The Craftsman’s Workshop: Cultivating Imagination

Spring is springing! Flowers are blooming, and life returns after the death of winter. How fitting for the end of Lent and the coming of Pascha. 

Just as in nature, my own creative journey is entering a new spring.

In a Certain Land Russian Fairy Tale Kickstarter

I just concluded my recent Kickstarter for the third volume of Russian fairy tales ~ In a Certain Land: Wise Fools, Cunning Dragons, and Baba Yaga. Thanks to you all, this Kickstarter was an astonishing success, pulling in $46,558K, an absurd 4656% above our funding goal. This is far and away the most successful Kickstarter I’ve run! 

On a personal note, I see this as a validation of my choice to consider a slower approach to creativity (see my blog on Cal Newport’s new book, which is all about focusing on quality, working seasonally, and doing fewer things.) 

Where I’m Focusing My Creative Energy

As I mentioned in my last blog, I recently announced a project that’s been literally years in the making – the official launch of Wood Between Worlds Press, the new publisher of this generation’s Inklings.

It’s so exciting to see people resonating with this mission! While the articles I’m writing and the interviews I’m hosting are a distillation and focusing of many of the scattered creative projects I’ve tried over the past few years, even I am surprised by how this new project is producing results that are even deeper and more impactful than I could have imagined. This seems to be a kind of crowning moment as I gather my scattered energies and focus on doing fewer things and doing them well. 

And you know what’s interesting? Everywhere I look, more and more people are gravitating to this style of slow productivity, focusing inward, and going deep and not wide. Jonathan Pageau is doing it. Richard Rohlin is doing it. Even Jordan Peterson, to a certain degree, is focusing on doing a few things instead of trying to conquer the world with his charisma. It’s an interesting moment!

The Wood Between the Worlds Interviews

Part of the hope I have for The Wood Between the Worlds is that we use it as a vehicle to deeply explore why we all ache and yearn for the kind of literature that we first encountered in Narnia and The Lord of the Rings. 

Many of us have had encounters with people who are quite vituperous in their insistence that Christians who are seeking a Godly life should not waste their time on such frivolous things as fiction. But if that’s the case:

• Why do we keep coming back to these stories? 
• What quality is it that makes them not only entertaining, but also deeply transformational? 
• Where do we find more stories like this, and how can we establish a trusted canon for speculative and imaginative fiction when it’s all so new?

These are the questions our Substack seeks to answer. 

I want to share some of the early fruits of this effort with you. If you’ve already listened to the two conversations I just hosted on The Wood Between the Worlds, tell me what you think in the comments! If you haven’t listened, I’ll share my biggest takeaways with you below.

Either way, make sure you subscribe to our Substack! This is where I’m focusing a lot of my creative energy, so if you want a front-row seat, you’ll want to sign up!

7 Takeaways on Cultivating Imagination from My Conversation with Fr. Silouan Justiniano

On April 16th, I enjoyed an incredibly fruitful conversation with Fr. Silouan Justiniano, regular contributor at Orthodox Arts Journal, about cultivating the imagination. 

Fr. Silouan is a delightful man! If you encountered him on the street, he wouldn’t make an impression on you. But if you encountered his writings, you’d think he was some 6’4” giant warrior because he writes with a great deal of power. No matter what room he’s in, his presence fills it. 

Here are a seven key takeaways about cultivating imagination:

1. We Are Created in the Image of God in Our Ability to Create

Fr. Silouan beautifully articulated the theological truth that we are made in the image of God in our capacity to create. I’ve always been attracted to this idea but have not found it explicitly stated by many theological authorities. 

To hear Fr. Silouan reference St. John of Damascus in the Philokalia in relation to man being made in God’s image in his ability to create was immensely encouraging to me. From there, we can talk about Tolkien’s idea of subcreation as participating in the image of God. 

2. We Are Responsible for Growing into the Likeness of God in Our Creative Work

But let’s take it a step further. In the Orthodox ascetic tradition (and the Christian mystical tradition in general), the idea is that every human bears the image of God, whereas God’s likeness is something we grow into. In other words, the reality of being human is one of constant change, and it’s up to us to make sure that that change is for the better. 

Part of our responsibility to grow in God’s likeness, especially for those of us who have a creative gift, is to develop our creative inclinations (which includes cultivating imagination) in a way that is virtuous. 

I also love that Fr. Silouan made sure to say that striving to become virtuous humans will give added power to our creativity because then our art comes from a place of renewed humanity. This kind of art has the potential to help others grow in virtue themselves.

I love the image of Theophanes the Greek, a famous iconographer in the Russian style, who was described in one of Fr. Silouan’s articles as creating in a rush of instant and vibrant speed that didn’t involve much thought. Yet Theophenes created this way not in a flash of inspiration that comes from excessive exuberance, but rather in a cooperative act of harmony between creator and created that is only possible when mediated by a deep and profound study of tradition over a long period of time. 

This is very important, so let me restate it: You have to be steeped in the forms you are creating. You have to study and emulate the masters for a long time before you’re able to do what they did in your own style. 

This is such a beautiful image! Such an incredible thing to aspire to! Such a frightening thing to attempt! But also one that really resonates with me. 

3. The Terrifying Freedom of Art is a Reflection of Our God-Given Free Will

Fr. Silouan also talked about the terrifying freedom of art and its connection with the spiritual life. The freedom to create is connected with the freedom God gives us to choose Him or deny Him. For this reason, the absolute autonomy of the individual is a prerequisite for good art making, and even for good living. 

