Three Writers Discuss Creative Writing-by Devi Nina Bingham

             Jean Cocteau-The Process of Inspiration

According to French author Jean Cocteau, artists suppress inspiration, so they won't have to put in any effort. I've always said that my creative side is bohemian. He also compliments the second act of Faust by Goethe (1790), which shows that the poet is "at the disposal of his night" (Cocteau, 79), and that as a result, artists should humble themselves while they wait for the creative inspiration. He explains how he wrote the first three acts of the play he was working on after waking up unexpectedly. He seems to be implying that the play's acts were given to him when he was completely at a loss for ideas. He doesn't say if he thinks this came from divine inspiration.

Henry Miller-Reflections on Writing

Startling assertions made by author Henry Miller include that writing is a "voyage of discovery," "a philosophical adventure," and "one which gives the writer a "whole, rather than partial vision of the cosmos" (Miller, 184). He follows up on these assertions with another that is much more expansive: all art is therapeutic by its own nature and is a part of a "cosmic process," which is similar to what Carl Jung claimed about the Collective Unconscious and creativity.

A key argument raised by Miller is that there is no "goal" in art. He states that he is "indifferent to my fate as a writer," which I take to indicate that he did not write in order to achieve fame and notoriety (Miller, 185). After studying great authors and failing to write in their styles, he describes making a breakthrough in his writing. He starts to "really write" when he is at his lowest (Miller, 185). I think he means that, like a newborn discovering its own voice for the first time, he found his own voice as a writer. Only he, and no one else, could express himself. Despite his haphazard approach to work, he has confidence in himself and his own style, which he claims, "makes the man" (Miller, 186).

I liked Miller's rambling writing style and his philosophical observations, and I valued what he had to say about being a writer and a spiritually awakened being. He describes man's issues as being spiritual in nature: "a dispersed and shattered soul" (Miller, 190). He struck me as a contemporary mystic. He says in his conclusion that for him, painting was the only option since it required him to mature.

Thomas Wolfe: The Story of a Novel

Wolfe begins by stating that a "longing" was the basis for the drafting of his novels and that the books were not actually written by him: "It was something that took hold of me and possessed me." (Wolfe, 194). He seems to be saying that the literature that inspires him writes itself. Regarding the organization of his work, he discusses how dealing with the story's use of time, his characters' lives in the present, past, and universal, or the natural history of the elements, almost "defeated him" (Wolfe, 198). This was due to a specific story having 200 characters, 150 years of time travel, and "every racial type and social class in American life" (Wolfe, 200). He developed into a believer and writing machine who believed he would never finish, and fell into “black despair” (Wolfe, 200).

Years of writing later, he believed his manuscripts were "an abysmal failure" and unfinishable (Wolfe, 202). He was too near to realize that he had finished not one, but two epic works; he had lost all perspective. Wolfe's attitude when his editor had to inform him that they were done was, "I could only look at him with stunned surprise" (Wolfe, 202). Although he was aware that editing lied ahead of them, after he realized he had climbed the mountain and arrived at its summit, "from that moment on I felt equal to anything on earth" (Wolfe, 202).

Editing one's own work is something he finds repulsive, saying that his "soul recoiled" and "spirit quivered" at such carnage, what to him was a bloody execution with the surgical coldness an editor must possess to save a book from ruin, the same cruelty a surgeon must possess to save a patient (Wolfe, 202). Wolfe revised parts as editing was taking place; the entire revision process took a year.

He and his editor argued as one would anticipate. The editor was attempting to make him understand that although his novels needed to be long enough to convey the tale, they also needed to be concise enough for readers to pick them up. When Wolfe went on vacation, his editor sent the book to the printer since he couldn't reach him. By the time Wolfe got back from vacation, the first round of proofs had arrived. Wolfe accepted the fact that his editor was right and accepted that the books' completion was a finality.

When can you declare an artwork finished? is a question that I am unable to respond to for visual artists since I have never tried drawing, painting, sculpture, or mixed-media art, nor have I ever felt the least want to. Shapes and shapes, colors and tones, textures, and their varied means of expression (stone, canvas, paints, pencils), have never addressed me by name. In fact, they often appeared to be speaking in a foreign language that I could not understand. However, I am able to convey philosophical concepts using words, phrases, paragraphs, rhyme, storylines, character development, and narration. Since I do not belong to that vibrant, quirky group of visual artists, I will not address them directly and instead limit my thoughts to the often depressive and ever reflective group of which I am one, the writers.

An author is "too close" to his work to be objective, as Wolfe demonstrated in his essay on creating a book. They must rely on the editor to make the required but difficult cutbacks so that the book may go on sale and be sure to at least break even. A great editor will create a book that makes a profit in addition to covering expenditures. The depressing truth is that most books won't even bring in enough money to pay for their own creation (had the author been paid to create it). But as all three of the artists note, choosing to create art is a soul-driven compulsion and a work of love. No author works to amass a million dollars. They do it because it's the only way they can express themselves and because they have a narrative to tell.

They frequently overshoot or undershoot since the author has spent their blood, sweat, and tears in them. They will, like Wolfe, deliver the editor their Opus Magnum, and what they get in return is a condensed version that the uneducated and uninterested public can understand. When a crucial scene is removed and your characters, who were once so complex and gratifying, turn into shadows of their former selves, it hurts the ego. If you write fiction, like Thomas Wolfe, an editor may cut out entire scenes or chapters. I think the writer's desire to resist the editing hand demonstrates how hard it is for authors to determine when their piece is finished, what should be removed, or what has to be added until it lands in the hands of a skilled, and yes, ruthless, editor.

Regarding the query of whether words and illustrations were the "right" ones, I don't think there is a morality-a right or wrong method to write a book since it is a work of art, and art is ephemeral ("Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"). As a result, there are no strict standards that apply to the creation of art. However, there are both effective and ineffective ways to spread your message. What I mean is that the most successful authors are able to both connect with their intended readership and earn favorable evaluations from other writers and subject-matter experts. The editor is the gatekeeper who ensures success; they prevent an author from diving headfirst into the literary pool. For the self-published author, you must have sufficient experience, likewise having enough thick skin to act as your own editor. Even for experienced writers, it's not a simple technique. It's similar to punching yourself in the face. It is possible, but will you punch hard enough?

A professional editor or a professional writer who isn't afraid to rip their work to pieces if that's what it takes to make it great should have the last say on whether a book is ready to be published. Unless you are a freelance writer, in which case your boss should have the last word since they will be signing your salary.

                                        Works Cited

 Henry Miller-Reflections on Writing. The Creative Process: A Symposium, edited by Brewster Ghiselin, University of California Press, 1985, pp. 184-191.

 

            Jean Cocteau-The Process of Inspiration. The Creative Process: A Symposium, edited by    Brewster Ghiselin, University of California Press, 1985, pp. 79-80.

 

Thomas Wolfe: The Story of a Novel. The Creative Process: A Symposium, edited by Brewster Ghiselin, University of California Press, 1985, pp. 192-205.