Research the “creative process” and you’ll eventually come to an English political scientist and psychologist named Graham Wallas. In his 1926, The Art of Thought, Wallas summarized the creative process in four basic stages:
- Preparation: The mind prepares for the creative solution, which requires study and thinking intently on the subject—whether it be a musical composition, a new invention, a mathematical formula, or a business dilemma.
- Incubation: A germination period follows. The person steps away from the problem and takes up some form of activity like daydreaming, walking, or meditating.
- Illumination: Often as a flash, a brilliant idea shoots across the mind, frequently during a mundane task or while one is involved with something else.
- Verification: The idea is tested to determine its validity. The composition is scored; the mathematical formula, proven.
Although variations of this creative process were developed over the last century, Wallas’ four-stage framework remains. So how can we use this framework to create our best work? A blog I follow written by Scott Jeffrey called CEO:Sage looks at patterns of behavior associated with each stage of the creative process.
The Archetypes of the Creative Process
What’s an archetype? Archetypes are set patterns of behavior for our interaction with the world and each stage of the creative process follows a different one. These four archetypes(stages) do not represent “people” or “personalities,” but rather styles, qualities, or characteristics of people who produce creative work.
The four archetypes of the creative process are:
The Student - The Wanderer - The Light - The Scientist
The Student: The Archetype of Preparation
The qualities of the Student include open-mindedness, child-like wonder, curiosity, dedication, drive, a capacity for intense focus, and a genuine love for learning. The Student is objective and open, ready to learn without preconceived notions and beliefs about what they are studying. The Student seeks wisdom and counsel from various sources of knowledge, loves knowledge for knowledge’s sake, and makes new connections, perceives new patterns, and sees old things in fresh ways.
This manifests in the form of various kinds of research from many different angles. The Student studies a skill, spends hours reading various text books, analyzes history, experiences different cultures and viewpoints, and absorbs knowledge about the subject of their attention. When there seems to be no more information left to learn on the topic, or they have satisfied their criteria for learning, the next stage begins.
The Wanderer: The Archetype of Incubation
After the Student prepares through hard work and dedication, that knowledge must take root and germinate. The process of incubation cannot be forced. It happens of its own and it takes time for the higher consciousness to resolve the problem. This is the Wanderer's task. The Wanderer is open, patient, allowing, non-controlling, flexible, appreciative, and unattached to beliefs, rules, or conventions. They move with the wind and remain unattached to ideologies, concepts, and theories. Although the Wanderer may appear detached from life or responsibility, they actually are experiencing an innate appreciation and love for the beauty around them and for life itself.
The ego, however, often gets in the way. Our Western, masculine-dominated culture constantly challenges us to do something—to always take action. In our “doer” culture, we are not comfortable with the notion of allowing an idea to germinate. In fact, modern society doesn’t welcome the Wanderer. Especially in the business world where the primary values are on deadlines, speed, and constant activity. Somehow, individuals are expected to generate awe-inspiring ideas and creative results while sitting at their desks or in back-to-back meetings all day. Perhaps the only place where we still welcome the Wanderer is in the arts, where a poet or painter is allowed to wait for his muse while roaming the woods or sitting in cafés, staring into nothingness.
The Wanderer enters a state of flow. Fully absorbed in what they're doing, they achieve a Zen-like focus of mind where the mind becomes silent, or at least resides in the backdrop of conscious awareness. In this state of flow, events unfold effortlessly, whether one is in the process of writing a poem, washing dishes, peeling a potato, or pruning the garden. The “actor” behind actions and the “thinker” behind the thoughts dissolve. In pushing the mind to its limits, the Student’s mind becomes full. Now, the Wanderer must let go of everything he thinks he knows and come to a state of emptiness to receive the answers.
The Light: The Archetype of Illumination
The root of inspire means “inner breath.”
The etymology of intuition is, “knowing from within.”
The words that creative individuals use to describe the Light vary greatly. The experience of the Light is often likened to a mystical experience. The Light has many names from many traditions: God, Divinity, Inner Teacher, Brahman, the Higher Self, the Kingdom Within, Intuition, Daemon, Inspiration, Revelation, Creation, Spiritual Vision, Universal Consciousness, the Muse, the list goes on. However, they all clearly point to a power beyond their personal egos—a subjective experience of a Higher Source—for their creative inspiration.
The Wanderer, in their trance, has created space for inspiration, for this higher force. When unimpeded, inspiration can come on a person very suddenly and the genius often envisions the entire answer in a flash. The source of creative inspiration is not found in a concept, formula, theory, or process. It is said to be ineffable, only realizable through an inner subjective realization—the realization of the nature of a higher source within us.
