Creative Cruise Control

On the surface, writing and photography might not have that much in common. I didn't think so, either, until I recently took a digital photography course.

Like a lot of people, I have been at times over-reliant on the automatic settings. And how could you blame me? They’re fantastic. Point, shoot, done. You don’t have to think, you don’t have to worry, and you get a pretty good-looking image with minimal effort.

A lot of people do the same with their writing.

Don’t worry, this isn't some cranky rant against spell-check or any of the other word-processing gadgets that make lives easier for us scriveners. What it is, however, is an observation on a broader point:  When you put your creativity on auto-pilot, you might get good results. But you won’t get great results.

When you learn about a camera’s manual settings, you don’t just learn how to work a piece of machinery—you learn the art and science behind photography itself. Shutter speed, exposure, depth of field, lighting, composition. When you know why things work the way they do, then you know how to fully leverage all the tools at your disposal. The “easy mode” might get you close, but you’ll never be able to take full control of your creative message.

The same goes for putting pen to paper, or keyboard to word processor.

If you just mindlessly bang keys and spew out words on the page, you might, like a roomful of monkeys on typewriters, eventually get something halfway decent.  But if you take the time to not only understand things like grammar and sentence composition, but the finer points of storytelling itself—how to engage an audience from start to finish, and everywhere in between—then you have the makings of something special.

Most people don’t have the patience or aptitude for that, you say? I don’t know. Cameras are pretty complicated, but I see them almost everywhere I go in this city. There are always people capturing different angles, setting up tripods, tinkering with settings.

Writing is far less glamorous, sure. But when it’s done right, it’s just as rewarding. With the same amount of effort, you just might end up with one thousand really good words to complement that picture you just took.