Having a creative imagination is hard to find. For this reason, educating and developing creativity has been the goal of many artists and scientists. So, is this possible? Can creativity be developed by training?
Studies of top creative people over the past decade have shown they all possess a unique “tip sheet” that helps them think creatively. This makes them much more likely to be successful in their creative endeavors than the rest of us who lack this superpower. In general, many of these characteristics are the same for both children and adults, so they are easy to recognize.
To get the creative spark going, the creative person should:
Consider alternative solutions to a problem or explore possibilities beyond the obvious.
Make use of imagery and metaphor when describing a situation or drawing what you see or experiencing.
Get your creative juices flowing and then mix them with logical thinking and logical rules.
These are the ingredients for mental integration:
All the great creative thinkers use multiple disciplines to come up with unique ideas. James Joyce has written the Ulysses Series (1891), which he told a friend was “a novel about nothing.” How can that be anything but nothing? For instance, the book tells the story of a man walking with an umbrella, which he often did when it was raining. In the first chapter, the man walks to a cafe, waits outside, then passes the cafe several times. It’s like he’s forgotten to eat, which makes him cross the street, go to the other side of the street, and wait for another opening. The reader is left to infer that he’s on a special journey. Joyce then explores this situation, and by the end of the book, we know the man’s destination. But it’s not over until the end of the book.
Another famous writer, Ray Bradbury, used his imagination to talk about ideas that would have been “impossible to say in writing.” For example, he wrote Fahrenheit 451 (1953) about a man who has memorized the script of a TV show and when the original script gets censored from the air, he goes on an adventure that he can’t remember, and the book is a record of his real life experiences. He isn’t limited by what he can write.
J.K. Rowling talked about “the books inside the books.” Her Harry Potter series consists of four separate books, and Rowling used her imagination to build the world of Hogwarts from the imagination of a boy who finds himself in the wizarding world.
While writing, many writers sometimes get stuck and don’t know how to proceed. However, they can use their imagination to figure it out. One way is to read something similar and then recall the sights and sounds that made it unforgettable. What is the general scene of a particular city or what are the major landmarks? It helps to think like the character that is your main focus. It’s similar to a child imagining the story about themselves.