LOSING CREATIVITY IN A NANO-SECOND

Recent experience has just taught me what sucks creativity and motivation out of a writer in a nano-second.

On January 2nd, my husband had a massive heart attack and emergency cardiac surgery. He spent the next 7+ days on life support. Although he is now home and doing well, I still have no focus or ability to concentrate. Writing is quite beyond me.

My last three weeks certainly bear out what research tells us: if you are significantly stressed, your adrenalin runs high. It is this high level in your bloodstream that stops creativity in its tracks. I'm not impatient to regain it--I know that it will return when life re-establishes its rhythm and tranquillity. In the meantime, I am relaxing in hot baths, and with my photos, music, and my husband.

CREATIVITY: PART TWO

CREATIVITY NEVER WANES OR DIES OUT!

Although research is incomplete, studies suggest that creative individuals can not only maintain their creativity into their later years, but also resurrect it even if dormant for long stretches. As many writers start writing in their middle years and others pick it up again after they retire, this is excellent news. It heartens, as well, younger writers who struggle to find writing time amidst career and family demands.

The prospect of enjoyment in the task fires creativity more than deadlines, or monetary gain, etc. (I knew that!) But it is not enough for a writer to have a vague idea and a computer. Research from cognitive psychologists shows that creativity also needs the focus of an area of intense interest and a coterie of other like-minded individuals with whom to interact, bounce ideas around, and gain support. (If you don’t know what coterie means, see the entry of September 29, 2007.) This is the science behind the value and motivation we derive from writers’ groups.

Most encouraging of all, is that creativity can be learned—it’s never too late to start getting creative or enhancing what you’ve got, according to the findings of Smith, Ward, and Fink (1995) and, more recently, other researchers.

Here are some tips to increase your creativity:

• Don’t stop at your first idea or even your fourth. Use your first four ideas as a jumping off point for more, whether it is a book or just a turning point in your novel. Try “What if…?” Exhaust all options!
• Never judge your ideas at the brainstorming stage.
• Give yourself time and the relaxed environment conducive to reflection and idea germination.
• Expose yourself to the work of others, within and outside your genre and passion.
  
• Stay curious and highly attuned to everything around you for ideas, new approaches, etc. Keep a creativity journal, a digital recorder, and/or your camera handy.

I think we all have imagination, but those who learn to tap their deep wells of creativity benefit the whole planet with their work.

(First published in The Beacon, Fall 207. For more issues, go to www.beaconlit.com/newsletter.htm)

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I came across a wonderful essay on creativity by Emily Hanlon a few weeks ago called "Falling Down the Rabbit Hole." I urge writers to read it at:
www.writersdigest.com/articles/hanlon_fallingdown.asp?secondarycategory=Creativity+Subhome+Page

CREATIVITY: PART ONE

WHAT IS CREATIVITY?

Many have tried to define creativity, which has resulted in almost as many definitions as there are definers. But everyone agrees that we recognize it when we see it.

One way of looking at creativity is that it is the human ability to generate new ideas. But it is more complex than that, as my early research is showing, and includes layers of cognitive ability, environment and culture, and personality traits that predispose towards creativity.

The process itself includes knowing, perceiving, and conceiving (the cognitive ideation phase); then comes preparation; followed by incubation and illumination; lastly the translation phase transforms the idea into reality. This process is familiar to writers – it is a sequence we tend to follow, consciously or sub-consciously, when we write. However, creativity is easily stifled. Adults tend to judge what they are doing while they do it. This tendency destroys creative writing. We should reserve our judgment for the editing phase.

So can we “learn” creativity? Psychologists and other experts say we can. We are at our most creative when we are relaxed, away from our usual work environment. The best time is during the drowsy state when we wake naturally without an alarm clock and before we get out of bed. Other opportunities to practice the process arise during quiet activities, like taking a bath or wallowing in a hot tub, meditating, or having a massage. Music, not heavy metal but Baroque, and the sound of trickling water encourage our creativity too. Moderate aerobic activity releases endorphins and increases blood flow to the brain, which explains why many writers go for a walk/run when in a “dry” patch. Having fun and being happy (playfulness) have also been linked to enhanced creativity.

Experts also say we have to practise our creativity or we will lose the edge: “Use it or lose it.”

(Part Two coming soon)