Comments on: Creative Discussion – When Is It Time To Let An Idea Die?

By: Live and Let Die : A Creative Discussion #4 Wrap-up | Fuel Your Creativity

Live and Let Die : A Creative Discussion #4 Wrap-up | Fuel Your Creativity — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:13:50 +0000

[...] month’s Creative Discussion tackled the topic of deciding when it is time to let an idea die. It was a lively dialog from the [...]

By: Billy_Douthwright

Billy_Douthwright — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:01:01 +0000

Yes this is really interesting and getting into the heart of it, of how the creative mind actually works, since it is recorded at least statistically by numerous accounts that for many people, in all creative endeavors, that key insights/big breakthroughs, as in the ‘light-bulb going off!’, quite often is achieved during the rest period immediately following the most intense periods of strenuously exhausting work on an idea, and I guess this awareness does explain practically in part how the numerous comment threads about the impossibility of an idea ‘dying’ might in fact be so?
Whether choosing to ‘not have the time’ to prioritize the pursuit of a particular idea, or, of being conscious that this is how the creative mind works, and with such awareness perhaps choosing instead to not give oneself the excuse to let go of a high-priority ‘idea’, I guess maybe still begs a question about ‘creative priorities’?

By: Understarch

Understarch — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:33:41 +0000

I think that it also depends on the type of creative person you are. Some people are full of creative ideas, other people have less, but more “profound” ones.

By: Kate

Kate — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:29:30 +0000

I agree with much of what has been said above.

I think the main thing I try to keep in mind is to understand when to let go and move in another direction. Don’t be charmed by the initial “oh this will be cool” feeling if you have put serious effort and it is still weak. It is easy to hang on too tightly to a style/element/overall concept and drive it into the ground just because you thought it was going to be cool. Make sure you get regular feedback, and don’t be afraid of criticism. Accept your failures and learn from them. Maybe that idea that needs to “die” will be reincarnated into something else. If not, then at least you have gone through the mental exercise of playing with it and learning something from it.

Some of my best work has come after trying way too hard to make something work, then realizing “oh that’s stupid” and starting over. It may have been “stupid” for the design problem at hand, but it wasn’t worthless since I probably gained insight on a subconscious level from it, which I will reap the rewards of later.

By: Alberto Pichardo

Alberto Pichardo — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 04:16:35 +0000

An idea as it is never dies i mean theres times when im just playing whit PS or ILL and sometimes brilliant ideas comes to me and seems wonderfull at first, but then it just evolve into something else, it could go to both ways, it can change ur first idea completly or modifiying the current, so im not sure if theres a time when you can say “now is the time to quit” cause at lest on my case ive never found me saying ok thats it for this idea, like i said it just keep evolving onto another one.

By: Andrew Gerber

Andrew Gerber — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:20:31 +0000

Jason Garrison is absolutely right. There is no need to say die. If an idea doesn’t work know the most important thing for you is to make a deep analysis and realize what is going wrong. Don’t stop doing the analysis of mistakes. Correct your mistakes and you will see that any idea can work.

By: Rob Bowen

Rob Bowen — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:21:30 +0000

Very well said, Eric. Very well, indeed. Never feel bad about soapboxing here. ;)

By: Rob Bowen

Rob Bowen — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:19:39 +0000

I agree, it would be a disservice to the idea to continue to force it.

By: Rob Bowen

Rob Bowen — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:17:33 +0000

True, ‘die’ is a harsh term, it evokes a visceral response and that is why I used it. Because the idea of letting a creative idea die should be something that effects us viscerally. It should never be easy, it should never be done lightly, but if you are of the mind that every idea we have that goes unresolved adds a certain element of stress to our mind preventing true ‘rest’ and peace of mind (as is believed by many in the ‘Getting Things Done’ by David Allen tradition) then it is unhealthy as creatives to not concede eventually that we will not see something through and we are in fact, giving up on it. And passing it on to someone else, in a sense, is letting this happen for us. We have let go. Have let it pass on.

By: Rob Bowen

Rob Bowen — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:11:59 +0000

I like the way you put that. ‘…In that sense I have no qualms about killing/editing ideas, so long as I am aware of their being subsumed within the creation that they are inspiring…’ Very nicely said.

By: Understarch

Understarch — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:18:43 +0000

I think most of the ideas should be stored in some notebook you always travel with. The thing is that if you are thinking about throwing an idea, you know that there WAS something interesting in that idea. Give it a rest. Put it in your book and it if by coming back at it it does grow or evolve the way you would like, then it might be one solution for another futur design project!

It happened to me yesterday, I was shuffling in a old notebook of ideas and I found 1 really interesting that had not been used at that time. It has a big potential and I am sure I will use it soon! Maybe for a personal project.

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:11:10 +0000

“Good ideas don’t die, they’re just abandoned” – a paraphrase from Martin Scorsese.

Sometimes an idea can become beautiful in the hands of one and wither in the hands of another. If an idea is starting to with wither then it is time to bring in some reinforcements – as has already been mentioned, give it time, step back, look at it in a different way, get some feedback from some fresh eyes. If it’s still withering, then it is time to abandon the idea.

But this doesn’t mean that all hope is lost. Save your idea, this same idea work on a different project. Share your idea, someone else could use this inspiration. Good ideas never “die,” they exist in the ether of humanity. While an idea may not work with this project a good idea will find a new home somewhere else.

– enough soapboxing. To answer the question: when I have worked at a project and become sick of it and then stepped away for a few days (usually a week for me) and come back to it, if I’m still sick of it then it’s time to abandon the idea and head in a new direction.

By: Curvball

Curvball — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:11:24 +0000

If the passion behind an idea is gone, no matter how amazing the idea is, it is as good as dead.

By: Pam

Pam — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:39:42 +0000

I think “die” is a harsh term. Once you have an idea, you always have that idea. It just depends on if you do much with it. How many of us have piles of half-started bits, half-done drawings, and scribbled notes? I say once it no longer inspires you, or it is no longer relevant or exciting it gets set aside. But whether it conscious or not, elements are integrated into the “new” ideas we work on. And parts do get given away as we talk amongst ourselves and those move on to inspire another. Such is the way of creative. It fluid, it’s communal, it may rest for a while….but “die”?…I don’t really think it’s possible.

By: Billy_Douthwright

Billy_Douthwright — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 13:51:09 +0000

Also interesting, and I am sorta the opposite of a ‘packrat’, even though piles of work accumulates & too rapidly/voluminously to be comfortably maintainable, I also really enjoy the editing process, which is creatively integral since on average less than 1 percent of what goes into any of my project’s remains in the final synthesis of what I started out to realize it as… In that sense I have no qualms about killing/editing ideas, so long as I am aware of their being subsumed within the creation that they are inspiring…