Over the past several weeks, Lindsay and I have been preparing music for the upcoming recording of a new demo for our work "Jane Austen's PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, A Musical". In the slow and careful process of reconciling our new libretto with the existing scores, we examine our work in a completely different way as we look to improve the graphic quality of our printed materials for the eventual musical interpretation of our work by very, VERY talented performing artists.
During this examination process, it is amazing to us how we still laugh at the awesome wit of Jane Austen's writing. She was SO smart... so funny! Even in the editing of the abridged dramatic moments we pulled from her novel, we recognize her genius!
Yes! Jane Austen was a genius! ... Whenever Lindsay and I have one of these moments, it always leads us to discussion about an aspect of Jane Austen. Yesterday, it was about what kind of creative artist Jane Austen might have been, and when we look at her work, it tells us.
We know Austen wasn't a prolific writer because she only completed six novels. By today's standards, that isn't very much writing. She did write a lot of letters, but the life she describes tells us that she wasn't part of a writer's circle, or mentored by a contemporary published writer, or editor, or even an English teacher.
What we know is that she was the daughter of a preacher who lived most of her life in the country. Her opportunities were limited ... and yet ... as a lone creative artist, she wrote one of the most beloved love stories OF ALL TIMES in the novel we know as "PRIDE AND PREJUDICE".
Wow! After 200 years, her story endures ... and her process as a writer wasn't defined by anyone but herself. Isn't that amazing?
Thousands of thousands of people write and have written articles, essays and papers about her life, her novels and her minor works. Many of these writers develop a passion for all things JANE AUSTEN, and become life-long enthusiasts and/or scholars. These fans often become active in Jane Austen Societies throughout the world working to promote her work and continue this extraordinary legacy.
... And then there are creative artists like Lindsay and me who create derivative works from the characters and ideas born in Jane Austen's imagination, collaborating with her 200 years later, extending the possibilities of what she created.
While her writing wasn't prolific, the derivative works, scholarly work, and publishing of her work are unexampled. Was that what she was thinking about when she wrote it?
I don't think so. I think she just wanted people to enjoy it, to read it, and she dreamed of making a living as a creative artist doing what she loved--writing!!
She was the kind of creative artist who paid attention to her work --not how long it took to create it, or how much she created, or what might happen when it was created. She understood that when it comes down to it, the joy of being a creative artist is two-fold.
Now THAT!!! is the kind of creative artist I want to be--
the kind who finds as much or more joy in the PROCESS of creating than the BY-PRODUCT of what I have created.
Experience teaches me that my work is always better when I concentrate on the process of the creation. My artisitc struggles occur when I think beyond to what could happen, or when I fret about whether someone may or may not like it.
I do think Austen enjoyed the by-product of what she created every time her work was enjoyed and read by others. However, I think she must have enjoyed her creative process far more than its outcome because she created something that matters to the world NOW.
If we create something that matters, it comes from honouring our own process, from the heart ... our own heart ... not anybody else's ... and isn't THAT the kind of artist to be?
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