On being more creative
Disclaimer: The only qualification I possess for writing this is my belief that I’m more creative than I am intelligent.
Many people are of the opinion that creativity is a rare thing! That it’s something that happens on Sunday afternoons once in 12 weeks. Not so! We all have the capacity to creative on will. It’s just that some of us haven’t learnt to tap it. Just thought I’ll note down some of thoughts on this.
1) Creativity improves with practice: This is perhaps hard to believe, but I have experienced this to be true. We all agree that cracking a pj is an act of creation and anyone who cracks pj’s well is doing it all the time.
2) With practice, being creative can be turned in to a deliberate act. You can be creative on will. Someone said, “The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas “. That’s true in this context too.
3) You don’t need to be very skilled in a field before you start being creative in it: Again, this is probably hard to believe. By skill, I mean your vocabulary in the context of creative writing, your mastery over an instrument in the context of composing music etc..
4) To be creative in any field, you must not allow yourself to be led beyond a certain point. You must seek your own path.
5) Many creative acts are simple: much like a quote doesn’t have to complicated for it to sound beautiful.
6) You must not indulge in unnecessary display of skill while being creative: If you are playing an instrument very fast, often, the fact that you are playing fast becomes more prominent than what you are playing. Or if you insist on using complicated words all the time, the reader will notice that you are using complex language instead of focusing her attention on understanding what you are trying to express. You must use your skill with caution. Often, the most elegant creative acts require minimal skill.
There’s an artist in each one of us. It’s up to us to work on discovering the same. To do that, I believe that each one of us must first rediscover the child in ourselves.
Many people are of the opinion that creativity is a rare thing! That it’s something that happens on Sunday afternoons once in 12 weeks. Not so! We all have the capacity to creative on will. It’s just that some of us haven’t learnt to tap it. Just thought I’ll note down some of thoughts on this.
1) Creativity improves with practice: This is perhaps hard to believe, but I have experienced this to be true. We all agree that cracking a pj is an act of creation and anyone who cracks pj’s well is doing it all the time.
2) With practice, being creative can be turned in to a deliberate act. You can be creative on will. Someone said, “The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas “. That’s true in this context too.
3) You don’t need to be very skilled in a field before you start being creative in it: Again, this is probably hard to believe. By skill, I mean your vocabulary in the context of creative writing, your mastery over an instrument in the context of composing music etc..
4) To be creative in any field, you must not allow yourself to be led beyond a certain point. You must seek your own path.
5) Many creative acts are simple: much like a quote doesn’t have to complicated for it to sound beautiful.
6) You must not indulge in unnecessary display of skill while being creative: If you are playing an instrument very fast, often, the fact that you are playing fast becomes more prominent than what you are playing. Or if you insist on using complicated words all the time, the reader will notice that you are using complex language instead of focusing her attention on understanding what you are trying to express. You must use your skill with caution. Often, the most elegant creative acts require minimal skill.
There’s an artist in each one of us. It’s up to us to work on discovering the same. To do that, I believe that each one of us must first rediscover the child in ourselves.
4 comments:
Aye Aye captain! Couldnt be closer to the truth!
Hey Kartya,
Didn't know you had a blog. I'm too sleepy to read it right now, I'll be back here later.
Great summary, Karthik! I should have read this post instead of reading a string of verbose books on creativity :)
Neeraja, thanks ! You know something - I don't even remember writing this post! I look forward to reading your views on this topic, and also what the books had to say :-)
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