SUGGESTED STEPS IN THE CREATIVE PROCESS:
(SIMPLIFIED VERSION)
1: ENTHUSIASM; Validation; Respect.
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: 2: CLARITY; Understanding; Sequence; Focus.
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: 3: EMOTIONAL INVESTMENT; Immersion; Progression.
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: 4: PERSONAL ARTISTIC RISK; Adventure; Daring.
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: 5: DYNAMIC VARIETY; Range; Musicality.
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: 6: EDITING, REFOCUSING, ECONOMY.
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: 7: EASE,PERFORMANCE,EFFICACY;
: Spontaneity; Believability &/or Mastery.
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<<<<<<<8: SELF-ASSESSMENT.<<<<<<<<<
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SUGGESTED STEPS IN THE CREATIVE PROCESS:
1: ENTHUSIASM;VALIDATION;RESPECT
. Willingness. Enthusiasm for the task at hand.
: Energy. Openness. Curiosity. Interest. Welcoming. Acceptance.
Trust. Equality. Inspiration.
: Embracing possibilities. The readied canvas. :
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: 2: CLARITY;UNDERSTANDING;SEQUENCE;FOCUS.
Empathy. Information & Tool
: Collection. Analysis & Planning.Listening & Observing. Discerning Structures. Benchmarking.
: Establishing Context, Parameters, Ground rules, Foundations, the World. Spatial intelli-
: gence. Perspicacity. Composition. The Rough Outline; Sketch; Line Drawing. The Plan.
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: 3: EMOTIONAL INVESTMENT; IMMERSION; CAUSALITY.
Proper
: Meaning. Causality. Personal Connection. Pretending. Believing. Sympathy. Imagina-
: tion. Passion. Depth. Personalization: humor, heart, humanity, vulnerability, the Self.
: Giving over. Incubation. Whole heart. Picturization.Spirituality. Colors, hues, textures.
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: 4: PERSONAL ARTISTIC RISK; ADVENTURE; DARING.
: Courage to Tolerate & Explore uncertainty, unpredictability; ambiguity, irony,
: the unfamiliar or frightening. Challenging Extremes. A personal cutting
: edge. Surfing serendipity. Testing abilities when meeting new challenges.
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: 5: DYNAMIC VARIETY; RANGE; MUSICALITY.
: "Making it Play" for the audience. Rhythmic Control. Timing. Diversity.
: Never Boring Us. The Arc of the Performance. Power & Volume.
: The Spectrum of Colors. Diversity; Flexibility; Flow. Panache. Light
: & Darkness. Contrast. Power in Change. Opposites. Chiaroscuro.
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: 6: EDITING, REFOCUSING, ECONOMY.
Refind the
: forest for trees.Touchstone. Confrontation. Challenge. Reground
: Relevance & Accessibility. Reinvention. Separate "wheat
: from chaff". Distill the Essential. "Less is More." Self-discipline.
: Cohesion (not consistency). Pentimento. Fitting the frame.
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: 7:EASE,PERFORMANCE,EFFICACY
(effective energy).
: Spontaneity, Believability &/or Mastery. Realization of Inspiration.
: Freedom. Professionalism. Grace. Smoothness. Dexterity.
: "Knowing so well one can forget." The old is new. Synthesis.
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<<<<<<<8: SELF-ASSESSMENT.<<<<<<
Gaining Perspective. Diagnosis. Recognition. Verification. Accountability.
Replanning. Shaping future plans. Integration. Growth. Wisdom. Resilience.
Reforesting. Regeneration. Funktionlust (pride in achievement or ability).
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from
The Inside > >
through
THE STEPS >
to
> The Outside
Meaning > > > OF THE > > > Expression
Content > > CREATIVE > > Form
Inspiration > PROCESS > Art
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Learning Process
UNCONSCIOUS > CONSCIOUS > CONSCIOUS > UNCONSCIOUS
INCOMPETENCE> INCOMPETENCE > COMPETENCE > COMPETENCE
***********************************
Thoughts on these Seven Steps
1: Enthusiasm:
"Be there because you want
to be there. If you're not, everything after that will be a pain in the butt."
-- Geoffrey Hitch
2: Clarity:
"Confrontation is a clarifying process."
-- Brian Johnston
"It's a question of detective work and exploration and discovery, trying to find out
what the animal is..."
-- David Jones, director, from Making Plays
"Listen before you speak."
-- sage advice
3: Emotional Investment:
"So, I think you've got to sympathize with the playwright's tone of voice and the
way that a playwright looks at the world in general."
-- David Jones, director, from Making Plays
"I needed to feel that a play was about something, that it had something to say about
society or about a way of life, an attitude of living. ...about the great art of
living together."
-- David Jones, director, from Making Plays
4: Risk:
"It's better to make bold choices in life than no choices at all or even mild choices."
-- Tim Allen, actor/comedian
"If you're willing to fail interestingly, there's a chance you'll succeed interestingly."
-- Sam Shepard
"Use the difficulty."
