Creativity During a Pandemic
…and the new role for editors.
For all the devastation, trauma and change the virus-that-shall-not-be-named has brought, the most interesting, though not unexpected, change is the recognition of creativity and the arts as essential; as human needs. Creativity and imagination begets understanding; it’s empathy, it’s connectedness. We’ve finally begun to acknowledge how vital creative and ‘artsy’ people are, at the very same time that many of them are struggling to be either.
There is, I should preface, many who are thriving; those who are able to make beauty out of despair, rather than let it cage them. For some, the only way to find relief from pain is to express it, to make it into something new, to share it.
‘Make not your thoughts your prisons’
— William Shakespeare
But what about those whose only option is a cage, whose creativeness comes not from the despair itself, but from looking back at it once it’s finally passed and being able to find joy, or retrospection, in it then? What about them?
I, for one, cannot write during a global pandemic. I cannot create. I can search for ideas, and let them blink before me begging for me to set them fully alight, but I cannot light them.
In lieu of my own creative pursuits, I was able instead to direct all my energy to editing (my second passion), but it was through this I recognised I am not the only one feeling creatively stifled. And thus, my job became much harder.
My new editing project was different to anything I’d done before. For one, it was a photo book focused on the Melbourne grime scene, while my idea of music photography was taking a ‘candid’ shot from the back row of a mosh pit with my cracked iPhone 5. Secondly, I’d never edited for anyone who had been assigned my help, rather than requested it. I’d never edited for anyone who hadn’t asked for it before, who didn’t necessarily understand the work I did, and who, like me, had been feeling stifled.
The role of an editor — well, there isn’t just one, is there? An editor is a motivator, a hype-man for a project, a rule maker, a teacher, a timeline creator (and breaker). Suffice to say, editors save the projects that may otherwise collapse without their scaffolding.
‘A good editor can make a respectable writer remarkable, just like a good parent helps a child become amazing.’
― Justin Alcala
My new editing project was different to anything I’d done before. For one, it was a photo book focused on the Melbourne grime scene, while my idea of music photography was taking a ‘candid’ shot from the back row of a mosh pit with my cracked iPhone 5. Secondly, I’d never edited for anyone who had been assigned my help, rather than requested it. I’d never edited for anyone who didn’t necessarily understand the work I did, and who, like me, had been feeling stifled.
My photographer wanted to be creative. He wanted to achieve something. But the pandemic had changed the rules on what he was able to create before I even got to him. To encourage creativity, and productivity, during a time where imagination is muffled and work-ethic crushed, I had to give myself a new role: the empathetic hype man.
That’s not to say this isn’t always part of an editor’s job. Creators breathe life to a piece, that’s true. But editors are the ones clasping a respirator on it until it’s finished and can breathe on its own. This role did, however, suddenly matter a whole lot more than normal, and became the primary focus of my job. After all, there is nothing to edit, if the creator isn’t motivated to finish.
I gave myself three new, simple mantras. And if you, or someone you’re trying to work with is creatively stifled by the world then I promise, these helped.
- Let the deadlines bend. The world is on pause, and your artists could be too. After weeks of little contact, consistent ‘I’ll get it to you soon’ emails, and bottled-up frustration from yours truly, my photographer finally admitted he was stuck and would need more time. Give them, and yourself, space and permission to breathe, wherever you can.
- Break the barrier. You don’t need to be best friends, but being polite and kind and way too friendly in emails will not hurt right now. In fact, it’s probably what they (and you) need.
- Don’t hassle. Check in, chase up, and encourage, but don’t hassle. It’s too easy to close our laptops and ignore it right now, and they will. Be their hype man, not another stressor. Be excited, be caring, and be gentle. Because, I cannot stress this enough, there are no rules to being creative during a pandemic. There simply can’t be.
None of this is to say that completing work isn’t important, and that we shouldn’t care about creative goals. In fact, having creative endeavours to look forward to is in some ways more important than ever. But forcing them doesn’t help.
My photographer’s book is not finished, not even close. But I’d much rather wait and have something to enjoy later, than have nothing at all.
