100 Things Number 2: Why Do I Create?
{Take the 100 Things challenge!}
Why Do I Create?
Nearly everything I have learned to do in the way of art and craft has been for one of two reasons: because I wanted to have something that I could not have unless I made it myself or because I thought it would be fun to try.
There is, of course, that third category: things I learned because almost everyone does learn them whether they want to or not, but which served me well later on as I began to enjoy them. Writing, cooking -- those are things I learned to enjoy right from the start. Other things I did not like so much, but grew into them, such as sewing.
Often I simply want something-the desire to have a wearable art LotR jacket got me to bring out the sewing machine. I decided that I wanted it to be a very organic experience, so the only part I planned out in advance was the structure of the garment itself. It was fun to randomly add my embellishments- scenes from the movie done on fabric which I made with my printer; lace; embroidery, both hand and machine; purchased embellishments like little pewter mushrooms or an eagle appliqué-all of this was immensely fun to work on.
But sometimes I just want to experiment with a new and intriguing technique. Most often that's what I'm doing when I play with polymer clay. Knitting is another craft with which I like to experiment: dishcloths are the ideal way to play with new patterns and stitches!
Fandom contributes a lot to what I enjoy creating of course. Fanfiction satisfies a particular need in me that my other crafts do not come close to fulfilling. Writing is a much different process for me mentally than something like painting and cooking. Most of my other projects are challenging in the planning and learning stage-they are less work for me as I near the end, and I rarely get stuck from finishing for anything but practical reasons. But writing is something that I must give my whole mind to from start to finish-and sometimes gets harder as I go, especially with longer stories. Yet when I complete a story, the vindication I feel is far more visceral than that which I feel when I finish other sorts of projects. Fanfiction is also a more social sort of creativity, as I share my stories online, and receive feedback and con-crit, often while a story is still a work-in-progress.
For me, to create is to fill an itch that buying something will not scratch. There is a sense of joy in the process, and a sense of vindication when I finish, as well as pride in the new knowledge I gain every time I work on a project, whether it is as complicated as a multi-chapter epic fic, or as simple as making up and cooking a new recipe.
How about you? Why do you create things? And what sorts of things do you create?