The other day someone referred to me as “creative”, and that got me thinking. Most of the time, I’m grateful for my imagination. It’s gotten me through many a meeting without having to spike my ubiquitous water bottle with something clear, strong and illegal in Utah. But it’s also responsible for such weird quirks as my never falling asleep in the passenger seat of a moving car without first envisioning in great detail what would happen instantly to my body upon our vehicle’s impact with another car — as if being awake to witness an accident would help all that much. So, yes, sometimes I’d like to drag my imagination outside and drop it off a cliff. I can just picture it: the mischievous little sprite crying and begging for mercy as I dangle it further over the abyss, all the while — see? There it goes again.
Despite my all-too-active imagination, however, I don’t consider myself particularly creative. Creative types wear flashy colors and dye their hair and spout weird poetry even they don’t understand. They can paint elaborate forest scenes with the brush held between their toes and weave blankets incorporating native styles from around the world. They are geniuses, whereas I feel merely adequate.
“Oh, but you write,” people tell me when I disclose such thoughts. “You must be creative to make up all that stuff.”
But I’m not so sure. It feels as if my task as a writer is not to create characters, plot, and dialogue, but to leave myself open to them. The characters (or Dolores, my cranky muse) then tell me what to type.
The secret is out: I don’t write. I take dictation. And how creative is that?
Of my 35 books sold so far, 29 were novels for middle grade students. I have never felt creative either! I don’t “think outside the box,” as far as I know. I LIKE boxes and regularity and schedules and predictability. But I DO love stories and thinking about people and how they live and survive and make their lives better. Maybe that’s where my creativity lies…
i think creativity is a combination of coloring outside of the lines and using the right colors- or vice versa.
i also believe all of us are creative. There are many areas in which to be creative aside from art. Finding original solutions to problems, being able to substitute ingedients, thinking of ways to teach a complicated idea simply to children, etc. are all indicators of creativity.
i am boring. i wear jeans & t-shirts/sweatshirts. Plain doughnuts are my favorite and i always wear my hair in a bun but i think of myself as a creative person.
Or maybe i’m flattering myself? 🙂
LOL – you sound just like me! I also take dictation and I also don’t spout poetry and wear flashy colours. I’m totally “normal” – ha ha!
🙂
Hmmmm . . . MOST of the time, I don’t feel creative at all. I just feel like I write stories. Even 20+ books later. But then my kids tell me I am the Weirdest Mom EVER. And most people who know me well describe me as eccentric. And people who don’t know me well describe me (often not to my face) as “weird.” So . . . maybe it’s just that I view the world creatively–so much so that it feels “normal” to me . . . but that from the outside looking in, it sure looks creative. If that makes any sense.
Kristi, that’s how I am! Maybe we’re looking at the parts of our personality that like predictability, while others are looking at the writing we create?
C, I think you’re right–that all of us are in some way creative. And I don’t think you’re flattering yourself at all. I see creativity as a positive trait, and I am very quick to assume that I do not have many of the positive traits others say they see in me.
Absolute, so glad to hear it!
Erica, I think you have a really good point, one I’m going to think about a lot more. A lot of people tell me I’m “really weird”, but I don’t feel weird. But maybe it’s a matter of being from the outside looking in vs. from the inside looking out. Hmmm. That’s an interesting thought.
The very fact that you listen to “those inner voices” and allow them to flow through you onto the page only confirms your creativity — a true gift.
I know what you mean about not “feeling” creative. It always astounds me when people tell me I’m creative. Maybe because it comes naturally to us (writing all the crazy things characters do and say in our heads) that it doesn’t feel like we can call it creative.l Same could be true of a great sketcher or painter though . . . WE might think it’s creative and they might see it the same as breathing.
Great post! I’ve never felt creative. Growing up I even had family members tell me I wasn’t creative. I think of my writing as a form of engineering. I’m building people, places and things 🙂
But that dictation comes from somewhere and you can hear it and channel it onto screen or paper. I have great admiration for you for that!
Thanks, Larramie. It seems, though, that we all must have something like that…right?
An excellent point, Susan. How can it be creative if it’s so natural? But it really might not be as natural to others.
Thanks, Wendy, and thanks for stopping by! And I love the idea of thinking of writing as engineering. It think it does take creativity to write, but you really do have to be analytical, too, if you want to build a logical story and revise it until it’s worthy of an audience.
True, Chris. It does have to come from somewhere. I think we’re all creative in our own way, though.