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Analysis of the Creative Process

from the book: Life Will Get You in the End:
Short stories by David Satterlee

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Life Will Get You in the End:
Short Stories by David Satterlee

A retired engineer comes to terms with typing his literary criticism papers himself. A creative student of literary analysis takes a break from writing yet another lame-ass paper to throw a private hissy-fit. 

Analysis of the Creative Process

I had a pen.

I learned my subject thoroughly across many years. I knew it well and could recite details and essential relationships at will; and often did so at salons with my peers. I ordered my thoughts and wrote cleanly, revising my first draft at least once.

My assistant had a typewriter.

I was knowledgeable in my field. After my first draft, she typed it up double spaced. I marked it up, inserting, deleting, drawing arrows, and making notes in the margin. She continued retyping drafts until I was satisfied with the result.

I had a word processor.

I knew my subject well enough. I launched in, doing additional research as I went. I inserted, deleted, and moved anything anytime until it was “right.” Each “draft” morphed continuously into the next. I nipped and tucked and, when it was done, I read it out loud to catch the final dumb stuff.

I had a turtle.

 He was a strange and wonderful creature. I took him apart to see how he was built. He was still strange but not so wonderful. I glued him back together but I did not like him anymore.

I have examined the great music.

Analysis shows that great music conforms to certain forms and obeys certain rules. I wrote some music. I conformed to the forms and obeyed the rules. It was not very good. I think that maybe the great composers broke rules.