The Creative Process

Many people believe that creativity is an innate skill—you’ve either got
it or you don’t. When it comes to writing, they tell themselves that they
“can’t” and do their assignments full of feelings of frustration or give up
before they begin.
The truth is that “creative” people must follow the same steps as the
“non-creative” person. It’s also true that everyone has different gifts and
talents that make some tasks easier than others, but anyone who follows
the creative process can meet with success. With practice, the person’s
“natural” aptitudes will improve and the task will grow easier.
Sometimes natural talent becomes a curse. The individual to whom
everything comes easy may never develop the ability to buckle down when
166 The Art & Craft of Writing the going gets rough and accomplish the task at hand. Such determination
and willingness to work is far more important to overall success in most
areas than initial talent.
While several definitions of “creativity” exist, the following Creative
Process outlines the steps to help anyone to generate quality content
for any writing assignment. You may notice how closely it resembles the
writing process and other brainstorming assignments you’ve read in this
book.
Once you see clearly the steps involved in this type of creativity, you will
also recognize that creativity is a form of critical thinking, and like other
types of critical thinking, it can be learned and mastered with practice.
1. Create. Brainstorm. Generate. Come up with a huge list of
whatever it is you’re looking for. If you’re trying to make a good
description of something, close your eyes and envision all the
small and large details. Use all of your senses—what you see,
hear, taste, smell, and feel there. Use different perspectives—what
would a child see that an old man wouldn’t and vice versa. What if
you were an animal? A plant? Look at it from different perspectives
of time. What had been different—or the same—ten seconds or
ten minutes or ten billion years ago? Would it look different to
different genders or races? When you’re hungry or tired or fresh,
naïve or experienced or jaded? Once you’ve recorded enough data,
continue on to step two.
2. Look for comparisons. Look for metaphors. Look for similarities
and differences. Look for insight and notice the ordinary as if
you had never seen it before. The more you analyze the bits and
pieces of whatever you’ve got, the better prepared you’ll be to
describe or explain it clearly. And the more you’ll be prepared next
time to come up with something spontaneously.
3. Watch your world. Watch people’s actions and reactions. Watch
your own thoughts. Develop the habit of observation.
4. Exercise your creative mind. It will grow—a principle that applies
to everything. Read. Write. Play. Imagine. Watch thought- or
emotion-provoking movies. Listen to inspiring music.
5. NEVER again say you’re not creative. Instead, decide that you’re
becoming creative. Some truths are not altered by your opinion,
while others are created by your perspective. Believe that you can,
and you’re right. Believe you can’t, and you’re right again.
6. If you still have troubles being creative but really wish you could
do better, there’s a good chance you’re “blocked.” Stuck for
whatever reason. One of the best tools for getting past these
blocks is to simply write for three pages every day, of anything at
all. The blocks will eventually break free. Julia Cameron, in The
Artist’s Way, recommends writing particularly about things you are
excited about and things you’re afraid to think about.