Fear: That Unexpected Source of Creativity

 I meet with a group of artists once a month. We share our latest pieces, critique each other’s work and generally give each other the kind of encouragement all creative people crave.  I never want to let these women down, or bring a crappy piece of art to the table. As a result, the night before we meet, I often feel the pressure starting to build when I realize “I got nothin’.”

By morning, I’ve decided I am going to cancel on the group, rather than face the shame of striking out artistically. At that point my husband usually says, “Just go, but don’t bring anything, it’s not a big deal, you’ll bring something good next time.” Before you say, “Wow, she married an idiot!” understand he does it because I am insanely competitive, and that is just the kick in the butt I need to get moving. It always works. I always come up with something, and I am always grateful, and hate him for it.

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Oscar winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin was interviewed recently in advance of his new movie, “Steve Jobs.” Sorkin, among other things, was the creator of NBC’s critically-acclaimed hit, “The West Wing.” The interviewer asked how he came up with the idea. Sorkin explained that when he had written the movie, “The American President,” the script he turned in was more than twice as long as a normal movie script. He had written several scenes which took place between senior White House staffers, but really had nothing to do with the main point of the movie, the love story between the President and a lobbyist. Naturally, those scenes were cast aside.

Sometime after the movie came out, Sorkin agreed to a lunch meeting with some executives from Warner Bros.  Sorkin thought it was a “touch base, let’s meet and say hello” lunch. To what he described as his “horror,” a few minutes into the lunch one of the executives said, “So…we understand you want to pitch us an idea for a TV series.”

Sorkin says he panicked. He had no ideas, had no pitch, but was too embarrassed to say that. Instead, grasping at whatever straws he could pull together, he remembered those wasted scenes and said, “Yeah, it’s about the inner workings of the White House; it revolves around a group of senior staffers.” The folks from Warner Bros. said, “Great — let’s do it.” Out of Aaron Sorkin’s insecurity, and fear of coming up empty, the show considered by most one of the great TV dramas ever made, was born. The moral for Sorkin at that meeting, for me on Friday nights before my group convenes, and I’ll bet for you from time to time, is this: Fear is fine; insecurity is fine. Giving in to them, is not.