On "A Tale of Two Cats" and the Creative Process

As you may have gathered from the dearth of new content on this blog over the course of the past two months, I have been rather busy. Although I would like to say that I've been doing lots of exciting things and that the majority of my time has not been spent drawing pictures of Mona and Tilly, I'm afraid I would be lying. Well, that's not strictly true. For instance, I have been spending a fair amount of time selling stationery, or at least standing around waiting for the opportunity to sell stationery whilst the rest of Britain sunbathes, and I did finally receive a job offer, which was more exciting than I care to admit. But then again, it is equally true to say that I have indeed spent an inordinate amount of time drawing pictures of Mona and Tilly.

When I started A Tale of Two Cats way back at the end of June, I really hadn't given a thought as to whether it would still be live, so to speak, two months down the line. And even so, if I had thought about it, I am quite sure I wouldn't have bet on the blog lasting for more than a couple of weeks before my enthusiasm waned. Nevertheless, as with most creative endeavours that I happen to embark upon, the initial inspiration and excitement is often so intoxicating that I rarely take a moment to sit back and think about it with any sense of perspective or objectivity. This can, of course, be a negative thing; after all, there is nothing quite as disappointing and anti-climactic as the premature demise of a project that, in reality, was never going to be completed had I thought about it rationally. And yet, it is precisely this initial surge of vigor that gives life to the projects that do work; that are achievable. A Tale of Two Cats is a prime example; in the first few weeks I was eager to create as much content as possible and by the time I'd reached the two week mark, I had developed an idea that I found more exciting than when I had originally conceived of it. After this point in a project, the creative process becomes almost self-perpetuating, which allows room for more objective thought. In the case of A Tale of Two Cats, this meant that I found the time and desire to think more carefully about things outside of the content itself, such as how the site should function and where I wanted the project to go. It is at the stage now where I feel that I have created something significant in some small way, whether simply from my own point of view or from that of those who enjoy my work. I suppose this is the ultimate value of creativity. Or something.