In fact, Fr. Silouan echoed something I myself have often thought: both the left and the right fear this freedom of creative autonomy because it requires a total abandonment of control. I’ve been attacked by people on both sides who do not like to relinquish that control over how others live.

Allowing others freedom is such an important, albeit challenging, thing to live out. It means giving freedom to your wife, your kids, to everyone around you, while also never allowing freedom to become the thing that destroys harmony. As we know, excessive freedom and improvisation can destroy. It can become Melchor’s melody.

4. We Must Deeply Steep Ourselves in the Tradition of Our Artforms

For the art critic, this absolute need for a zone of autonomy necessitates humility and a space of silence and contemplation as we receive the art that is given balanced by deep cultivation and study in the language of the specific forms being used. 

His challenge to those of us who are on the receiving end of culture and art is to consider those forms that are difficult to accept and take time to train ourselves and cultivate our taste. Of course, it’s absolutely anathema to our post-modern world to suggest that such a thing as objective taste exists. But without it, you just can’t make transcendent art. 

When everything is a matter of taste, it’s actually a reflection of personal passion. And those negative proclivities should not be followed through lest they devour you. 

5. Art Doesn’t Compel; It Invites

The need for personal autonomy means that art is an invitation to a shared vision of the beautiful. This idea that art invites and doesn’t command or compel is difficult for me to accept. I want my books to compel my readers!

The kenosis of the artist (the self-emptying of the artist) is an act of humility. It means essentially letting go of the art and letting people dispose of it as they choose. That is a scary thing, but without it, there cannot be that beautiful meeting in the middle between author and reader, storyteller and story receiver, culture maker and culture propagator. That meeting is only possible when art is an invitation and not an act of coercion or propaganda.

6. All Men Are Craftsmen

The final beautiful thought from Fr. Silouan addresses why the Church Fathers don’t have many writings about the artistic component of the spiritual life. Fr. Silouan said this: the very idea of the life of the artist as being separate from the life of the normal human is an idea that only arises from the Romantics in the 18th and 19th centuries. 

A much more ancient way of looking at it is this: craftsmanship is the art form of every human, and every human must be a craftsman at something. Artists are not specially elevated, initiated, and kissed by the divine. All humans should be considered artists. So no wonder the Fathers didn’t explicitly write about the artistic life – it was assumed!

7. Cultivating Imagination: The Daemon of Creativity

Bonus: Remember my recent conversation with Martin Shaw about the daemon of creativity? I asked Fr. Silouan if there is such a thing as a personal daemon of creativity, and his answer was lovely. 

He said yes, there is a personal daemon of creativity in the sense that our art may be inspired and helped by our guardian angel, the Holy Spirit, and/or a patron saint of our art. 

He even issued a special challenge to consider which saint is most interested in the art that you are creating or the artistic journey you are taking, then entering into a relationship with that saint or patron through prayer. What a wonderful quest, and what a good way to consider cultivating imagination! I’m certainly going to try this. 

A Conversation with Award-Winning Author Tim Powers

I won’t go into as much detail about my conversation with Tim Powers, suffice it to say it was a pure joy! It’s such a pleasure to be in the company of a man who has done nothing but create wonderful, entertaining, exciting books that are always slightly infused with something greater. (If you haven’t yet read his novel Declare, I highly recommend it. Talk about cultivating imagination! It’s filled with intimations of the sacred.)

What stuck out to me the most is the joy that he has in life and how it comes out in the way he talks, the stories he writes, and how he interacts with people. That joy completely suffuses his works – it’s there in every single page of his novels. The man loves to tell stories, and that love creates a special bond with his readers and points to something greater. 

He gave some really excellent writing tips for those developing their stories, and he was so gentle and humble about his approach to the transcendent in his writing. He also revealed a lot more than he realized when he said that cats consider his home and vehicle a safe haven for abandoned kittens. My goodness, that says everything you need to know about Tim Powers! 

Two Promised Announcements!

These months have been so important for helping me formulate a vision for my creative life, including the continuation of my podcast Fantasy for Our Time and my patron-only book club. 

1. The New Fantasy for Our Time

Fantasy for our time was what I thought I needed to exorcize the analytical demons of my nature. Yes, I admit it: I need to talk about stories just as much as I need to tell them. (I almost wish I could be more like Tim Powers and be in storyteller mode all the time, but that is not my particular calling.) So I funneled all those energies into Fantasy for Our Time. But I was surprised when I very quickly ran out of things to say! 

Then I stumbled on the idea that The Wood Between the Worlds needs to be the place where people talk about and actively participate in the formation of canons of speculative and imaginative fiction. And that, my friends, is exactly the right outlet for my analytical mind! 

So, my Fantasy for Our Time podcast will officially merge into The Wood Between the Worlds Substack podcast.

2. The New Book Club

Related to this, my Patreon book club is going to be seeking out and discussing, in conversation with other great storytellers, the books that should go into this canon. We already have recommended reading lists from Tim Powers, from Richard Rohlin, and from my own personal forays into seeking good books. Soon we’ll have even more recommendations for cultivating imagination as I speak with other cultural commentators and storytellers.

So this will be the new north star of our book club, and it will be hosted on The Wood Between the Worlds Substack platform. It will be available not only to my patrons, but also to paid members of our Substack.

Doing a Few Things Well

As you can see, I’m focusing on doing a few things well as opposed to doing a lot of things in as many places as possible. The results have already been astonishingly fruitful, and I look forward to sharing more about them as I go deeper into my craftsman’s journey!