This guest post is from my blogger pal Ryan, who agreed to sprinkle his wit and intellect on Essential Prose.
I used to think that all the best creativity was free-form, and that genius artists of word and color intuitively felt their art as it spilled from their subconscious. Later I realized that it only seemed that way, and that their ease of creating was actually the product of structured patterns repeated with slight variation over time.
I also believed that these master creative types were endless fountains of ideas. After all, they produce content day after day and it all feels fresh and original. But then I discovered a pattern of creativity that uncovered their secret to success and forever changed how I approach the creative process.
It’s like a candy bar
My favorite candy bar is a Snickers because it is the perfect combination of chocolate, peanuts, and caramel. And my favorite way to create is through what I call Candy Bar Creativity because it is the perfect combination of medium, truth, and filter.
Any good candy bar requires quality inputs. Medium, truth, and filter are what make up the ingredients for the Candy Bar Creativity, and they are deadly effective in creating a compelling story in minimal time.
The Chocolate Medium
Every artist has their medium or media: that space or time or object through which they communicate their message. And each message can be communicated through any medium, some more effectively than others. An artist has the color, a writer the word, a composer the note. Your medium is probably a given, but don’t be afraid to experiment. It is the medium that the observer tastes first and in which everything else is wrapped.
The Peanutty Truth
The moral of the story here is to always have a moral of the story, something that answers the so what? The medium coating will entice the observer, but nothing will convince them better than the distinct crunch of truth.
The Caramel Filter
The caramel in a Snickers candy bar is neither too much nor too little; it holds everything together and flavors the whole without overpowering it. A filter in the creative process is the specific story or connection the artist chooses in order to help the observer relate with the creation. The filter adds interest for the observer and gives meaning to the message.
Mix It All Together
The greatest thing about Candy Bar Creativity is the freedom to start with whichever layer you want. The second greatest thing is that it’s easy to swap out filters or mediums in order to present the same truths, allowing you to stretch your message indefinitely.To illustrate how your own Candy Bar Creativity might go, here are three examples.
- You like the music of Simon and Garfunkel (caramel filter), so you decide to write a blog post (chocolate medium) about how phrases from the songs can help you become a better blogger (peanutty truth).
- You want to write a blog post (chocolate medium) about how to be a better blogger (hopefully a peanutty truth), but you’re not sure where to start or how to differentiate your ideas. You hear a Simon and Garfunkel song on the radio (caramel filter) and a line resonates with an idea from the post. You relate your truths with the lyrics.
- You have some old posts in your blog archives that you’d like to quickly freshen up and present as new content. You take the old truths, mix them with a new filter, and squeeze out any new truths. Voila!
Why is this easier or better than what you’re already doing?
It might not be, but just in case you haven’t reached the pinnacle of creative genius …
- A good filter makes your message memorable
- Focusing on useful, relevant truths will keep your audience coming back because they will trust you
- Recognizing the proper medium will help you save time describing that piece of fruit with a song when a picture would do
- Using a structured pattern always gives you a place to start and eliminates any creative blocks–truths, filters, and mediums are all around us
Hey look!
I just sat down to write a blog post (chocolate medium), then decided to write what I know about creativity (peanutty truth), and then connected my ideas with a well-known, visual filter: the candy bar. That was fast and easy. Maybe next time I’ll swap out the candy bar for a quilt and put the words to music. I doubt you’ll notice.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I love this. It’s only 9:15 in the morning and you’ve made me hungry for candy.
But in all seriousness, I’m not really an artist. So while reading, I was thinking of how to apply this theory to my teaching. And it hit me – it takes some of my students a long time (forever, in some cases) to understand why and how we analyze literature. “Remarque uses imagery to make the reader feel like she or he is there in the story.” But where is the peanutty truth?? “So what?” as you wrote.
I admit though, I can’t eat nuts so I may have to find a replacement vehicle for the metaphor, but I’m going to use this with my students this year. Thanks for sharing!
Hi, Caren. Imagery has many applications and can definitely apply to your teaching. I used to teach Spanish to middle school kids, and it seemed I could capture both the attention and learning of the majority of students with simple imagery of words. The other kids I had to bribe. With candy.
.-= Ryan´s last blog ..Control Your Passion, Achieve Perfection (Without Action Movies) =-.
Nicely done! Flashes of creativity can certainly come at random, but if you’re going to write (or create whatever) on a regular basis there has to be some pattern or structure. I love this structure. And Snickers.
.-= Lindsay Price´s last blog ..I’d totally go as Richard III. =-.