Creativity

He said that it’s a very good idea that after you write a little bit, stop and then copy it. Because while you’re copying it, you’re thinking about it, and it’s giving you other ideas. And that’s the way I work. And it’s marvelous, just wonderful, the relationship between working and copying.

“Bring together things that have not yet been brought together and did not seem predisposed to be so.”

― Robert Bresson, Notes on the Cinematographer

More generally, it’s not beginnings and ends that count, but middles. Things and thoughts advance or grow out from the middle, and that’s where you have to get to work, that’s where everything unfolds.

– Gilles Deleuze, On Leibniz

The four-step sketch contains each of these important elements. You’ll start with twenty minutes to “boot up” by taking notes on the goals, opportunities, and inspiration you’ve collected around the room. Then you’ll have another twenty minutes to write down rough ideas. Next, it’s time to limber up and explore alternative ideas with a rapid

When you carve out big blocks of unscheduled time, you’re creating space for exploration. It’s the oxygen of thinking deep and wide. Without it, it’s hard to cultivate the rich intellectual life you’re after.

Greg Wheeler