Almost all successful writers are prone to giving the same advice: whether what they produce is good or bad, one must write every day, in order to improve their craft. Garfield creator Jim Davis is one stand-out exception, once commenting: "if you have to force something, then the readers will pick up on that."
In an interview with the Independent celebrating Garfield's 40th anniversary, prolific Garfield writer and artist Jim Davis opened up about his own writing process, explaining the vital part inspiration plays in his creative work.
While emerging writers shouldn't forsake advice from writers such as Stephen King, and Ray Bradbury, who insist authors should hone their skills by producing pages every day, Davis' perspective offers a welcome counterbalance, a reminder that the surest path to great writing is a combination of dedication and inspiration.
Garfield Creator Jim Davies Emphasizes The Value Of Inspiration In Creative Work
"Fortunately, I have funny days," Jim Davis plainly told the Independent in 2018, looking back in retrospect on forty years of Garfield. "Some days you wake up, and you’re just not funny." Whatever their medium, all artists know this feeling. Most commonly called "writer's block," every type of artist is familiar with the panic-inducing feeling of being uninspired, of wanting to create, but not being able to. Writers, in particular, tend to advocate for pushing through this lack of inspiration, in order to find it on the page. Speaking from his own experience, Davis cautions against this.
"If you’re staring at the piece of paper, and you’ve got nothing," Jim Davis explained, "if you have to force something, then the readers will pick up on that in a nanosecond." As an alternative, Davis suggests storing up one's creative energy, until it can't help but flow out:
But if you wait for the funny days, when you get them, the gags just start flowing. Sometimes the ideas are coming so fast I can’t write them down fast enough before I forget them. On those sorts of days, I can get a good couple of weeks’ worth of work done.
Understandably, given the particular nature of Davis' work, this may not be the most viable method for all artists, particularly long-form prose writers – but nonetheless, it is a valuable reminder of inspiration's essential role in truly enduring creative works.
Innovative Creativity Comes From A Mix Of Work & Play
Garfield has endured as long as it has, in large part, because its creator followed his inspiration, trusting himself to produce material organically, rather than to inorganically "force" it to come at times when he, or the material, wasn't ready. Rather than suggesting that Jim Davis didn't work as hard as other famous writers, this indicates that he had a strong understanding of his own work patterns, and leaned into them accordingly. This is an admirable goal for all writers, who are often better off not putting pressure on themselves to meet artifical daily output goals.
Truly great art is a product of hard work, yes, but it also invariably involves a great deal of play. Though Jim Davis' quote on inspiration is particularly geared toward being funny, which was the central drive of his writing, it is an insightful reminder to writers, and artists, at all stages of their careers that there should be joy in their craft, that they should let the invisible hand of inspiration guide their work. For Davis, this method led to decades of success with Garfield, a character who remains an enduring, essential part of pop culture to this day.
