On Creativity - Part 2

Gradually, the personalities of the main characters began to coalesce, and before long the familiar patterns that we think of when we think of Peanuts were established: in the spring Charlie Brown tries to get a kite into the air; soon thereafter he rallies his baseball team. Charlie Brown begins each activity with great hope, only to have those hopes dashed by a destructive tree or his team's inability to concentrate (see the strip of September 17, 1967, in which Schroeder reveals that he thinks suffering is "very important" for the development of maturity, a lesson he may have picked up from his favorite reading material, Beethoven biographies).

It didn't take long for Sparky to hit a creative stride that he was able to maintain for an unbelievably long time. Part of the secret is contained in what Sparky called "his repertory company." Sparky had an immense curiosity about a wide range of subjects. He was a voracious reader, and he was a close observer of people's actions and conversations. The diverse personalities of his characters allowed him to take advantage of just about everything he read, observed, thought, or felt. Even his pet peeves could be voiced effectively by a character such as Sally Brown, who also can deliver puns and outrageous outbursts against the world. When Sparky wanted to slide in a comment about comic strip critics, Linus made a perfect spokesman. Peppermint Patty is the down-to-earth practical character who, against all odds, believes Linus' story about the "Great Pumpkin" and for years thinks Snoopy is just another neighborhood kid.

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