The Creative Instinct

I’m beginning to learn that blogging often involves embarrassing confessions from yours truly. Okay – so today my confession is that I love the early, audition stages of the X Factor. I like to think that I enjoy it as an outsider – not buying into the X Factor ideal, but marvelling at those who so unquestioningly do. That’s my story anyway.

If you’ve never seen the X Factor auditions I’d urge you to swallow your pride, put aside your better judgement and prepare to be entertained and educated in roughly equal proportions. Did I say educated? Oh yes. And I dare you not to be entertained too.

You could, like me, observe the interplay between the panel of judges and other presenters – and speculate just how much of this part of the ‘reality’ has been fabricated and managed in order to add an extra layer of narrative. It’s sometimes obvious, sometimes imperceptible, but you know you’re being manipulated emotionally. I try not to go with the more obvious gambits but often don’t succeed. It’s certainly artful and creative (in a commercial TV context).

But that’s not really why I’m watching.

The Contestants

No. It’s the contestants that make the whole thing so gobsmackingly, amazingly, appallingly interesting. I could call it a freak show, but that would be unkind. I should mention the exploitation of poor souls, which does make me somewhat uneasy. And it’s not the whole picture either. There’s also opportunity and talent, and the old cliche about the sublime to the ridiculous has never been more apt. Each episode of the auditions makes sure you get both, and just about everything in between.

And this is where the real education comes in – because I have never seen anything that so clearly demonstrates what it takes to move towards success. And I don’t care if we are talking about pop music, classical music, fine art, DJ-ing, or whatever your own creative shtick is.

Here are my five categories of attitude. They’re not mutually exclusive.

The Deluded

They’re absolutely hopeless in terms of current ability but are so convinced that they have what it takes that they’re willing to put themselves up for judgement and criticism on national TV. These are the real freaks of the show and perhaps the saddest (in the true sense of the word). Their dreams are about to be shattered. There’s certainly an element of exploitation here.

Bad Attitude

Often with some talent. Rarely with enough.

The unconfident

Held back by their own demons and lack of self belief, but often their talent is very visible. They need nurturing to succeed. If they’re lucky they’ll be chosen and developed. It can be fascinating to watch them blossom.

The Self Aware Worker

Willing to self-critique and listen to constructive feedback. They’ll understand their strengths and weakness, and have the desire to work at them both. And they’ll enjoy doing it. If they’ve got natural talent too they’ll do great things – if they’re not naturals, they can still achieve massively, and find both enjoyment and fulfilment in doing so.

The Raw Talent

Unpolished gems. Whether they’ll ever be more than that depends on which of the previous categories they also fall into.

I don’t suppose anyone can define exactly what the X Factor is in any creative, artistic medium. I’m not even sure if such a thing really exists – and you can definitely do very well without it. But we can certainly learn from the contestants of the TV programme about how to reach great levels of achievement in our own creative sphere – or how not to. What do you think?

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Other articles:
Achieve Artistic Success with Courageous Creativity
Organic Goal Setting