Inertia — Nº168
Turning your obsession into art
A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it. Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom, and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight. By using words well they strengthen their souls. Story-tellers and poets spend their lives learning that skill and art of using words well. And their words make the souls of their readers stronger, brighter, deeper.
— Ursula Le Guin
Art imitates life; Ursula Le Guin knew it all too well. As the sole arbiter of her work, she was an open soul who recognised that “truth is a matter of the imagination”, creating wonders from the whispers of her mind.
“Trust your obsession” is what I realised our minds say to us as we grow up. Take it from the Neil Gaiman quote from 1997:
People sometimes ask whether the research or the idea for the story comes first for me. And I tell them, normally the first thing that turns up is the obsession: for example, all of a sudden I notice that I’m reading nothing but English 17th century metaphysical verse. And I know it’ll show up somewhere—whether I’ll name a character after one of those poets, or use that time period, or use the poetry, I have no idea. But I know one day it’ll be there waiting for me. You don’t always use your obsessions. Sometimes you stick them onto the compost heap in the back of your head, where the rot down, and attach to other things, and get half-forgotten, and will, one day, turn into something completely usable. Go where your obsessions take you.
Obsession is quite like a burning ember. It often carries this negative connotation, but it thoughtfully fills you with warmth through the many eras of your life. No matter how much you try to bury it, it will always find its way out. Those fixations and all-consuming thoughts that fuel you. It might seem like an unhealthy fixation. Yet, in truth, it’s a potential wellspring from which your art can emerge.
Le Guin used obsession as raw material for which her art was forged. Her dedication to the craft of writing demonstrated how an incessant love for words can lead to profound literary works that enrich the human experience. Her stories and poems share a meticulous care for language, reflecting her deep-seated attachment.
Turning things into art requires an alchemical transformation, where your inner fire pours out the creation of something greater than the sum of its parts. This summoning is not immediate; it involves a slow period of gestation where ideas and inspirations are allowed to mingle and mature. As Gaiman described, obsessions often lie dormant, fermenting until they are ripe for release.
I didn’t wake up one day and suddenly want to be a writer. I trailed two decades of clues: arbitrary interests in writing, various languages, and rhetoric that later turned into my own meaningful work. It was as if I left my obsession with words to simmer and evolve, underscoring the importance of patience and trust in what I knew I wanted.
This type of act can be seen in the works of countless other artists across different mediums: Vincent van Gogh’s fixation on the night sky birthed in the iconic “Starry Night,” where he converged the cosmos and emotional turmoil on a canvas. And Mary Shelley’s fascination with the boundaries of motherhood, life, and death became central to the creation of “Frankenstein.”
The transformation of obsession into art is an act of liberation. Because it is through this process that artists find their voice and contribute to the collective human experience. By trusting and nurturing their obsessions, we can create work that is not only an expression of our innermost thoughts and feelings but also a source of inspiration and strength for others.
In a world that often values conformity and practicality, be an artist. For it is the artist's willingness to pursue their obsessions reminds us of the importance of passion and creativity. It is a testament to the power of art to be above the ordinary and learn to trust just how capable you are.