Tap the Creative Inside You
Imagination is the source of creativity. It's a place where unlimited possibilities reside. It's where pure energy lives.
People are innately imaginative and creative. However, most people are simply not conscious of their imaginative and creative selves.
Creativity is the cognitive process of developing a novel idea or concept.
Teresa M. Amabile, a creativity expert, argues that creativity is not a quality of a person. Rather, it is a quality of ideas, behaviors or products.
According to her, creativity has 3 basic ingredients:
1. Domain-Relevant Skills - These are skills associated with expertise in a relevant field (e.g., artistic ability, technical ability, talent, etc.).
2. Creativity-Relevant Skills - These skills include a cognitive style or method of thinking oriented towards exploring new directions, approaches that can be used to generate new ideas, and a work style conducive to developing creative ideas.
3. Task Motivation - Recent evidence suggests that a genuine interest in a task for its own sake, rather than for achieving external rewards such as money, enhances creativity.
So how can you develop your creativity? Here are 2 ways:
1. Provocative Operation, coined by Edward de Bono - This involves disrupting your thought patterns. It works with the premise that the more you are used to something, the less stimulating it is for your thinking.
Application: Insert "interruptions" into your day. This can be writing in a different room or area, reading magazines you wouldn't normally read, tuning in to a different radio or television station, cooking and eating something different.
2. Forced Analogy - This method forces you to compare a concept, idea or problem with something else that it has little or nothing in common with. The results are new insights.
Application: Compare an emotion (e.g., elation, excitement, anxiety) with a tangible object (e.g., pen, chair, door). How is anxiety like a door?
When you need to tap the creative inside you, use these 2 techniques. Tap into your imagination and you enable yourself to create new things, come up with ideas you have never thought of before. Tap into your imagination and you awaken your creativity.
About The Author
Copyright (c) 2003-2004 Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ
Shery is the creator of WriteSparks! - a software that generates over 10 *million* Story Sparkers for Writers. Download WriteSparks! Lite for free - http://writesparks.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Are Sleepless Parents More Creative? New York Times I ran the question by R. Keith Sawyer, an associate professor at Washington University in St. Louis, and the author of Explaining Creativity: The Science of ... |
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Part of a Creative Powerhouse Behind Ephemeral Artworks Wall Street Journal Adding to the vision of two artists merging their creativity was the fact they shared the same birthday. Jeanne-Claude took the lead in raising funds for ... |
Exposing their creativity Burbank Leader BURBANK — The first Creative Talent Network Animation Expo kicked off Friday at the Marriott Hotel and Convention Center in Burbank, ... |
 Los Angeles Times | NY designers look to LA Los Angeles Times More New York City designers are drawn to Los Angeles for the creativity and freedom the city offers. By Nora Zelevansky >>> In Henri Bendel's new accessory ... |
Williams says creativity will beat economy's woes Norwich Bulletin Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn, encouraged Eastern Connecticut residents and government to show grit and creativity. “We ought to ratchet it up,” ... |
'Collaboration' a rewarding, creative venture Sumter Item The show presents a positive statement about creativity and reinforces the value of art for all — as means of personal fulfillment and the joy of art as a ... |
 Destructoid | Unleashing creativity with PS3-exclusive ModNation Racers Destructoid If you're familiar with Forza Motorsports' deep customization options, and the kind of stuff you can do with a little creativity, you're on the right track. ... |
OSU student group seeks creative solutions Stillwater NewsPress A team of graduate students working through Oklahoma State University's School of Entrepreneurship in conjunction with the Creativity Initiative have ... |
Aspiration Women try Veg Jewellery items to showcase their creativity PunjabNewsline.com Out of the eight groups on Thursday, three were selected as winners for their best creativity in molding vegetables into fine jewellery items. ... |
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