For the Light to unfold, the individual surrenders to it. The individual, at least momentarily, transcends the ego. This creates a sense of detachment from everything “out there.” Then, the “creative genius” simply becomes the channel for the Light. Playwright Neil Simon accentuates the humility of the genius: “I don’t write consciously—it is as if the muse sits on my shoulder.”
In my practice, this is when the knowledge from the Student begins to click into place. I come up with images, I'm suddenly struck by a realization, a turning point, a direction, or a sentence that suddenly encapsulates all or part of my research. Then I'll write it down or sketch out the bare bones so the thought is not lost, though it's knowledge is forever ingrained in me.
The Scientist: The Archetype of Verification
The role of the Scientist is to verify the discovery and to translate the revelation into something comprehensible to others. Once again calling upon the cognitive resources utilized by the Student in the preparation phase, the Scientist now seeks to verify and communicate the discovery to the world. The Scientist possesses what creativity researcher Edward de Bono calls “value sensitivity.” That is, he is able to see the value in the new creation and he possesses the knowledge and experience to validate it. The term Scientist is used rather loosely as the act of translating the intangible to the physical domain. In the verification phase, the illumined ideas become crystallized.
Chemist Dmitri Mendeleev, the creator of the Periodic Table of Elements, reported falling asleep while he struggled through exhaustion to categorize the elements by atomic weight:
“I saw in a dream a table where all the elements fell into place as required. Awakening, I immediately wrote it down on a piece of paper. Only in one place did a correction later seem necessary.”
In my practice, this is when the initial sketches and realizations come together to form the final piece. This is when I make sure that the outcome can be seen or felt by the viewer, and that all the components are mapped out before beginning the larger, final painting or project. Here is where I edit and refine the research further with my new knowledge and inspiration driving the choices I make. The work often takes a shape I barely recognize yet I have created. It came from me, it is me, yet it is new to the world in its existence and looks different than what the conscious mind could dream of. This is why some feel intimately connected to their work, but oddly estranged from it as well allowing the most personal work to find a life of its own in a gallery or another person's home.
Evocation Of The Archetypes
Scott Jeffrey also gives wonderful tips on how to evoke and bring out these archetypes and stages in your life. Creativity is not reserved for the greatest artists, musicians, writers, or marketers, it's for anyone facing problems that need to be addressed. Creative problem solving is a skill that benefits work practices, relationships of all kinds, and inner growth.
How to Evoke the Student
The purpose of the Student is to learn, discover, and explore.
Start with a beginner’s mind. Let go of everything you think you know and look at the world with the eyes of a curious child.
Adopt a growth mindset where you fundamentally believe you can learn anything. That’s the truth!
Explore topics that truly interest you. Our brains learn approximately ten times faster when we’re interested in a topic.
Develop habits that support constant learning, like reading 20 pages every day and taking notes on what you learn.
Commit to reading more books or talking to various individuals. Although blogs and articles have their place, books promote deeper learning, and individual opinions and experiences can be invaluable.
Ask more questions. Brainstorm ten questions about your topic of interest and then go explore to discover the answers.
The Student helps you learn technical abilities, skills, or knowledge.
How to Evoke the Wanderer
The purpose of the Wanderer is to remove all barriers and resistance—a momentary emptying of the mind—so the Light can shine through.
Learn to meditate and consciously breathe to quiet your mind.
Gaze out at a landscape or stare up at the clouds.
Go for a walk in nature.
Listen to the rain.
Tap a nap.
Dance, play, laugh—do anything that puts you in a carefree mood.
Let go of wanting to know the answer.
Stop striving. Stop trying. Just be.
The Wanderer helps you get out of your own way.
How to Evoke the Light
The purpose of the Light is to allow the inspiration to shine unto your conscious mind.
Pray to a higher source (within yourself or outside of you).
Call forth your inner teacher or higher self.
Enter an altered state of consciousness (however you can).
Trust. Have faith. Stay open.
The Light connects you to the source of creativity.
How to Evoke the Scientist
The purpose of the Scientist is to verify the truth behind your creative inspiration.
Stay committed and devoted to your areas of interest.
Know there is always more to learn and discover.
Manage your internal energy so you have the stamina to improve your work.
Ask questions like, “What’s great about this idea? How can I use this? How can I build on this?”
The Scientist helps you confirm and refine the creative work that came through you.
I hope you've enjoyed this insight into the creative process. You can read the full article written by Scott Jeffrey here: https://scottjeffrey.com/creative-process/
You can also view a short process video I made about my own art research practice here: https://vimeo.com/328492590