Being Creative Means Taking Risks

http://hbr.org/2008/09/how-pixar-fosters-collective-creativity/ar/1

I really like this article in Harvard Business Review entitled "How Pixar Fosters Collective Creativity."

The author, Ed Catmull, wrote: "Pixar is a community in the true sense of the word. We think that lasting relationships matter, and we share some basic beliefs: Talent is rare. Management’s job is not to prevent risk but to build the capability to recover when failures occur. It must be safe to tell the truth."

The creative process of making a movie, he says, involves the creative input of a host of people. It's the sum result of tens of thousands of ideas.

The same holds true in writing a book. When a person reads a book, she isn't consciously aware of the number of ideas and choices make up that book. It's really quite staggering. The selection of each scene, each trait of each character--yes, even each sentence and word--is the result of the author's conscious choice.

Creating a movie, says Catmull, is all about being scared; it's about taking risks. Again, the same holds true in writing books. Will our burst of imagination be understood by the reader? Appreciated? It's the chance we must take.