The Structure of Creativity

Write the paper so that each sentence flows seamlessly with the next but is at once individually beautiful.

But.

Or.

Structure each paragraph with sound, specific arguments, all the time making sure that each sentence, comma and period follows the rules of the game.

Structure and art. Artistic structure? The structure of creativity.

What makes a paper, poem or paragraph “good”? Is it structure or is it beauty? Are the two mutually exclusive in a world where perfection and achievement are defined by a grade? We live in a world where a successful paper is defined by the number of words the paper holds and the number of pages on which it is written. What has become of the idea?

I have read papers that combine words and structure with apparent ease. These papers are gorgeous, their stories stretch across the page, dancing from main point to main point in graceful balletic fashion. I envy these papers, for they seem to have accomplished the impossible- they follow the rules.

MLA

APA

Page Number

Citations

Structure

Structure

STRUCTURE

Structure is necessary to life, right? It is. Without structure, the world would have exploded by now. I mean that life would cease to exist without some form of foundation or rule of law. Thomas Hobbes would agree that any society lacking in structure and stability will eventually crumble. Government and a system of justice are what keep any semblance of “civilized” society in place. We need structure.

But what of art?

What of our

Ridiculous

Obvious

Undeniable

Insatiable

Need to create?

How do we describe Picasso, Galileo, The Feminine Mystique, the kindergarten boy who deems it prudent to draw with the pink crayon and the girl who draws with the blue? How do we describe these men and women who have decided to cut through the middle instead of along the dotted line? I am afraid that we are falling into a rigid pattern, one that focuses so heavily on the old that it forgets to leave room for the new. It is of course possible to fall completely astray, to rely so greatly on rebellion that a sense of right and wrong is no longer apparent. Maybe we can find a medium;  a happy medium where our papers, poems and paragraphs are pleasing in all respects, pleasing to the eyes, ears, mind, heart and soul.

In the end this story is a battle of wills. It is a battle between the heart and the mind, the need to create and the necessity of structure. This story does not follow the rules. It jumps from one idea to the next, desperately grasping for a handhold. It presents a thought, though. It presents a worry. So even though this story does not cite or toe the line, isn’t it worth it?