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What is creativity?
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Many new writers believe that the creative process is all about magic. The muse pops out and then, teases you a bit, and then disappears. Not neccessarily. Some writers believe it's all about talent. They think they have some, but the great writers have more of it. Not always. Some writers believe that they struggle but the great writers do not. Not true.
 
    How are the great writers able to keep coming up with new ideas? Of course, some of it is talent - and every reader of this, has some of that. But much of it is also about knowing techniques that feed and activate the creative process.

So what is creativity? Creativity is the ability to come up with original work.

 

It is the journey from an idea to a final work, it is not one act, but a process.

 

The process moves from producing a germ of an idea to fleshing it out to outlining it to writing various drafts of it to finally getting it out there.

 

Along the way, you'll work and wait and struggle. Everything will flow for a bit, and then you'll wait again and you'll work some more. And then ideas will come, and later, they won't come.

 

It sounds haphazzard and chaotic. It is. But it also has discipline and predictability and clarity. As you move through the process, you'll encounter some stages a number of times. It's not a neat, linear flow - the process circles around, repeating each step a number of times.

 

 

Useful Sources of Ideas


Ideas are everywhere. Some of them come naturally but it's worth knowing where to look for that extra piece of inspiration.

 

Newspapers - especially the news-in-brief columns

 

Magazines - especially letters to the editor or agony aunts

 

Other people's conversations - eavesdrop shamelessly

 

Other stories - remember, there's no copyright on an idea, just the finished product. That said, don't go 'borrowing' characters or large wads of print from other people's work.

Jokes - most of them are mini stories in themselves

 

Making the Most of an Idea


Once something catches your fancy, interrogate it. For example, if you see a young girl running for the bus in the rain, ask yourself plenty of why's. Why is she running, why is she catching a bus, why does she look sad/ angry/ happy, why doesn't she have an umbrella, why is she carrying a suitcase, why is she alone? Then you can go on to ask yourself; Who is she? Where is she from and where is she going? What is she planning to do once she gets there?Approach the idea from all perspectives and let your imagination run riot with the what if's...

 

What makes a good story?

 

Literature gives order to human experience.

Literature explores cultural values.

Literature demands an emotional response from the reader.

Like a great journey, literature can show you things you have never seen before and will never forget.

 

 
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