Creative Process of Works

The great question that this paper will, but feebly, attempt to answer is , what is the creative process?

Though much theory has accumulated, little is really known about the power that lies at the bottom of poetic creation. It is true that great poets and artists produce beauty by employing all the powers of personality and by fusing emotions, reason, and intuitions. But what is the magical synthesis that joins and arranges these complex parts into poetic unity?

John L.Lowes, in his justly famous “The Road to Xanadu,” developed one of the earliest and still generally acceptable answers to this tantalizing question. Imaginative creation, he concludes, is a complex process in which the conscious and unconscious minds jointly operate. “There is…the deep well with its chaos of fortuitously blending images; but there is likewise the Vision which sees shining in and through the chaos of the potential lines of Form, and with the Vision, the controlling Will. Which gives to that potential beauty actuality.”

The Deep Well is the unconscious mind that is peopled with the facts, ideas, feelings of the conscious activity. The imaginative vision, an unconscious activity, shines through the land of chaos, of lights and shadows, silently seeking pattern and form. Finally, the conscious mind again, through Will, captures and embodies the idea in the final work of art. In this way is unity born out of chaos.

Though there can be no absolute certainty, there is general agreement that the periods in the development of a creative work parallel, to some extent, Lowes’ theory of Well, Vision, Form, and Will. There are at least three stages in the creative process: preparation, inspiration, work. 

In a sense, the period of preparation is all of the writer’s life. It is the Deep Well. It is the Deep Well. It is especially a period of concentration which gives the unconscious mind an opportunity to communicate with the conscious mind. When remembrance of things past reach the conscious level of the writer’s mind, he is ready to go on with the process. Part of this preparation involves learning a medium—learning a language, learning how to write, learning literary forms. It is important to mot here that form cannot be imposed upon the idea. Evidence, though sparse, shows that the idea gives birth to the form that can best convey it. It is the Vision, according to Lowes, ” which sees shining in and through the chaws of the potential lines of from … ”

1. When remembrance of things past reach the conscious level, the post has reached the stage called
[A] Well.      [B] Vision.       [C] Form.        [D] Will.

2. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
[A] The form determines the subject matter.
[B] The idea determines the form.
[C] Vision makes beauty an actuality.
[D] A writer is unconscious when he prepares his work.

3. The word “fortuitously” in the third paragraph means
[A] accidentally.        [B] luckily.         [C] thoroughly.         [D] potentially.

4. The remembrance of things past is carried on in the 
[A] Deep Well.                     [B] Vision.
[C] Chaotic lights and shadows.        [D] Conscious mind.

答案详解（反白可见）：
1. D. 意志。第三段倒数第二句“最终又是意识的思维，通过意志，在其最终的艺术作品中捕捉和体现了这种思想观念”。第五段第三句：“当作者回溯以往事情达到了有意识的水平时，他就具备（准备）了继续创作进程的条件。这种准备工作中有一部分涉及学习媒介——学习一种语言，学习如何写，学习文学形式。”第二段都体现了意志是有意识思维的集中表现。
A. 源泉，来源，顾名思义，也是最初的东西。     B. 洞察力，视觉。     C.形式。这三项选择在第二，三段集中说明，见难句译注3及第四题答案。
2. B. 思想观念决定形式。这在最后一段倒数第四句：部分准备工作涉及学习媒介——学习语言，学习如何写，学习文学形式之后“这里要注意文学形式不能强加于思想观念。有证据，虽然很少，表明思想观念产生适合传递它的文学形式。
A. 形式决定主题。      C. 形象使美变得真实。      D. 作者在准备写作时处于无意识状态。难句译注3和第四题答案都说明了这三项选择是不对的。
3. A.  偶然的。
B. 幸运的，fortuitously一词确实有幸运的之义。但这里上下文含义是A，见难句译注3。
C. 彻底的，透彻的。         D. 潜在的，可能的。
4. A. 深井（深层的源泉）。见难句译注3和第三句“深层的源泉是无意识思维，内中塞满了各种事实，观点，意识活动的情感。富有想象力的洞察力是一种无意识的活动，在杂乱的土壤中闪烁光辉，忽明忽暗，默默的探索模式和形式。最后，又是有意识的思维，通过意志……。”这里说明回溯过去是在深井阶段进行。
B. 视觉，是在探索表现形式。 C. 杂乱的光亮和阴影，明面和暗面。 D. 有意识思维

翻页查看词汇及难句译注>>>