Creative Subconscious?

I believe, if we are honest with ourselves, all artists would agree that creativity is a mystery.  For centuries the common belief was that creativity was something external to the human being and the lucky few were visited by the external power more or less on a regular but whimsical basis.  We can site the Muses for the Greeks, the concept of genius for the Romans.

 Jung gave us a different view with the concept of archetypes and the collective unconscious.  As I devote more time to creative endeavors I find that the unconscious kicks in especially when I sleep.  While on vacation we’re having the living room painted because it requires skills I just don’t have and am not interested in learning, especially because the project involves painting a stair case.  To prepare for the project everything must be moved out of the living room and all the artwork taken down.  When the job is finished there will be a great opportunity to re-organize both the furniture and the artwork.  One evening I actually dreamt of how the living room could look if placement of the furniture was radically changed.

Maybe it doesn’t sound too dramatic but it’s the process that is important.  I viewed re-organizing as a puzzle to be solved and then let go of it so solutions could bubble up.  I use the same technique when I write.  Recently my editor suggested two significant changes to the plot by suggesting two characters be introduced earlier and given more back-story.  His concern was that the characters were a bit like cardboard and one dimensional.

Both characters are critical to the story since once is the protagonist’s best friend and the other is his lover.  I “slept” on the editor’s suggestion and developed two new chapters each based on one primary scene to introduce both characters much earlier in the book.  To make sure I on the mark with the suggestion, I e-mailed my editor with a very rough synopsis of the two new chapters and he confirmed it was exactly what was needed.

How or why does this work?  I really don’t know.  I have learned, however, to pay attention to it.  I would like to learn how the creative process works for other writers.  Reply to this blog and share how the creative enters your work.