Something Something Creativity

In many ways we overwhelm ourselves as writers to actually construct something readable from our chaotic, disparate thought processes. We occasionally tie ourselves down to tried-and-true tropes and themes or writing structure, whether it’s the 5 paragraph essay or the infamous rising action-climax-falling action dramatic story structure, in order to somehow cosmically appease our instructors who forced the idea that this was the way to write into our fragile young minds. Other times we attempt to do away with all of that and let our id take over our writing in the attempt to create something completely inventive and imaginative, ignoring those silly concepts of cohesion and common sense in the process.

Obviously neither of those extremes are particularly appealing, as a reader or as a writer, so how do we express our thoughts in an original manner, without falling prey to overdone, clichéd concepts or utterly nonsensical “original” ideas that seemed great when first thought up but didn’t quite work on paper? We’re all coming into this class with our own developed philosophies, ideals and inspirations for our work, but sometimes the desperation to create something truly creative can paralyze us and make us question our own perfectly decent work simply because it shares similarities with someone else’s writing.

Those seemingly overused themes, plot structures and elements and what have you aren’t just there to rip off completely. They’re taught not just because they work, but also because anyone who writes needs to have an understanding of -why- they work in order to grow past them. “Pulp Fiction” works because all of those seemingly overused crime movie tropes and pop culture references it utilizes are carefully twisted and subverted to serve the creation of an entirely new, original product out of those products, with Tarantino’s strange but entrancing vision made clear and evident throughout the movie. Charlie Kaufman in the meta-fictional “Adaptation.”, which should be made essential viewing for anyone who calls themselves a writer, ultimately utilizes the very same movie clichés (car chases, gratuitous sex scenes, violence, etc.) he despises in order to finally complete his movie adaptation of a borderline unfilmable book.

As much as we hate to admit it, writing well begins with knowing and using the basic ideas that were taught to us in high school. Writing truly great work however requires an intense enough knowledge of how those same basic structures and themes function in order to be able to subvert or even ignore them entirely. Only by mastering the basics can you produce an enjoyable, effective, and imaginative piece without obscuring your own personal vision and intent. This is something I'm still learning, having turned in some completely stream-of-consciousness rants and by-the-books boring essays in my other classes, and am still working on in order to truly grasp that idea and improve my writing in the process.

-Tomas F.