100 Things Number 7: Creativity and Collaboration

[dreamflower]

Creativity and Collaboration

Many people think of creativity as a solitary activity: the artist or musician or writer, alone with her imagination and her Muse brings forth her creation like a child that is hers alone and only then deigns to share it with the world at large. Or perhaps they think of stories of the starving artist in his garret, shunning society for the sake of his work, misunderstood by those who scorn his unprofitable occupation.

There is some truth in these stereotypes; without some truth stereotypes would not exist. Much art is solitary in its inception, and much is unappreciated by others in the beginning. But that is not the whole story of making.

There are many creative pursuits that are by the necessity of the form always done by committee. All forms of drama require not only a playwright, but a producer, a director, actors, set designers, and many others whose creative skills are needed to make the play, the movie or the television show. An architect must have many people who build his vision, and thus put their own mark upon his creation.

Music is an activity that can be either solitary or collaborative. There can be one person singing or playing a solo; or there can be duets, trios, quartets, choirs, bands, orchestras-- the combinations are nearly endless!

Writing is often mistakenly thought to be the most solitary of pursuits. Yet some literary forms are always done in collaboration. Comic books (or in the modern parlance, graphic novels) require not only a writer, but an artist, an inker, a colorist and in the case of ongoing series, an editorial staff who are needed to maintain internal consistency.

Even novels are frequently co-written by two or more partners.

Collaborating on stories can be an energizing experience. I have collaborated on several stories, each one very different from all the others. Four of my stories were collaborations with four different people, and each was a completely different and yet equally delightful experience.

My first collaboration was "Ho, Ho, My Lads" written with marigoldg. The circumstances were such that we were actually able to collaborate in person. We brainstormed the story aloud to one another, and I would write bits down in longhand (since we did not have a computer handy). When it was written down, she'd look at it, and we'd make corrections and add anything she thought should be added. It was a funny, light-hearted story and fairly short, only two brief chapters, but we had so much enjoyment from writing it together, and many readers loved it.

"Testaments of the Past" was a story I wrote with gryffinjack. I had an idea for a story, and I knew that in real life she was an attorney, so I asked her to write it with me as some of what I had in mind could use an expert legal mind. The two of us collaborated by telephone calls and emails. The project became much longer than we anticipated, and actually involved more than writing as we also made objects to illustrate the story. We had a wonderful response to the it. Technically it remains unfinished, as we had hoped to include an epilogue, but I hope that one day we will be able to finish it. In the meanwhile, it ends at a convenient stopping place.

"Read and Review" was co-written with Celeritas, (AKA labourslamp) and it was a very spontaneous story, resulting from the silliness of a late night IM conversation. We began having an imaginary conversation between Frodo and Pippin, and pretty soon both of us were laughing pretty hard. We decided that it would be fun to turn the conversation into an actual story. It was a humorous foray into meta, very slightly cracking the fourth wall, and seemed to tickle a good many readers. It placed first in the MEFAwards category "Humor: Featuring Merry and Pippin".

The fourth of these stories is an ongoing Work in Progress I am writing with pandemonium_213 called "The Prisoner and the Hobbit". This one is very different than the others. In all the other stories my collaborator and I knew where the story was going in the end. We had a good idea of what would happen and how. This story is very different: it is an epistolary-- a story written mostly as "letters" between the two main characters. There is some bridging material for both the characters, but the burden of the progress of the story relies on each letter. I do not know what her character will say in his letter until I receive it. Nor does she know what my character will say in his reply! This gives the whole thing a very realistic feel and there is an organic dynamic between the two characters as they forge a relationship through the letters. Since they begin the story as characters who should by all rights be antagonists, there is a lot to work through. I think that this story has been my most challenging collaboration so far, and I look forward to seeing where it is going in the future!

The other collaborations I have taken part in have involved more than one other person. These stories were written as part of "round robins" or as a part of a challenge, and have included as few as five to as many as fifteen writers! The logistics of such stories are, of course, rather complicated and often take much more time to complete. But they are a good deal of fun to participate in! (Here are links to them in case you are interested: "A Not-So-Simple Misunderstanding", "Of Tea and Tonics" and "To Sleep, Perchance to Dream". The first was written as part of the 2011 Back to Middle-earth Month Challenge, and the latter two were Round Robin stories written and posted originally at the PippinHealers mailing list.)

I know that each time I take part in a collaborative creative activity I find that my motivation and energy and creative urges are renewed, so that I also have a benefit to the work I do by myself. I am eager and ready to plunge into something new!

How do you feel about collaborating? Have any of you taken part in such projects? Were they all successful? What lessons have you learned from being creative with other people?