-- Michael Caine, actor
"She has mastered the art of transformation. With a physical daring to match her
emotional range, she is known as a risk-taker, someone who would literally go out
on a limb.... 'The more outrageous the request, the more I love it.' "
-- Mel Gussow, about Cherry Jones
5: Dynamic Variety:
" I do agree with Granville Barker (the director of many G.B. Shaw original productions)
that the script is a score awaiting a performance."
-- David Jones, director, from Making Plays
"Nothing good happens fast."
-- my grandfather
6: Economy:
"Less is more."
-- Mies van der Rohe
"If it works, do it. If it doesn't work, do something else."
-- Jewel Walker
"Simple is good -- also very difficult."
-- Gary Geld, composer
7: Mastery:
"People expect to see a professional. I'm not up there just screwing around."
-- Jay Leno, comedian
"She decided she had finished her apprenticeship and 'could hang out my shingle as
a bona fide actress.' 'It was', she said, 'like being an astronaut and finally you
feel liftoff. I knew that I had acquired the technique and the poise and the use
of language that had eluded me for years."
-- Cherry Jones
"She is not, of course, an overnight star. Hard work and a long apprenticeship have
nurtured her natural talent and have allowed her to keep her new success in perspective."
-- Mel Gussow, about Cherry Jones
***********************************
"It was the classic Ah-ha! experience, with the strange physical sensations of rapid
heartbeat, caught breath, and a sense of joyful excitement at seeing everything fall
into place."
- Drawing On The Right Side of the Brain
by Betty Edwards
"The Aha! Experience" or the "Oops! Syndrome":
By suggesting that you develop your own system of working -- your own steps in a creative
working process -- I do not mean to discourage inspiration or spontaneous creativity.
The down side of having a system of working is that your work can become formulaic, relying on the easy answer.
A good idea can come from anywhere, or can "just happen".
I call this the Ah-ha! Experience, or the Oops! Syndrome. I have also heard it
called: the Happy Accident; Serendipity; "the light bulb going on"; "the mysterious
unknown becoming the blatantly obvious"; and "a stroke of genius".
Sometimes these ideas come from what seems outer space directly to your brain. Just
as often, the idea comes straight out of the text -- having been waiting there all
along for you to discover. But, strokes of genius happen. Learn to recognize and accept them. Just don't depend
on them.
Discipline & Inspiration are both necessary components in art, and they are not antithetical
to each other. At one extreme (all system & no inspiration) one's work can become
rigid, predictable, repetitive and formulaic. At the other extreme (all inspiration & no system) one's work can be chaotic, unfocused, hit-&-miss, with no overall
vision. Without a system, your work can become dependent upon luck, or on habits
(often bad), or -- as Blanche Dubois puts it -- "on the kindness of strangers" , i.e., on other people who are kind enough to do your work for you-
- usually the playwright or the actors.
I suggest that a truly creative working process is desirable, in part, to provide
a structured working environment in which inspiration or positive serendipity can
have a greater opportunity to be recognized, appreciated & incorporated into the
work. Of course, any working system must remain flexible, open and receptive.
I hope that this course enhances your creativity and your artistic confidence.
***********************************
Possible Questions to Ask
Within Each of the Suggested Steps
In A Creative Process:
1st Step -
To Find
ENTHUSIASM, Validation & Respect
for the work
.
Am I willing to play? Am I ready for anything? open? interested? How can I be
excited in this work, and how can I excite this work? Have I found a positive reason
for being excited about the work so that I can commit fully to it? (Positive choices
include: supporting the purpose of the play, sympathizing with the character, wanting
to share the play's truth or spirit, relishing the language or imagery, etc. Negative
choices include: doing it for the paycheck, doing it out of obligation or any "I
guess I have
to" reasons.) Have I committed fully to my fellow actors? to the director? to the
project? Am I "dreaming" about the work in a positive context? Am I willing to
give over, to immerse myself in the imaginary world of the play? I must provide
this step, not wait for some one else to provide it for me. Am I willing to be trustful & trustworthy?
Am I treating everyone else the way I would like to be treated?: equally.
2nd step -
To
CLARIFY, Understand, to find Sequence & Focus within
my work
.
Am I clear about What I am asked to do, &/or am I clarifying it? Am I analyzing &
making plans? Do I understand the context within which I am working? the "world
of the play"? Am I clear about the Given Circumstances, the basic situation, my
character's needs or wants, the obstacles? Can I tell the Story? Am I clear about my character's
journey, how he/she progresses or changes moment by moment from the beginning ("A")
to the ending ("Z")? Am I looking to see how one moment causes the next? Can I
describe my character mentally, emotionally and physically? Do I know what my character
wants or needs? Can I state the personal and social parameters in which my character
operates? Am I determining various possibilities and then making choices? Have
I answered the broad questions of "What?" and "Who?"? Am I being sure to keep my imagination
open and receptive, rather than limited by a preconceived 100%-finished answer?
Am I collecting the proper information and tools with which to do the work? Am I
looking up words or references that I don't understand? Am I doing relevant research,
comparing and connecting the play to things I understand? Am I asking questions?
