Creativity

When creativity is a goal, the end result usually feels clunky at best.  I can't plan to be creative.  It's too vague of a goal to get me anywhere.  Similarly, I can't sit down and have "good" ideas.  These ideas come from a bunch of random nonsense (hours of brainstorming), with one or two being something I actually want to run with.  Maybe I exaggerated with the whole hours bit.  Maybe I should try to live up to that standard.

Effective brainstorming yields a load of useless garbage.  However, there are a few gems scattered among the trash heap.  There are usually 2-3 ideas that I am excited about: that don't lose their quality of interest when explored further.  Too often I begin working on a shiny idea before I truly understand what I can do with it.  I get excited about an idea, only to find out that its manifestation is lacking.  All that glitters is not gold, and all that litter would be seen correctly if I gave my thoughts more thought.

For instance: Java.

I was thinking about doing something with code when the obvious pun hit me.  Images of brown leather shoes, coffee beans, and colorful dinosaurs were running through my head. 

I love that sentence.

Overjoyed, I set out to create this magical adventure, only to discover (I hadn't touched code for months) how tedious the process of coding a story had become.  Initially scrapping the idea, I posted it because I didn't have time to come up with anything else (silly 12:00PM deadlines...).

It seems that a creative idea, if it is to function correctly, needs the appropriate amount of time to be refined into something worthwhile.  Without this filtering process, (weak coffee joke) something that seemed amazing might be set loose online, revealing the lack of genuine substance.

Maybe I should come up with more ideas before starting a new project. 

Maybe I should start writing well before 10:00PM

"Maybe" is a subtler version of "definitely."


Side note: these time-stamps are all wrong.  I am finishing this post at 11:08PM, but the time stamp reads 8:01PM.  I think that Blogger records the time that you initiated the post as the time that you posted it.  ...not sure how this impacts the rules of the Blog Challenge, but I'm not complaining.  (or cheating, for that matter)