on creating...

[spacebug]

In general, do you find that your ideas come first, and then you figure out the tools to realize them, or do your ideas come out of the capabilities of your tools?

Is one way better than another?

Comments

[undercrypt.livejournal.com]

Definitely both, but usually for me the ideas come first. Indiscriminately. Without heed to what I have access to, or my skill level, or the time investment required, or even occasionally what media I work in. Creations that flow from the tools are happy good fortune in comparison.

I don't know if one is better than the other on the whole, but I find them very different. The idea-creations can take a long time to materialize and come with a certain amount of frustration ("I think so brain, but where are we going to find a Byzantine cantor at this time of night?"), but I tend to be very pleased with them when they finally come together. The tool-creations are faster and more fun ("A keyboard! A stepladder! Three dancers! Let's go!") but run the risk of being forgetable.