351 Quotes About Creative-process

Remind me, Lord, of why I create things and that YOU ... you are the best of artists, put these gifts in me to share with the world.

Merely because you have got something to say that may be of interest to others does not free you from making all due effort to express that something in the best possible medium and form."[Letter to Max E. Feckler, Oct. 26, 1914]

Q: What's the biggest myth about writing?A: That there's any wildness attached to it. Writing tends to be very deliberate."[Colm Tóibín, novelist – portrait of the artist (The Guardian, 19 February 2013)

Forget ideas, Mr. Author. What kind of pen do you use?

Oh God, for a few who will love me in tiny ways every single day of my flashing existence. For a mere one or two who will treat me like the trash I am, who will love the smell of garbage and rummage through the bin of my failings to find the wrapped cheeseburger they can do without but consider long enough to get their taste buds used to the idea. Oh for a melodious tongue to sing me a song about french fries.

I think the hardest thing about writing is writing."[Interview clip in the In Memoriam section of the 85th Academy Awards ceremony, Feb. 24, 2013]

The unencumbered mind recalls all that it has read, all that pleased the eye, and delighted the ear, and reflecting on every idea which either observation, or experience, or discourse has produced, gains new information by every reflection. The intellect contemplates all the former scenes of life; views by anticipation those that are yet to come; and blends all ideas of past and future in the actual enjoyment of the present moment.

All that we make and do is shaped by the communities and traditions that contain us, not to mention by money, power, politics, and luck. And even should the artist or scientist think she has extracted herself from the world to stand alone in the studio, a tremendous array of faculties and mind-states may well attend her creativity.

Whether we write lyrics or craft legislation, sell homes or teach classes, design spaces or open franchises, prayer is a critical part of the creative process. Don’t just brainstorm; praystorm.