3/16/2006
Creative process, revisited
The late John Cheever's technique in writing - composition almost entirely in the head, rather than on paper - is just one of many writing methods. Some writers prefer to put their thoughts down on paper - or more likely on a computer screen - as quickly as possible, and then go over and over the text, weeding, grafting, elaborating and revising.
The creative process in writing is not all that different than painting. Cheever's style is like a Marc Chagall drawing - an idea developed in the mind, then quickly executed. The other method is a deliberate process more like the way Edward Hopper painted: laying down the rough stucture of the work with a little paint mixed with turpentine, then gradually using more oil and pigment to develop depth and detail.
The results are remarkably different; different not just in how they are made and how they appear, but in how we perceive them and how they make us feel.
