Saturday, January 24, 2009

The Urge to Create

Miss Snark's First Victim has a blog post up today about why we write. It's pretty good--she challenges writers to dig deeper, beyond the glib phrases many writers tend to toss around when the question is asked.

And I started out with an answer all ready. But I couldn't. Because all I could think about was this kid I met today.

The tragedy of life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. --Benjamin Mays

So this kid I met. He had no goals in life at all. I am totally serious here. Today we were working on selecting topics for a paper. The students have to write 6-8 pages of a research paper on any topic they pick--any goal, dream, or favorite thing--and this kid could think of nothing.

Me: So, what do you like?
Kid: Nothing.
Me: What do you do for fun?
Kid: Play video games.
Me: Do you want to write about your favorite video game?
Kid: I don't have a favorite video game.
Me: Then why do you play?
Kid: Nothing else to do.
Me: What else do you like?
Kid: Nothing.

Repeat ad nauseum.

It wasn't that he didn't want to write the paper (or at least, it wasn't entirely that). It was that he could not write a paper on something he liked because there was nothing that he liked enough to do that on. Nothing. And there has never been a sadder moment for me as a teacher. No dreams. No goals. Nothing of joy in his life. He was an empty shell of a child.

Segue.

After this, I read the post on Miss Snark's First Victim. My first instinct was to respond by saying this:
All humans have the urge to create, be it a physical object, a child, a thought or belief, or a story. In its essence, human motivation lies in creation, and writers choose to create through words.
But after working with this kid, I questioned the validity of this answer. A kid with no goals, no dreams, and no urge to create anything. It was an alien concept for me to experience. I have always had the urge to create, and that filters all I do in life. I have a very hard time just sitting there. Writing, cooking, sewing, calligraphy--I even consider reading to be a form of creation because of the thoughts I create as I read. Just because it's in my imagination doesn't mean it isn't a creation.

So it is perhaps facetious for me to claim that "all humans have the urge to create." Because that is clearly not the case.

I am very much interested in what you all think:
  1. Do you think that at least most humans have the urge to create?
  2. Is creation the source of your writing desire--and if not, what is?
  3. How would you inspire or reach out to a child with no goals in life?

6 comments:

PJ Hoover said...

1) Maybe all humans are born with the urge to create. But if un-nurtured, this urge can be forgotten. That said, I hold out hope it can be reattained.

2) Yeah, I think it is.

3) Find some small goal for him to attain. Anything. And once he attains it, point it out. Attaining goals can be addicted. It's a good feeling.

Michelle D. Argyle said...

Beth, what a great post. It's really got me thinking.

#1: I believe all humans are born with the urge to create, but as PJ stated above, it it goes unnutured, or even killed off with physical abuse and neglect coupled with emotional trauma, I can easily see how it would fade. This poor student has suffered from something, I'm sure. My heart goes out to him.

I also believe that a person can kill that urge themselves by just being darned lazy. I've met these types before. They just don't care because it takes too much effort to care. Therefore, they effectively kill off those instinctive needs to create.

#2: Creation is a huge source for my writing desire. That and wanting to be liked. I like that people like me for my writing. Is that weird?

#3: I agree with PJ on this last one, as well. Start small and work upward.

lotusgirl said...

Such an interesting post. It is so sad to find someone who has never had the joy of seeing something they've created or done appreciated. I'm guessing this is part of the problem for him. I could be wrong though.

I agree with PJ and Glam on how to handle it. Sometimes along with the starting small is the praise that goes along with the success or even the attempt. It is through the praise that we get the desire to do it again. Maybe that's part of the problem with this kid. He never has really gotten any praise and so he's just gotten apathetic as a means of self-preservation.

I definitely write to create, but also to share the stories that come into my head.

Anonymous said...

I do calligraphy too. :) Or at least I did when I was in college, though now it's mostly confined to making decorative cards and bookmarks for friends. But I enjoy it.

OK, digression over, back to the point. It's difficult to imagine someone who has no "urge to create", as you pout it, because I can't stop myself from doing the same thing.

I was going to say that perhaps the kid was never exposed to books, films, anything to stimulate the mind. But surely even a video game would do that, unless it was just... I don't know... first person shooter or Pong or something.

I'd give the kid a good YA novel to read. I remember when my little brother would visit (when I was in college), after we did stuff, I'd say, "Here's a story about a sixteen-year-old who gets expelled from school and here's a story about a college student who might have cheated on an exam - except no one can prove how he did it. Which one would you like to read?"

(Note : NOT "Would you like to read one?" That's a yes/no deal)

He'd always end up picking one and he ended up a big reader like me. :)

Anonymous said...

I meant "as you put it" on "as you pout it". Eesh.

Kelly H-Y said...

Oh my goodness ... that makes me sad. It almost seems like he's never been 'taught' to create ... or maybe the better word is 'encouraged' to create or have goals. So, I guess encouragement of anything ... even small stuff ... would be a way to engage him. That's tough ... I hope you are able to break through!