Creative Process: The Final Stage

The artistic process is fluid, moving smoothly from one stage to another without the constraints of standard procedure. For some the process of creating is regimented and structured, for others it is free-form and spontaneous. For example, when writing a book one author may start at the beginning and write scene after scene in order until finished. Another author may begin at the end or with the climax, while still another will jump around in their writing. No two processes are the same, as no two creators are the same. Still, every author, artist, musician or even dancer will share a common stage of the creative process, the one stage that is often interrupted by the creator themselves: the end of creation and beginning of recreation by the audience.

Ending creation is suspiciously left out of popular theories on the creative process. Psychologists, Anthropologists, Sociologist and Artists have been debating the merits and possibilities of a creative model since the early twentieth century (Plsek). Most theorists focus on creative thinking and problem solving, melding the traits of creative thinking and creativity into one. It was not until Robert Fritz’s book The Path of Least Resistance that the two modes of the creative mind diverged within the theoretical world.

Fritz purposed that creativity, or the process of creating, and creative thinking, or problem solving, are in fact two separate and unique processes. For the first time the creative process not only went past revision to completion, but one step further to the artist living with the creation. Fritz asserted that “You accept into your life what you have created” (247). Within Fritz’s theory of creativity the work becomes part of the creative process. The author a...

... middle of paper ...

...s, they regain control when the new works become inspiration. It is a never ending cycle, a mobious of constant creation and consumption. While copyright and intellectual property laws may impede the process, creation is never fully stopped. Fans will still transform their favorite art works, audiences will still interpret art in their own way, and authors will never fully regain the control they lost by publishing their work.

Works Cited

Plsek, Paul E. “Models for the Creative Process” Directed Creativity Cycle. Paul E. Plsek & Associates, Inc. 1996. Web. Nov. 14, 2011

Fritz, Robert. The Path of Least Resistance: Learning to Become the Creative Force in Your Own Life. New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1989. Print.

OTW.org. The Organization for Transformative Works, n.d. Web. Nov. 14, 2011