Writers Write and Think Outside the Box: Wall Three

Where Does Creativity Spring From?

The experience of observing and interacting with my daughter from conception to her current age of 19 months has been a major learning experience in my life. I've been thinking about this question over the weekend and watching my daughter do new things that are very creative. With such a young brain, Ayla is discovering new words, new actions, new everything each day. Thus, creativity springs from our human nature, our minds and our imagination. As adults, perhaps the challenge lies in the question "How can we be more creative?"

How to Ignite that Spark of Creativity?

PLAY - Imagination is something we haven't forgotten how to do as adults. Our minds may wander into realms of fantasy, dreams, and fears during the day and night. But do we actually give ourselves time to slip into this world of imagine? Do we have time to play?

My daughter plays all day long, and she prefers it if I play right alongside her. As she plays with her toys and books, investigates the construction of things, manipulates objects to do new things, I am learning how to play again. I invent dialogue between a carrot and an eggplant. I sing to her stuffed animal shark from the perspective of her stuffed animal puppy. I discover how water pours out of different objects into a tub.

As writers we can play with words. Collect unusual words from field guides, cookbooks, magazines, snaps of conversation you pass by, and find new ways to use these words. Read poetry that plays with words in ways that novels don't. Catch a phrase of a conversation between two people you may pass on the street and play with the words in your mind to give them new meaning.

CREATIVE CRAFT - Writers are very artistic and often have many creative outlets, but we may not give ourselves time to pursue these outlets if our time to write is limited. If we do make time, however, to paint a piece of pottery, doodle, listen and only listen to music, try out new recipes, or spend an afternoon with a camera, then we our helping our writing minds to expand.

TOOLS - We have at our fingertips a wealth of tools that make our day-to-day tasks easier. Whether it is browsing googles database for an answer or going to store to purchase an item to simplify a task, we don't have to work as hard to accomplish certain projects. By limiting the tools we let ourselves use, our minds will have to work harder to solve a problem. A simple example is baking a cake: Should I buy a pre-made cake at the store, bake one using a box mix, or bake a cake from scratch? And carry it one step further, bake a cake from scratch without a recipe.

If I steer away from the computer (and access to the Internet) and stick to a piece of paper and a pen, my writing takes on a very different course, one that is independent of quick answers on the web, one that reflects my thinking in its entirety. As writers, we may find our writing to be more creative if we limit our tools to the pen and paper (or a typewriter).

BRAINSTORM - All of these options give our brain a work out. By exercising the mind we may help ourselves to see new things in areas we didn't before. As a writer-mama I love lists: To Do lists, character traits lists, setting description lists, shopping lists, Ayla's words and actions lists, etc. Lists are a first step in brainstorming to help our brain think outside the box. A second way to brainstorm is to make diagrams. How does one word or object relate to another? What is the cause-effect relationship? What detours might a character take? What's real and surreal? Brainstorming is like another form of doodling. It gives the brain space and time to let ideas flow in a stream of imagination.

VIEWPOINT REVERSAL - It is easy to let ourselves fall into the position that we normally take in any discussion or argument. A conscious mind may make an effort to slip into the shoes of the other side, but we still hold firmly to our viewpoint. How often to we make a true effort to switch our perspective? To cast away our assumptions that we make before an opinion is made? This is how we build our box, based on the assumptions we make. What are the assumptions you make every day of your life that lead your mind into making decisions, forming opinions, and solving problems? This question will be the focus of the fourth part of this series.