The Creation

Imagination. Without it, pretty much any form of entertainment you hold dear would disappear, or rather never be brought into existence in the first place. Think about it: Star Wars, Stargate, Zelda, Mario, Lord of the Rings, [zombies], you get the idea. How does it work? Your guess is as good as mine.

How do you come up with a spaceship that leaves Earth
millions of years ago on a mission to discover the universe?

I've been re-watching the first season of Stargate Universe, getting ready for the bittersweet return of the series for its final 10 episodes in two weeks, and it got me thinking about the creators behind the show. The Stargate franchise has been around for nearly 15 years, and it has definitely evolved since then. Early on, it was an easy fix to suggest that most of the alien races the lead team SG-1 came across would be human and speak English since the race that seeded the galaxy were human-like and spoke an early form of Latin and English. Just go with it. Anyway, years later, and more than two galaxies later, Stargate has matured to dealing with races they can't easily communicate with, that don't have names, science that makes a hell of a lot more sense, and human nature. So why am I mentioning all of this (and admiring SGU while I'm at it)? All of this stuff is from people's imaginations, except for most of the science of course.

I'm a huge fan of science fiction, if you couldn't tell, but there's more to it than just being a fan. It's fuel for my brain tank. Let me be more specific, being a part of a GURPS (Generic Universal Role Playing System) campaign, I've needed to come up with a character. It's not as simple as this is his name, this is what he does. I mean, it could be, but there's no fun in that. Hell, the GM (game master, basically the same as a dungeon master) has to be a million times more creative than me, generating an entire canon for a non-existant universe, you can check it out [here], and then I have to fit my character into that. It's creation, almost at its finest. I'd like to consider myself a creative person, and this past weekend I created my character for this campaign. It was a lot of fun, and something that I had missed doing. I've even worked on writing a short story to go along with my character. The feeling is similar to being stuck on a question on your final exam, when suddenly, after staring at it for ten minutes, the answer suddenly comes to you.

Imagination and creation are like that, they are fulfilling and exhilarating. Sometimes it's enough to watch the work of other people's imagination, like George Lucas, Shigeru Miyamoto, and Joss Whedon. For others, like me, you need more. You need to get your hands dirty. I've tried on many occasion to write down the things I imagine. I've created universes, timelines, characters, stories a plenty, but the hardest part is translating imagination to creation. To build from the schematics in your head can be a difficult task, especially if you're not a talented artist or linguist. Suggestions? I wish I had some beyond "keep at it" because that's how I deal with it.

25 years and counting

Another technique is immerse yourself in something that inspires you. For example, the legendary world of Hyrule. Yesterday was the 25th [Anniversary] of the creation of the kingdom that perpetually falls into darkness, and the green clad boy who rises to save it. While over a quarter century the characters have changed a bit, the core story of The Legend of Zelda remains the same, and from that the imagination runs free. People may think that because you use the same core dynamic over and over, that you lack inspiration and creativity. I can see how this can be true, but the manipulation of that same mechanic can still offer an amazing story and an incredible experience.

The point, if there is a point to all of this is imagination leads to creation. You need to let it happen. We all have our triggers for inspiration. The best thing to do is not force it, let it wash over you and zen stuff like that. And the most important thing...

Dream on.

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