The plot vs character debate

Posted in Creativity by tjwithersauthor

The plot versus character debate is an old one. Here’s a modern take on it:

Character vs plot qwantz Dinosaur Comic 2157 - image 2

Qwantz.com, Dinosaur Comics, “March 6th, 2012 – awesome fun times!” Comic 2157

I love Dinosaur Comics (www.qwantz.com). They make their point, they make it concisely, and they have dinosaurs!

Yes, this post was unfinished for a long time. “Finished, it will be!” I said in a Yoda voice. (Use your imaginations, folks.)

The point was basically, many authors toss up between focussing on character versus focussing on plot.

To read more about this, take a look at my post Storyboarding for plotters and pantsers. That post talks about why authors can only focus on either character or plot at any one time, and why we need to also work on the one that we’re not good at.

This post was written by TJ Withers-Ryan © 2012. Reblogging is highly encouraged as long as you credit me as the author.

22Feb2012

Why do I write?

Posted in Creativity by tjwithersauthor

CI Foundation Units 2011: “I am creative because” / “I am not creative because”

“Why do I create?”

I was always certain I would grow up to be a writer. My first words were “book”, “sit” and “read”. There’s something about curling up with a good story and getting totally immersed in another world.

When I was four I discovered that it was possible to write one’s own stories! (Imagine!)

This became a part of my identity – what do I like to do? “I write stories.”

I’m not the only one creating things into the void as part of a search for meaning. Some say the very meaning of life is “to create a connection between our inner depths and the outer world” (Kant, 1982, quoted in Ventegodt et al, 2003, 4).

“Why are you creative?” from KKB101 lecture, 2011, QUT

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22Feb2012

Incubation: Creativity never sleeps… or does it?

Posted in Creativity by tjwithersauthor

Bill Watterson, “Calvin and Hobbes”

Last year I did a subject that asked us as creators to answer two questions: “Why do we create?” and “How do we create?” You have to love Creative Industries assessments.

Mocking aside, however, these two questions are vital to understand if you intend to be creative successfully, or be creative for a living… or both.

The reflective waffle which was our first assessment piece answered the first question, and I’ll post that shortly. Literally. The short answer after much research and navel-gazing amounts, almost universally, to: “We create because it’s fun.” Bronowski says that humans do not choose to create unless they enjoy the process (1985, p 245).

However, the second question led into hours of delightful research, culminating in a research essay. My task was to argue that, although there are differences between the disciplines of art, design, and media, these differences do not affect the fundamental process of creativity, and that this creates links between these disciplines.

What follows is my summary of the parts of my research related to one part of the traditional creative process: the incubation stage. The full text of the research essay is available on my Full text research essays page.

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26Jan2012

What am I doing here?

Posted in Creativity by tjwithersauthor

Hi, my name is Tirzah, and I’m a write-aholic. The last time I wrote was 14 hours ago, and I’m getting withdrawal symptoms already.

So you can understand why I decided to write a blog about the writing process.

I think I’m really a researcher at heart. I enjoy sorting things, finding things out – almost more even than making things. Last year I conducted a survey of all my “creative” friends asking two main questions: “Why do we create?” and “How do we go about creating?”

I’ll be posting the results of said survey shortly, but for now, it’s enough that my intention is out there, in the void of the intertubes. I hope you enjoy the anticipation of what is to come… The suspense may just kill me.