Midnight Michelangelo

I think I have finally arrived at an analogy that satisfactorily describes my writing process. (And perhaps, by extension, my creative process in general.)

When I am beginning a column or a paper, I am like a sculptor facing a table on which I plan to create a masterpiece. The table is empty; no clay in sight. I can sit there and stare at the woodgrain for as long as I like, but it will not do any good. I have nothing to work with.

But over the next days and weeks (and sometimes months), inspiration will strike at unexpected moments—someone will say something to me that starts turning wheels in my head, or a particular phrase will suddenly sound just right—and if I can manage to capture those thoughts in writing, they become lumps of clay I can add to my empty table.

In this way, I add bits and pieces of raw material to my growing pile, until finally I have enough random scraps that I can sit down and shape them into something entirely different from any of the individual parts.

All this occurred to me because it is the only way I can explain how I nibbled at my latest 20 Below column with very little success for well over a month, and then wrote it all tonight in one big swallow.

Of course, the fact that my latest deadline is tomorrow morning at 9:00 am may have had something to do with that, as well.

… So maybe this sculptor works best under pressure.

Posted on Thursday, April 26th, 2007 at 12:02 am.
Belongs with: Creative Things.
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