The Dynamics of Creation

by Anthony Storr

What drives the artist to create masterpieces and the scientist to forge breakthrough theories? This is the fundamental question that British psychiatrist Anthony Storr sets out to answer in The Dynamics of Creation.

Storr begins by debunking the popular notion that creative people are necessarily motivated by neurosis. Although creativity can spring from a desire for power, wealth, prestige or sexual conquest, at its deepest level it is an integrative impulse that both nourishes and consoles the human soul. In probing the origins and the consequences of creativity, Storr paints brief, stunningly insightful portraits of an astonishing range of gifted individuals, including Leonardo da Vinci, Darwin, Mozart, Einstein, Kafka, Newton, Balzac and Wagner. Like his bestselling Solitude, The Dynamics of Creation is a brilliantly compelling synthesis of psychology, biography, cultural analysis and artistic appreciation.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Art, Philosophy

304 pages, Paperback

First published September 4, 1972

About the author

Anthony Storr was an English psychiatrist and author. He was a child who was to endure the typical trauma of early 20th century UK boarding schools. He was educated at Winchester, Christ's College, the University of Cambridge and Westminster Hospital. He qualified as a doctor in 1944, and subsequently specialized in psychiatry.

Storr grew up to be kind and insightful, yet, as his obituary states, he was "no stranger to suffering" and was himself allegedly prone to the frequent bouts of depression his mother had.

Today, Anthony Storr is known for his psychoanalytical portraits of historical figures.

Reviews

[Aurélien Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

What drive scientists and artists to create? Anthony Storr was a psychiatrist, so it's no wonder he is approaching the problem here from a psychodynamic perspective. As such, I personally found 'The Dynamics of Creation' quite a tough read, as I am quite unfamiliar with psychoanalysis and its share of jargon and abstract meanderings. Yet, insightful, it wasn't difficult to the point of being inaccessible and, considering its punchy conclusion, I was happy to have followed the author's reasoning. It may seem hard (even dull at times!) but the journey worth it. Here's indeed a ground breaking book which, published in 1972, shattered many misconceptions about creativity, and in so doing redefined our view of what it means to engage with art especially.

In fact, what used to set the author apart from his predecessors and colleagues in the field is that, he didn't reduce creativity as being solely wish-fulfilment and sublimation of primitive drives, and work of art the by-product and reflection only of neurosis of some sort (sexual in particular, since it's what Freud seemed to have been mostly concerned about). Not that he disagreed with such view; but, as with psychoanalysis as a whole, such approach had its limit that he clearly acknowledged.

Here was indeed the problem: because it tended to focus on creation as a result, psychoanalysis as applied in a purely Freudian tradition completely ignored it as a process. Hence, it couldn't explain fully what motivate the drive to create nor why, for that matter, creativity is such an important human endeavour.

Now, sure, he too uses psychiatry and focuses on schizoid and depressive temperaments to try and find some sort of explanation (is there a link between some mental illnesses and creativity?) since, among unusually highly creative people, many suffered from personality disorders of some sorts. But, what he actually does by taking the extreme examples of such creative and mentally ill personalities is to connect their reasons to create with the working psyche of everyone else. His claim indeed (again, ground breaking for his time) is that their work resonate within us all because, the psychodynamic forces that motivate them are also present within us all.

'Creativity is one mode adopted by gifted people of coming to terms with, or finding symbolic solutions for, the internal tensions and dissociations from which all human beings suffer in varying degree. The less gifted find other, less obviously creative, solutions (…)'

'(…) highly creative people are just extreme examples of a general human phenomenon.'

This may seem obvious now, but at the time it made for a new and staggering conclusion that is, creativity is adaptative. It is not a trait apart from other human behaviours those evolutionary purpose is more evident (whole chapters are dedicated to play). It also is, itself, a behaviour that serves an evolutionary purpose. Which one? That's where Anthony Storr concludes, with a brilliant discussion of Carl Jung's concept of 'individuation'.

