Honest Creativity: The Foundations of Boundless, Good, and Inspired Innovation

by Craig Detweiler

An essential guide for not only fostering genuine personal expression, but also the courage to share our most meaningful work with others—all without pretense or artifice.

Author, filmmaker, educator, cultural commentator, and Variety Mentor of the Year recipient Craig Detweiler has taught thousands how to launch creative projects with intention, awareness, and confidence. As a result, his students have founded festivals, started companies and schools, written acclaimed graphic novels, and directed movies for Marvel. Now, at a time when generative AI can aggregate text and images in seconds, Detweiler shows why “honest creativity” is one of the core tenets that separates humans from machines. Readers will learn, not only how to prioritize ideas, but also how to develop their own method for producing cohesive, whole, and enduring works; escaping comfort zones; and cultivating a like-minded community that both motivates and challenges. This groundbreaking approach promises to help creators turn problems into possibilities by first honing their ability to innovate and then preparing them to handle the feedback—both positive and negative—that is inevitable when private work is displayed in the public sphere. For Detweiler, creating honestly is a way of honoring the gift of life, and his transcendent guide shows us how we can excel in an act that is, fundamentally, both uniquely human and magnificently divine.

247 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 20, 2024

About the author

Craig Detweiler is an award-winning author, filmmaker, and cultural commentator who has been featured in The New York Times and on CNN and NPR. He is President of the Wedgwood Circle, a philanthropic collective that invests in good, true, and beautiful entertainment. He serves as Dean of the College of Arts and Media at Grand Canyon University.

Reviews

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard this book pitched as a response to AI’s increasing presence in artistic work, but that isn’t quite what the book is. The subtitle—The Foundation of Boundless, Good, and Inspired Innovation—sounds like a book about creative leadership. But it’s not that, either. Rather, the book presents an opportunity to artists in all genres and roles to reflect again on what makes the creative process fascinating and beautiful. Craig Detweiler brings his many years of experience in various arts industries, higher education, mentoring, and personal creative work to chapters grouped into three large sections: People, Process, Products. I like that order, which reminds us that the true foundation of artistic expression is not the resulting products (the things that can be sold and consumed) but the people (community) and process (successes and failures en route to a product). And though the book ultimately says little specifically about AI, one of Detweiler’s points throughout is that AI’s shortcoming is its disconnection from human self-reflection and the time involved in producing a work. This point resonates especially strongly with me, having just returned from the Sundance Film Festival, where I enjoyed documentary films by filmmakers who spent years working on the project—in one case, a director told us that she filmed for two hundred days over several years! The resulting films are fascinating, and they are most definitely creations that AI could not have produced. The connections to people and the time spent in the process are integral to the finished film and give the film its power.

For me, one of the pleasures of reading Honest Creativity is the fun of spending time with an author whose mind works a lot like mine. Detweiler constantly finds connections amongst the most seemingly disparate things. He grabs examples from many times, places, and genres, knitting together a collection of references that no one else could have put together in just that way.

I did wish that the book had gone a little further into the influence of AI in the arts. My personal interest is more in the sociological aspect of what AI might do to human creativity in the coming years, but Detweiler keeps his focus on the encouragement of individuals to persist and find their way through the process. Like a lot of other current writing about AI and creativity, this book presents a somewhat uncertain stance—in some instances, AI seems to be the enemy of honest (human) creativity, but then some chapters conclude with prompts to go to a chatbot to ask questions about the current phase of the creative process. And behind all of the chatbots are tech companies who don’t seem to care at all about introspection, reflection, or even basic wisdom (as highlighted in the documentary Eternal You, which Craig and I watched at Sundance last week). There is a lot to talk about, and we’re only now figuring out the best language to use and the most appropriate boundaries within which to have that discussion. Honest Creativity doesn’t add as much to that discussion as I’d expected, but it’s still an enjoyable and encouraging read.

For a quick burst of artistic encouragement, check out Detweiler’s “artistic beatitudes,” listed on pages 215–216 (might be different in the published version). Good things to ponder. Most artists will find themselves in at least one (and probably several) of those states anytime they read them.

Thank you, Craig, for giving me an advance copy of the book. I look forward to seeing you again!

[Richard Propes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will admit that it took me nearly to the halfway point of "Honest Creativity" to start to feel in sync with its unique literary rhythms. Written by Craig Detweiler, the current President & CEO of Wedgwood Circle and Dean of the College of Arts & Media at Grand Canyon University, "Honest Creativity" is a call of sorts to creatives everywhere to live into "honest creativity," a genuine personal exploration that is meaningful and uniquely human in a world where artificial intelligence has begun to play a role in our daily lives in profound ways.

Detweiler has a long history of teaching others how to live into their creative selves with intention, awareness, and confidence. Having been named Variety's "Mentor of the Year" in 2016, Detweiler is undeniably successful at fostering honest creativity - his students have founded festivals, started companies and schools, written acclaimed graphic novels, and even directed Marvel Cinematic Universe motion pictures.

Early in "Honest Creativity," I struggled with where it was going and what all Detweiler's storytelling really meant. However, over the course of the book I began to catch Detweiler's rhythms and his call for honest creativity as a cultural essential that helps to separate humans from machines, honest creativity from, for example, A.I. generated works.

Using powerful examples throughout "Honest Creativity," Detweiler guides us through prioritizing ideas, producing cohesive and enduring works, creating outside our comfort zones, and fostering a like-minded community of creatives that both motivates and challenges.
Readers will learn, not only how to prioritize ideas, but also how to develop their own method for producing cohesive, whole, and enduring works; escaping comfort zones; and cultivating a like-minded community that both motivates and challenges.

Detweiler, also a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary, weaves together a tapestry of honest creativity that emphasizes both the richly human and the wondrously divine. In so doing, he powerfully illustrates why A.I. may exist but it can't replace that which is honest, good, and holy.

[Bob Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a guide for anyone and everyone in a creative vocation. Craig Detweiler has been mentoring and creative for decades. He knows how difficult it is to keep at it when that novel or movie or painting (or whatever) is very difficult to produce or is not been received as hoped. Chapter after chapter of insider tips for having a deep foundation and perseverance for the long-haul. This is a five star book for anyone in the creative vocations.