February 9, 2009

  
"Often an idea would occur to me which seemed to have force... I never let one of those ideas escape me, but wrote it on a scrap of paper and put it in that drawer.  In that way I saved my best thoughts on the subject, and you know, such things often come in a kind of intuitive way more clearly than it one were to sit down and deliberately reason them out.  To save the results of such mental action is true intellectual economy... Of course, in this instance, I had to arrange the material at hand and adapt it to the particular case presented."  -- Abraham Lincoln speaking to James F. Wilson, June 1862
 
Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday is this Thursday so there has been a lot of information distributed about him.  This quote demonstrates that he understood the creative process.
 
While President Obama selected and recruited his cabinet members, there was a lot of talk about President Lincoln's cabinet being a "team of rivals."  Lincoln did not surround himself with people who agreed with him.  He surrounded himself with people who would provide him a variety of opinions and lots of information.  Working to solve a problem by gathering information and trying to find a solution is the first step of the creative process.  That is gathering the raw material for your mind to work with.
 
Then you allow incubation to occur.  You take time off from working on a problem to let your subconscious work on a solution.  Eventually in a moment of illumination you become aware of an idea that is the result of that mental activity.  Those ideas can often be fleeting.  You have to record them in some way to preserve them so they are available for use later.  Sometimes an idea comes but you aren't ready to put it into action.  At other times an idea is only a partial solution that eventually needs to be combined with a newer idea to be useful.
 
There are many ways to record your ideas.  I tend to use the scrap of paper method initially.  Then eventually I transfer them to a notebook or add them to a computer file.  At one period in my career I entered my ideas directly into a notebook.  Some entertainers like to maintain a journal so ideas are recorded in the order they occurred.  Others try to record ideas in an organized manner, for example, based on topic.  I knew one entertainer who recorded his ideas on a calendar so they were accessible at the right time.  For example, he recorded Christmas ideas on the December page and he recorded summer reading program ideas on the June page.
 
Just recording your ideas is not enough.  You can't just hoard ideas.  If that is all you are doing you are not saving your ideas, you are entombing them in an intellectual cemetery.  Lincoln didn't just put his ideas into a drawer.  He took them out and looked at them again.  You have to retrieve your ideas and figure out the best way to use them.  To benefit from your intellectual economy you have to use your intellectual property to obtain something of value.
 
Your initial ideas aren't the end product.  You have to arrange and adapt them to fit a particular circumstance.  An idea that did not work on a previous project, when sufficiently altered, may be perfect for a new project.
 
Do you understand and purposely use the creative process?  Do you actively seek a wealth of information and a variety of opinions?  Do you take time off from conscious effort to allow your subconscious the opportunity to work?  Do you practice intellectual economy?  How can you record your ideas when the flash of illumination occurs?  How do you preserve your ideas?  Where do you keep them?  How can you retrieve them?  What method of organization makes sense to you?  How often do you review your ideas?  When you are working on a specific project which ideas are applicable?  How can you arrange them to make them most effective?  How can you alter or adapt them to fit a new circumstance?
 
I will be teaching a class on the Creative Process at Clown Camp®.  You will find more information listed under the lecture schedule below.
 
The creative process is the subject of Creativity For Entertainers Volume One. 

Click here for more information.