Here's a tough and challenging read for those unfamiliar with the psychoanalytic intricacies. Yet, once surmounted the jargon and dull (and often dry) writing style of the author, unfolds an exciting view of creation. It took a psychiatrist having himself a deep appreciation for science and art (it shows in his portrait of various personalities) to extirpate creativity from the grip of those who just wanted to see it as solely 'neurotic'.

Ground breaking and significant.

[Christen · Rating 2 out of 5]

My guess is this book was more groundbreaking when it was published in the 1970s. When Storr talks about the artist he (along with Freud) is only talking about men, despite the fact that women have been creating art for centuries. Furthermore, the book is entirely concerned with Freud's theory that all artists (i.e. men) create out of wish fulfillment. Well, I hardly care for Freud whether in psychoanalysis or literary criticism, so Storr need not bother convincing me. I picked up the book because it was referenced in another book I read and enjoyed. Unfortunately, I can't remember which one now. It was a wasted effort.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly interesting book. Great psychoanalysis of Einstein, Ian Fleming, and others.
It's so interesting to read this exploration of the creative impulse, mostly in writers - I don't think that the conclusions drawn by Anthony Storr are necessarily correct, but he is very detailed and amusing in his examination of the possible explanations.
Just a great read.

[Ilze · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthony Storr is a clearly a follower of Freud. Be that as it may, his in-depth study into the what's and why-for's that come about when humans engage in creative activity is quite interesting.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very intelligent enquiry into the mind of creative people. A previous reviewer stated he was a follower of Freud, from my experience of reading Anthony Storr i wouldnt say that this was the case he clearly knows Freud's work very well but he clearly states that Freud misses the mark when it comes to creativity and that Storr's outcomes are of much more relevance to todays understanding of creative minds and he shows Jung was much more advanced in his views of creativity than Freud. I made 4 pages of A4 notes whilst reading so for me that gives an indication of how much i enjoyed reading it, i think people will get more out of it if they are creatively inclined and they write music, or paint or write poetry/literature. Thats not to say someone who isnt creatively minded wont enjoy it, i think they would get a lot out of it especially if they know someone who is creative.

There is a huge amount of detailed research and Storr's understanding of the human condition makes it a fascinating read. I could quote many sections of this book, but i'll actually quote 2 other people that Storr uses - Gibbon - "Conversation enriches the understanding but solitude is the school of genius" and Einstein - "I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.

[Mari · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a long time ago that I read it, but it was stunning at the time. Unlike an Amazon review of it which I just read today,I didn't feel that Storr necessarily says in this book that creative people are mentally unwell: I think he simply takes the various extremes of some exceptional creatives and shows how their personalities shaped the work they did. He ceertainly describes the creative process and how life becomes art ...

I would personally always separate creative work from therapy: writing and painting can be used in therapy, maybe can be therapy, but the creation of art is not purely therapy for the soul. Besides, what is wrong with turning personal suffering into a universal statement of what it is to be human?

[Daniel Gallimore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book for the first time almost forty yours ago, and the pencil marks in my copy bear witness to the excitement with which I encountered it then. In retrospect, the theme of creativity seems very much of its time, and the divide Storr makes between a normal 'majority' and a basically incurable schizoid or psychotic 'minority' somewhat depressing, all the more so if one is not Schumann or Isaac Newton and lacks the innate talent to use one's symptom creatively. One also wonders, in the light of the so-called 'mental health epidemic', whether labels such as 'schizoid' and 'psychotic' mean very much to people nowadays, and whether it is not sufficient just to 'enjoy one's symptom' and learn new behaviours, as recommended by cognitive behavioural therapy, rather than having to delve into one's earliest experiences. Nevertheless, the goal of the integrated personality is surely of universal relevance, and this deeply erudite but accessible book offers many hints to help us on our way.

[Jeffrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely painful and straight up embarrassing read

[Jane Yu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beats going to the therapist. Incredible.