When to go simple, when to go complex?

March 19, 2009 3:56 PM

When creating, would you pursue a simple premise you know you can execute to perfection, or would you pursue a really complex you know might flop?

I know what I'm really asking about is how to get through a creative process. I do believe you should learn how to draw before you can paint Abstract Expressionism. Maybe I just need some reassurance from Internet strangers.

One piece of me-specific information: I've been at this for about five years, but wouldn't say I can do it at a professional level yet.

posted by world b free to writing & language (7 comments total)

Yes.

Not at the same time.

Both are genuine and valuable creative endeavours, as long as you treat them as such.
posted by Aquaman at 4:00 PM on March 19

Keep it simple. Most of the best movies are simple. Star Wars is simple.

When great movies are complex, it is because their story is the simplest way to solve a narrative problem. Try to keep the story you are telling as simple as possible while telling the story you want to tell.

Complexity in great stories comes out of the need to tell the story right, not a desire to tell a complex story.
posted by musofire at 4:04 PM on March 19

Simple is usually harder than complex, in almost all creative endeavours. True genius/talent is knowing what to take away.

That being said, going for the complex thing is much smarter earlier in your career. It may succeed, and if so hurrah! But if it fails, you have a lot more that you've learned, and you'll be better prepared for next time knowing that A+B+C+D+E didn't work, try A+B+C instead. All artists--visual, music, cooking, writing, whatever--tend towards simplicity as they deepen their knowledge and hone their particular craft.

So I would go for the complex, probably, based on what little you've said. If it is a flop, so what? Failure is a much, much better teacher than success.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 4:09 PM on March 19 [1 favorite has favorites]

Keep the premise simple. If it's too complicated, you don't have enough room to play with character and action, and quite often the dialogue becomes just characters telling us information rather than interacting like people. Play out your desire for complexity by having rich, interesting characters.
posted by macadamiaranch at 4:14 PM on March 19

The fact that you understand both concepts and how they are inversely related makes me think that you understand the difference between risky and conservative.

Sorry to tell you...but I think you can actually do either because of the above.

Congratulations and good luck.
posted by hal_c_on at 9:38 PM on March 19

I've been diving into really complex writing and research projects for the past two or three years, though my work is all nonfiction journalism. I think the practice of going outside my comfort zone, though it yielded bad results initially, has really elevated my work in the long run.

I had a couple of huge frustrating failures early on. I think outside observers would probably just call them average or mediocre efforts, but they didn't live up to my own standards for myself, and I'm still embarrassed about the results. I forced myself to get these early efforts to a level where they could be deemed "complete," even if I thought they were pretty ugly, and then I left them behind in the past.

After several years of failing and learning from failure, I've had a breakthrough in the past few months. I'm doing the best work of my creative life, and I feel as though I've learned to assimilate complex ideas and express them with simplicity. Others have noticed. I would never have gotten here by building my way up to complicated projects. I had to attempt the big stuff and learn from failure in order to succeed.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 10:11 PM on March 19

I do either. Whatever strikes me at the time. If you want to create, getting over fear of failure is necessary.
posted by Nattie at 9:20 AM on March 20 [1 favorite has favorites]