The Trickster Methodology: Describing the Creative Practice of Fiction Writers

The Trickster Methodology: Describing the Creative Practice of Fiction Writers

This presentation focuses on a creative writing research investigation concerned with developing a unique methodology for describing the creative process of fiction writers. The trickster methodology combines elements of practice-led research with trickster qualities (slippery, subversive, disruptive, unstable, creative, destructive, ambiguous) by identifying four qualities that are particularly relevant to creative writers: shapeshifting, play, chance, and order. The theoretical frameworks that underpin this methodology include Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of the carnivalesque and Sara Ahmed’s notion of willfulness. The trickster methodology is distinct from existing research frameworks and models of creativity as it reflects the fluidity of the writing process and the ways in which writers embody that fluidity. In this way, it extends upon our current understanding of practice-led research, offering a model of clearly defined traits that remain malleable and flexible enough for individual use while providing a way to describe the creative process that leads to a written product.

This research investigation draws upon a series of interviews conducted with career authors, which were mapped against scholarly materials, as well as my own creative practice, to identify trickster traits within the creative processes of fiction writers, and to identify how creative practitioners can intentionally engage with these qualities as a way to challenge themselves to do or make differently.