On Creativity

It should come as no surprise to anyone that I love the TV Smash. You know, that show about people on Broadway and they sing and dance a lot? Yeah. That one. I'm absolutely in love with it and so far the second season is even better than the first. Especially now that Jeremy Jordan who was the original Jack Kelly in Newsies on Broadway (which I saw last year!). He's amazing.

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Anyways. I was watching Smash the other day. One of the things I love about the show is being able to see the creative process. How they put the show together, the obstacles they have to go through, young bright eyed characters who haven't been discovered yet hoping their brilliant idea makes it to the stage someday... granted, it's a TV show. Therefore it's not 100% realistic, but I feel like the emotions and the feel of what artists go through is there.

As I watched I couldn't help but think, "I would love to do that." 

While at the same time I also thought "I could never do that."

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Lately, I've also been working more on my stories. The ones based off of fairy tales. I have a lot of ideas for them and how they'll all be put together. After so many years of writing, for once I can actually see the finish line. While that finish line is a far way off, I can see it. Which is cool.

But also scary.

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I saw Book of Mormon last night. Which was AMAZING! Yes, I saw it in spite of the outrageous snow and ice we got yesterday. Just goes to show my dedication to musical theatre. And what awesome friends I have because they are willing to help me get to and from the theatre while risking their lives. 

Yeah, I have awesome friends. Be jealous.

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As I stare at my stories and think about people who rely on creativity for a living, I can't help but have mixed feelings of jealously and intimidation. How they can think of such awesome ideas for characters, situations, songs, stories, etc.

How do they come up with these things?

And not just performers. But writers, bloggers, YouTubers, singers, the list can go on and on. When I look at my little blog, the stories I've written for NaNoWriMo, the small plays I do with community theatre, I can't help but feel inadequate. But also a desire to do more.

What are my stories, really? Glorified fan fiction of fairy tales to be honest. To think of something completely original - I can't even remember the last time I did something like that. Granted, this is pretty common most of these days.

Almost every movie you see now is part of a franchise and/or based on a book. Most books you can't read without thinking about how they'll be a movie or comparing it to some other book series. It's always a new twist on a fairy tale, or vampires, or now the whole dystopian society/apocalyptic society craze. Not that these aren't good -they are. I love them. However, finding something that's completely original is a rare thing indeed.

I mean... that's why link ups, tags, surveys, and writing prompts in the blog world are so popular. We need ideas!

I know, I know... somewhere in the Bible I think there's a verse that says something along the lines of how there is nothing new under the sun. I get it.

But to make it as a creator, whether professionally or whatever, you have to be original. (Or at least be respected as one.) Unless you want to write the next 50 Shades of Grey, you need to have original ideas and thoughts.

Which I feel I don't have. I feel like all of the ideas I have are decently done copies of someone else's brilliance. Which I know in a way is what art is... but it leaves me feeling uneasy. I would love to write more stories, or even try my hand at play-writing. But I can't remember the last time I thought of an original idea for a story.

It's what scares me about the finish line of my fairy tale re-tellings. Once they get finished (FOREVER FROM NOW), what's next? I don't have another idea in my head. Will I ever have another one? Or even just a decent idea?

What are your thoughts on creativity? How do you get your ideas for videos, blogs, stories, songs, etc? Whatever you create- how do you thin of it? What do you think it takes to "make it" in the creative world? Whatever that means.

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