Creativity, Part 3 – Timeless Relevancy

With “Little Brother” as a Guide

Readers may find Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother to be inspirational, but it doesn’t seem to foster creativity on the surface. It’s a story about governmental overreach in the name of security (see my article “Fear and Security in Little Brother”). And while Doctorow is clear about wanting to enable rebels to push back and be creative, I realized some contradictory views on his book could be a launch point for our instruction. Therefore, in this edition of our creativity series, we’ll examine how to create perpetually relevant content.

Historic Archive or Built to Survive

It is important to note not all content or art should be evergreen. Maybe you want to give an opinion on something that is (or will shortly be) obsolete, or you’re latching on to a fad. But when you want to make an enduring statement, there are several things to keep in mind.

While researching the book I found an interesting dichotomy between a critic and the author. In 2008, critic Nav Purewal gave a balanced review but said, “…a computer-savvy 15-year-old would probably find Little Brother entirely worthwhile, and she wouldn’t be wrong. Just don’t expect anyone over the age of 20 to read the whole thing voluntarily.” I was 27 in 2008 and I can’t tell you emphatically how I would have felt about the book, but I would definitely have read the story voluntarily…and probably enjoyed it. 

But in 2018, Cory Doctorow explained why his book was still relevant. On the surface this seems arrogant and a little “hindsight-is-20-20-ish.” Like, of course, you can say it was successful after it was successful. But that’s not exactly what Doctorow said. Yes, the book is successful - taught from middle school through West Point Academy - yet our lesson today comes from Doctorow’s ideas about how your work can remain relevant long after release. 

“As They Are”

The author claims Little Brother (and the other two books rounding out the series) was part of the first generation of Sci-Fi to consider computers and the internet “as they are, rather than as metaphors for technology more generally.” What does that mean…and how does it help us with creativity? Here’s my translation: Create something new based on existing elements.

Much of Doctorow’s book, from the title (a witty take on Nineteen Eighty-Four’s “Big Brother”) to true XBox encryption to falling in love, are based on humanity’s existing knowledge or experiences. Where Doctorow’s imagination soars is in finding a winning combination of existing truths. It’s not hard to explore elements “as they are,” but it takes next level creativity to combine them into something never seen before.

See…your patience was worth it, we’re finally getting to the creativity payoff. And don’t get bummed that our example focuses on fiction (and specifically Sci- Fi at that), it’s my job to broaden the application.

Finding the Universal Constant

Now is a good time for me to quickly define creativity. As previously mentioned, I view creativity as problem-solving…and thinking outside the box, but mostly problem-solving. So, regarding timelessness, one commentator says, “Think about the principles, concepts, or strategies that are unlikely to change in your field. For instance, in the realm of finance, “How to Establish a Budget” is an enduring topic.” This retrains our brains on how often we use creativity and where we can implement universal constants.

Full disclosure, Doctorow did explain his “as they are” wisdom from earlier, but his clarification is also a little confusing. However, the second key to relevancy can be found if we dig deeper. Doctorow explains,

“Just write stories in which computers can run all the programs, and almost no one understands that fact. Just write stories in which authority figures, and mass movements, and well-meaning people, and unethical businesses, all insist that because they have a really good reason to want to stop some program from running or some message from being received, it must be possible.”

A little confusing, right? I think the essence of Doctorow’s statement is to find something generally true, but where a large group of audience members are unaware of its validity. Again, it must be both: (1) Universally true and (2) most people don’t realize it’s true.

None of us have a crystal ball but there are certainly generally true things across cultures and time. Humans will always need air, food, and water. Ah, but are people aware of those necessities? Yes, except I’d counter, do the same people take those necessities for granted? Maybe acclimated counts as unaware.

We can come up with more universal truths: transportation, work, and taxes are part of life. And speaking of which…death. These are all truths that have a good chance of existing 50 years from now. But I think to truly be creative, we need to dig deeper.

Consider your audience. What aspects of your universal truth(s) challenge their worldview? There is a balance in finding that which the audience relates to and then pushing it into something they didn’t know or which challenges them. Lastly, be careful of your presuppositions about what are universal constants. Some hypothesize that time is a social contract, as Brendan Patrick Blowers says, “…any ideas of time that you impose on art…is informed by your own culture’s perception of time.”

Every Evergreen Must Come to an End

Finally, timelessly relevant creativity has a mystic quality, something understandable and yet always providing new vistas. Little Brother does this in telling an intelligible story while giving revelations upon re-reading.

Previously quoted author Brendan Patrick Blowers explores this “both fully realized and unresolved” element in depth. Here’s a snippet:

“What makes timeless things different is the air of mystery and inherent energy that permeates a timeless work of art…A distancing effect that tells us no matter how many times we look, there will always be something more to see.”

I didn’t set out to talk about the spiritual or mystic in this article, but it always seems to come up. Granted, I’m a Christian and do search for spiritual themes, yet I also believe God is inextricably tied to our creativity. And I’ll add the caveat that if we attempt to tap into the spiritual purely to achieve timeless content it will become fraudulent and short-lived.

But if we take these truths and marry them to what God tells us in the Bible, we will have honest work. No guarantees it will be immediately timeless, but as we work at it, it becomes more honest. So paint your picture, sew your costume, write your piece, or film your video with a theme that will most likely exist in the future and be a revelation when your audience finds out it’s true!