creativity with age

Thankfully for me...

So, quantitatively down maybe, but qualitatively up. I don't know if that's more or less creative, per se.

It takes a lot of writing to learn to write well, and the basics that can be taught, no matter how necessary they might be, are only a fraction of what you need to learn. Raymond Chandler said every writer had one million words he had to write before he'd write a good one. I'd expect the equivalent to be true of music, but I don't have any skill whatsoever there, so I have no feel for the learning curve, much less what musical creativity feels like.

Things which require immediacy and first-time feelings and the WOW! factor are generally better in proximity to youth - so pop music, conceptual art, that sort of thing is better to do while young.

Things which require reflection and sensitivity and depth of perception and great knowledge of character development and such - such as novels or movies - get better with age.

But remember, with music, not all music is pop music. I mean, Beethoven's Ninth is better than Beethoven's First, que non?

That's a reassuring thought, but I think we have to remember that the associations we make are habitual, and, unless we challenge ourselves constantly to 'start again from scratch', our habits can be 'great deadeners' (as Samuel Beckett put it). Think of someone like Morrissey, who can't change and won't change, and will surely never surprise anyone ever again with his creativity. Then think of someone like... um, um, er... (Damn these brain cells, can't remember what I was saying!)

Artistic creativity is very difficult to maintain as one ages, not because the process of getting older necessarily entails a loss of that creativity, but because age tends to multiply one's responsibilities and redirect one's energies elsewhere. A lot of my own creative energy is taken up with solving practical problems, not playing with ideas. Solving practical problems is often a very creative endeavor and a rewarding one, but it doesn't produce many sonnets.

There is also the issue of having less energy in general. Bodies wear out. It is a glacially slow process most of the time, but aging is not imaginary. It shows. All you have to do is look and see. So, as you age you are dealing with some definite trends that work against having an excess of time and energy for artistic endeavors.

Momus identified the offsetting trend: experience enriches one's store of knowledge and the web of associations. Generally, one has more memories to draw on and has experienced more emotions over a broader range and to a greater depth. You've just seen more and done more. That helps. Some. But only if you have the time and energy to use them to some purpose.

If you want to practise an art, any art, the big trick is to fiercely protect a piece of your life where you can continue to practise your art from youth onwards. If you "temporarily" expunge it from your life in favor of giving the time to other pursuits, then don't be surprised if in middle age you look back and wonder how on earth you might retrace your steps back to that point and take a different path. You have to keep your oar in the water.

How about Frank Lloyd Wright?

Whoa, this seems really relevant to me. I have this feeling that I'm holding onto a certain area and not letting it join in with all my other energies. This is somewhat effecting my ability to do much better in grades or other work, but I like to think it is a good sacrifice. Sometimes I think to myself, "I'll put this off and just concentrate on school work", but I guess it would be better to not put everything into something I don't care as much for.

kids just lack the good sense to inhibit themselves

In terms of actual generation of creative product, I'm definitely more creative than I was as a whippersnapper. And that younger version of me would be pleased to know that my creative brain hasn't become significantly less fucked up in my dotage.

Ditto.

I think it's a difference between what they call 'divergent' vs 'convergent' thinking. Younger people generally tend to be able to generate a lot of ideas but lack the creative maturity to filter them down, develop and implement them. OTOH adults will find coming up with pure creative ideas more difficult but will be better at taking a suggestion and turning it into something workable - two different kinds of creativity at work

I'm definitely much more creative now in my 40s compared to when I was in my 20s. Both in terms of coming up with ideas and working on them.

My forties and early fifties feel like they were my creative peak.

self praise is etc lads

I do feel like I'm more successfully creative at 37 than I was fifteen years ago or whatever.

But also, fifteen years ago, I wasn't actively pursuing a creative endeavor, either.

deems, one shouldn't necessarily conflate creativity/productivity with quality. I mean, you've seen what I produce here. You've seen it.

aye, dmac, you're all wet. those statements only reference oneself relative to oneself.

Dmacs wet

I'm making much better trousers than when I was younger. Shirts too, skills I only picked up a few years ago.
Not sure what else i've picked up recently, guess that's my main media.

for me:

youth= ambition, energy
aging= taste, patience

i'm only 30 but

Infinitely more creative in my forties, with actual verifiable finished work, than I was in my twenties when I was full of half baked ideas and nothing to show for it.
At some point I learned to not take myself too seriously and that was key.

youth= ambition, energy
aging= taste, patience

That about sums it up for me. Also, 1) it seems like the creative well takes longer to fill back up, but I'm not as anxious when it's empty, I've been through the process enough times, and 2) when I do have an idea that seems decent, I'm not quite as concerned with getting it out as soon as possible. I have a little more faith that it will still be around when I have time, and that I'll be able to execute it then.

If I had as much free time as I once did, I'd probably be a lot more productively creative but now for some reason my time is taken up massively. Either that or I spread myself thin with multiple projects rather than concentrating on one

At some point I learned to not take myself too seriously and that was key.

^^^^

I think a good example of of this late period creativity was Gary Anderson taking a shit in his clothes to gain a creative advantage over his opponent in a recent grand slam darts final. No youngster would be able to play that type of low cunning game!

For me, youth was plenty of ambition but no direction, or rather several hundred directions all at the same time with the result that nothing got done.