Creative Philosophy at 11.30pm

Hello CGSP readers!

As I was editing and writing a new short story this month, I was thinking about ideas.

Ideas seem like they can come from anywhere and span over any topic, but if you look at books, television, movies (or any entertainment medium, really) things seem to just be a rehash of every other idea out there.

How can we actually expect to be original, when everything we see is just a take-off, of a take-off, of a take-off who once had an interesting thought in the 1960s.

Drawing inspiration from people we admire is one thing, but can an idea really be though of as original, when the things we are exposed to as creatives are in themselves, just a re-do?

I do think that originality can be achieved, don’t get me wrong, but as a creative person, I would like to think that there are some ideas we haven’t explored in some way or another.

When you look at music, there are an finite number of chords and chord progressions we can use (which is why you hear so many songs that sound the same). In the new age of music though, we see things like synth and electronic elements which changed the game (For the worse or the better, i’ll let you decide for yourself – but I am partial to the classics).

So, does this mean the end for the ever elusive ‘idea’ for a new book, movie, photograph or painting? I’d like to think not, does it really matter if those ideas are just reused and recycled – we like to do that for the environment, so why not for our entertainment?

I suppose this is a question which is unable to be decided upon at this late hour that I sit at my computer screen and try to decide the cover photo for this post (props to the photographers who allow free use of images).

All in all, I hope that those looking at, reading or listening to my creations would extend that ‘suspension of disbelief’ that we apply to our other entertainment – and pretend they haven’t read or heard something very similar before.

Ideas…. hmm, I wonder

(Check out Hannah Carmichael’s new adventure NEXT WEEK!)

Christy Grace