How To Be Creative

A lot of people think creativity is something you are born with. Well, it's not! Experts believe that creativity is a skill that can be learned. While in school I have to take a class called "Critical Thinking" which is basically a class to improve your thinking skills. In our book "The Art of Thinking," the Author Vincent Ryan Ruggiero gives great insight into how people think creatively. So, with that said, I thought I'd share what I've learned with my blog readers!

What is Creativity?

Acording to dictionary.com, creativity is "the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination." Well, to put it simply, creativity is the combination of careful thought with pure imagination. This combination of careful planning with original ideas is what makes the the difference between creative people and the rest. It doesn't matter how intelligent you are either. Creative people fall on all sides of the IQ scale. All there is to it is that you must be able to harness your ideas in order for them to be relatable to your audience. After all, no matter how expressive and original you are, if no one gets it, is it really that successful? The creative process is something everyone can learn. Its a very specific process that anyone can understand.

What is NOT Creativity?

Creativity is NOT random thought or free-spiritness alone. You are not creative just because you act wild and act on every whim. Being loud and expressing every thought that comes to mind is pretty much the exact opposite of being creative. It requires much more thought and careful action to be a successful creative person. Also, creativity is NOT something drugs can inspire. Drugs may inspire random thoughts, but it is not purposeful. Like I said, creativity is part imagination, part thought. So without thought, there is no creativity.
Another point I'd like to make about creativity is that creativity is never purely original. The idea of "inspiration" is that it must come from something outside our mind. Whether its art, ideas, nature, people, shapes, color, we are constantly surrounded by things that inspire us. Never assume that your idea is completely yours. Certain things have been around since the beginning of time, and we build upon those things to improve them. Creativity is simply building upon ideas from the past.

What is a Creative Person Like?

Author Vincent Ryan Ruggiero describes creative people using five words:

Dynamic: Being able to see different aspect of a situation and having a sense of playfulness with ideas.

Daring: Having the ability to expand your ideas and try new things, and willing to accept new ideas.

Resourceful: Having the ability to try to solve a problem, even when the odds are stacked against you. Using what you know and have to work towards solving an issue.

Hardworking: This one goes without definition. You must be able to put in a good effort to get a good result.

Independent: Be your own leader. Don't always assume some one else is right. Try your own path.

How Can I be Creative?

The creative process is only four easy steps that can be applied to most situations that require a unique outcome:

Step 1: Searching for Challenges
What is your problem? What do you want to change? Some problems are obvious and just happen. But sometimes you need to find a problem first in order to act creatively. We as people need to constantly be searching for problems. For instance, if you're a student, what are the problems at your school? Is there problems with the students? The school rules? Or perhaps your problem is your wardrobe. Ask yourself, what is the problem with my clothes? What specifically do I not like about them? What's the issue? From that point, you can start to think of ways in which you can fix these problems.

Step 2: Expressing the Problem or Issue
Coming up with a specific question is a major part of the creative process. Knowing exactly what you want to solve will help you be as effective as possible. For example, let's say you want to wear a really cute unique outfit to a party. Well, your question should be, "Out of all the clothes I have, what combinations could I put together to make the best outfit?" From there, its easy! You've already started solving the problem by coming up with a question. All you'd have to do is start putting together different combinations.

Step 3: Investigating the Problem or Issue
Do your homework! Find inspiration that pertains to your problem. For instance, if your doing an art project, after you come up with a question as to the type of art you want to do, look for inspiration. Photograph things around you, research artists, go to the library. At this point, you simply must find things that appeal to you that could potentially solve the problem.

Step 4: Producing Ideas
Now that you have found inspiration, its time to solve your problem. Simply start off by changing little things about your inspiration to fit your problem. For instance, lets say you want to wear a really cute creative outfit. So you found all sorts of pictures of outfits you like. The next step would be to find pieces you have that look similar to the pieces you like. Then, simply attempt to recreate your inspiration, but perhaps changing little things to fit your personality. Its really easy to start changing things and then all of sudden realize you've got something brand new! It is yours! It becomes original and unique!

YOU ARE CREATIVE!

What do you think? Got any questions? Comments? Leave one down below!