Am I determining the parameters & ground rules of the work? Am I trying to chart
a "map" for the "journey"? all the steps in the arc of my character? Am I actively curious
& determining to be perspicacious? Am I exercising my spatial intelligence? I am
I being clear in dispensing information -- knowing how much is too much, knowing
an order in things asked for.
3rd step -
To make my work
EMOTIONALLY INVESTED, Immersed, Progressive &
Properly Meaningful.
Have I answered the broad question "Why?" with Positive choices? Are my choices
rooted in meaning and importance, rather than in caprice or silliness? Am I willing
to go beyond understanding the text, to immersing my self in it -- realizing it for
myself? Am I enriching the character rather than simply making it into myself? Am I
determining what is important and what is not, finding the appropriate weight (or
lack of weight) in each moment, not lumping them into an earnest sameness? Beyond
simply understanding the work, am I actually personally connecting with it emotionally? Am
I investing myself and my experience into the world of the play? Am I making the
work personally important? Am I finding how to like my character? giving him/her
the benefit of the doubt? Am I enriching the world of the play with my own sensitivity?
my own sense of humor? my own heart? experience? vulnerability? intelligence?
Am I remembering that while I have read the play many times, that this is the first
time my character has ever experienced it?
4th step -
To take
PERSONAL ARTISTIC RISKS
; to
Adventure
; to
Dare.
Am I daring to expand the limits of my capabilities? Am I looking to take personal
and artistic risks, or am I playing it safe with surface readings or "usual" choices?
Am I looking to enrich my imagination & the work? Am I exploring, diversifying,
daring? Am I looking to be resourceful? Am I willing to brainstorm with others? try
the ideas of others? Am I stretching, trying valid choices I've never tried before?
Am I truly daring to make any "leap of faith" that may be being asked of me? Am
I looking to stretch and diversify my character, rather than settling for a narrow or stereotypical
description? Am I daring to deal with uncertainty, ambiguity, irony, unpredictability,
the unfamiliar & the frightening? Between predictability and foolhardiness there is Risk.
5th step -
To find
DYNAMIC VARIETY, Range & Musicality
in my work
.
Secure with the Content and Meaning of the work, am I looking to project it for an
audience in effective, diverse and memorable manner? Am I looking for a broad range
and variety in my work? all the colors? all the hues? all the textures? all the
contrasts of high and low? varieties in rhythm? varieties in volume? Looking at the
part as a piece of music, am I finding all the musical possibilities in it? Am I
looking to make my character more than simply "true" or "believable", but exciting,
or moving or funny or memorable? Are my choices stage worthy? theatrical (in the best
sense of the word)? getting past the footlights? Are all of my choices being properly
communicated to the audience? Am I willing to be flexible with my earlier choices
in light of the demands of the performance? Am I fitting my Part positively and uniquely
into the Whole? Am I looking for the fullest expression of the arc of my character?
for its flow? Am I "making it play"?
6th step -
To
REFOCUS & ECONOMIZE
my work
.
Now that I have explored a wide range of choices and means of expression, am I being
specific? Am I distilling the essential out of the collected whole? Am I pruning
and/or detailing my work? Am I seeing where "less is more"? Am I achieving the maximum effect with the "fewest brushstrokes"? Am I focusing on the useful, the practical?
looking for coherency, cohesion & concision? Cutting away the superfluous, the
self-serving, the in-jokes, the solely academic, pointless tangents? Am I challenging
each moment? making sure each moment is alive and vibrant, positive & active -- not
empty or habitual? Am I shedding choices that I now feel I should no longer support?
Am I working honestly with myself, with others? Have I reviewed Steps 1 through
5? Am I finding a finer, richer or more personally true meaning in the work than I had
originally found? Am I gearing my work to be ready when due? Am I choosing the
Essential? AM I CONSCIOUSLY SHAPING THE ENTIRE ARC OF THE PLAY?
7th step-
To work w/
EASE & EFFICACY (effective power),Spontaneity, Smoothness,
Believability &/or Mastery.
Do I know my Work so well that it is now truly Play? (Do I remember that each performance
is
the first time my character experiences the action of the play?) Am I relaxing within
my playing so that the audience is affected by what I do -- and is not needlessly
aware of the effort & details & choices in the work? Am I sharing my work with the
audience with a sense of mastery and play, rather than with strain or difficulty or
self-conscious effort? After all the work, can I now play with such ease that the
work seems spontaneous? second-nature? -- like it took no work at all? Am I confident
in what I am doing so that I can now "forget" my work and simply experience the action
as if for the first time -- and in each performance? Have I achieved what I understand
to be a professional standard or better?
and
the final, regenerative step (8th leading to 1st) -
To
SELF-ASSESS.
Am I taking the time to reflect on my work? to gain perspective? Am I enjoying my
work? my process? my Self? Am I examining my process, identifying successes and
failures, tendencies, habits, oversights, and determining how to improve and challenge
myself in the future? What have I learned about myself and how I work that can inform
my next project? my future work?
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These steps are suggested as a guide, to provoke thought, to encourage you to find
your own method of working.
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