I read somewhere (or more likely, heard on NPR) the idea that all people can be divided into order people and chaos people. And while I tend to throw gross generalizations under the bus, I have to say there are very few people who inhabit the middle ground between order and chaos. That’s not to say there isn’t a gradient. Of course, there is. But we tend to approach the world in one of these two ways.
In case it isn’t abundantly obvious, I am so totally an order person that sometimes I disappoint myself. I am a creative type too, but when I describe my creative process, you’ll never hear me saying things like, “I was swept away by inspiration” or “the muse took me behind the chicken coop and ravished me.” Nope. To do my best work, I like a clean desk and a clear goal.
(Which in case you were wondering is to write at least 1000 words a day or revise for a 2 hours a day).
But I am envious of chaos people. Especially on days like today when the goal seems to invite drudgery.
At KidLitCon this last weekend, Richard Jesse Watson spoke about how he used his blog as a way to “play” creatively. He posts poetry, abstract paintings that he does for warm-up, and pictures of play activity. If you look at his published works next to his blog, you’ll see how different they are.
I woke up this morning dragging and totally bummed out that KidLitCon is over. I miss my friends, old and new, who are all so jazzed about children’s literature and art. I miss fondling the piles of ARCs. I miss the tweets buzzing around the room like so many hummingbirds.
I realize that I don’t doodle or collage or journal or free write. My form of creative play is noodling around in the stories that are the very bone, marrow, and substance of the people around me. I guess that’s how an order person plays with other people’s chaos!
I definitely think my process is a bit more chaotic. I tend to use poetry, photography, physical exercise, etc. My drafting happens longhand with pen and scratch paper while I’m in the car, a cafe, library. I don’t rely on inspiration but I’m a kinesthetic learner, so creating through movement (or chaos) is effective for me. I wish I could be more orderly about my process!
Hey, Amber. Sounds like kidlitcon was awesome. I’m really going to have to try to go one of these years. Also love this blog post. I’m sometimes jealous of the orderly type myself, as I am certainly prone to chaos. I write when the muse hits me, and my desk is always a disaster. I do try to be orderly sometimes, as it is sort of a necessity in some aspects of life, but I find it very tiring….most of the time anyway. Once I get to a revision point in my writing, I am very good at sticking to the task at hand, though. Much prefer revision to writing. When I’m writing, it is all up and down and all over the place…on the computer, in notebooks, on napkins. Craziness!
Can one be a chaos mother as well as a chaos writer? I am definitely both!!
Great post, Amber. 🙂