her first time doing everything herself – from curating the idea, shortlisting poems, the cover, the art. Even though the collection was going up on just a digital publishing platform, she was hesitant because of the vivid ideas in the poems and the fear of rejection and no reward. The daunting loop of “It’s not good enough” has gotten to her.
The harder you work on a certain idea and the more effort you put in the more personal and vulnerable it becomes. This fear makes it difficult to publish the work. Use the feeling of what made the project possible and why the project matters as a motivation to publish it. The more you publish, the more feedback you will receive. Your biggest critic is your own mind, the one feeding this fear of rejection and criticism. Remind yourself, that creativity takes courage.
A creative idea in our minds is never as good when it is realized. Fundamental in any creative endeavour is imperfection. Get started on your creative juices. These baby steps yield better results while coming out of this fear closet.
There is a risk in commissioning pieces that have different perspectives, because, the way the target audience will react to this newness is unknown. But that shouldn’t stop you from marketing the art. The fear of receiving no monetary benefits and rewards will lead you in a circle of comfort and clichés. The stories and the vision you have will be easily suppressed. Best thing to let go of this situation, is to gather a community of people who share an interest same as you and are willing to support you.
Letting go the fear, is the biggest step. Give yourself time to spread the wings, follow your curiosity and find yourself in the process. Fear cripples potential. Forget about all the reasons why you shouldn’t step up and start working on your vision and focus on the one reason why people should know about it.
Make your hesitation, leap into the river of your infant idea and pour your heart out in your story.