Creative Process and Critique

[benlehman]

(Context: A friend of mine and a friend of his have recently been going around telling creative communities that they aren't creating right, that they should follow a different method and different process. Not coincidentally one which those two people have used in the past.)

I think that other people have a right to judge my published work. (for a general value of "my").

If I don't want it judged, by not publishing it, I avoid judgement.

Do other people have a right to judge my creative process, though? (again, for a general value of "my").

I don't think so, off the top of my head. But I'm willing to be convinced otherwise.

Comments

[wirednavi.livejournal.com]

Define 'judge'?

I think if you talk about your creative process, other people can judge it. Whether that judging is actually relevant to any standards you choose is another question entirely. Assuming you judge your own creative process based on the quality of product it creates (for all values of 'product', including ethical ones - if you were using slave labor, then 'keeping slaves' is part of your product) then they might have the right to say that you would create better work using a different process. They may be incorrect, or the process you use might be optimal for you, but at least there's a. On the other hand, if they're judging it on some other basis, then you decide whether what they're talking about is anything you need to pay attention to.

[tigerbunny-db.livejournal.com]

If people know about something, they'll judge it. There's no escaping that. If they don't know much about it, they'll make something up and judge that, if they've a mind to.

There's no "right" involved. Now, is it rude and generally counterproductive and hurtful to judge a creative process? Often. That's why friends need to do it really carefully, and generally non-friends oughtn't be given the opportunity unless in your own judgment the net benefit to the end product is positive.

Some people get better with public "feedback". Other people get worse or just second-guess themselves into a block.

[zigguratbuilder.livejournal.com]

I agree generally. Here's my thing, though:

When I love a game that looks finished and solid, I'll sing its praises. I'll recommend it to people.

When I see a game made by a friend that I think is really unfinished, perhaps even kinda hastily made and crappy, I won't say *anything*. I tend not to involve myself in discussing such game in public. On an RPGNet lovefest thread, when someone decides they're going to buy such a game based on the lovey-dovey feedback they've been getting, I very well might (and have) PM them in private to tell them to think twice, and relate my horrible experiences with the game.

I'm fine with giving my friends feedback. As soon as their unfinished, crappy game is available for purchase proudly, though, I shut the fuck up. I don't want to say anything that will kill their buzz, and yet I will never publicly promote such a game, either. I will keenly give feedback in private via PM and email, usually warning people to wait for an eventual second edition and the like.

I appreciate what Matt is doing, for real. Well, I love Matt and all, but his attitude is a little hostile these days even to his friends. But still, I like what he's doing.

He's trying to create an environment where I don't have to feel guilty about seeing people suckered into buying a crappy game that a friend wrote.

He's also creating an environment where I can feel not guilty, and the author can feel not attacked, if I were to publicly tear into one of these games, showing its faults plainly to potential customers when the game has been released and the author getting revenue from sales.

-Andy

[judd-sonofbert.livejournal.com]

Ben,

Could you quote the passage where you saw this because I just read the thread and didn't get that out of it at all.

[gbsteve.livejournal.com]

People can judge whatever they like. But it doesn't make them right. Creative process is very subjective and I imagine is very different for different people. I'd imagine it's more a case of what you're comfortable with rather than following a plan.

And if everyone followed the plan, it wouldn't be very creative would it?

[gainsclockwork.livejournal.com]

Back In Music School . . .

I went to my composition class and lesson every week. At these lessons we critiqued our work and discussed the creative process that lead to this work. (Ex. Recognize this motif? You used it on the last page. Pay it more attention and the next page will write itself.) This was perfectly fine because not only was I studying with an expert, but also a teacher.

Matt as I have come to see him is an expert, a critic, and not a teacher. He does not instruct with care toward the growth of the less experienced. If he is a teacher, he's that professor that everyone hates.

Does he have a right to critique creative process? If the creative process is out in the open for all to see then he has the privilege. And we have the privilege to say "fcuk off."

[evilmagnus]

Anyone is entitled to say "You're doing it wrong."
And you're perfectly entitled to say "Fuck off."

And that is how Balance is restored to the Force.

If I could tease one word out of this, it would be 'process'.

A published work is not a process - It's done. End product. Improvements come in the next edition. It's fair to criticize a product precisely because the publisher has said "Here are my wares, what do you think?"

A creative process, though, is a moving target. Suggestions to help are fine, if asked for (via an online discussion, whatever) but to criticize a process for not being 'right'? That's something that's only valid when there's an objective framework behind it - like, say, commercial airline pilots skipping the checklists and ignoring ATC, then saying "But we landed OK, right?".

Creativity has eluded objective measurement. There can be no 'right' or 'wrong', only suggestions and 'works for me'.

[(Anonymous)]

Where is my Bob Dylan sonnet?