Three ways to unlock creativity
Create with the heart and build with the mind
I was chatting with a colleague who recited the first line of a poem. This is the tail of young Freddy Laws whose sexual equipment got caught in the doors. This grabbed my attention. I asked, Where did you hear that from? She told me that all her friends knew it. She was sceptical, at first, when I told her that my friend, Bruce, and I wrote Bionic Fred as a bit of light relief from our A Level studies. The poem had become quite infamous at our school, but, I assumed, had long since been forgotten. Bionic Fred had, somehow, made its way onto the internet then others had written variants and sequels. It seemed magical that my ideas had a tangible life of their own.
Creative perspectives
Creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else ever thought. - Albert Einstein
I identify ideas to form the basis of an app or blog post. Then I try to put a unique and interesting spin on them. However, I may struggle. Thinking about topics from the following perspectives often unlocks my creativity:
Specificity: Explore the details of what we observed and how we feel.
Scale: Consider the extremes. Big and small. Loud and quiet. Fast and slow.
Surprise: Break from an expected pattern, even briefly.
Specificity
Details matter. It's worth waiting to get it right. - Steve Jobs
There are two types of specificity to explore: Specificity of Observation and Specificity of Experience.
Specificity of Observation
When observing, we should focus on specific, unique details rather than obvious, generics. Let’s say I wanted to write a blog post about a visit to my favourite coffee shop. I should avoid clichéd observations, e.g. coffee is their passion, which lack imagination. Instead, describe specific details. The fine mist that rises from the coffee grinder, glistening in the sunlight. The concentration on barista’s face as they pour hot milk with precision. Bringing these less obvious observations to light makes content vivid and engaging.
Specificity of Experience
Reflect on our feelings relating to a topic. I might, for example, consider how I feel when the baristas greet me and we share a joke. We might trade stories about relatives or pets. Our experiences and how we feel about them provide an interesting perspective.
Scale
Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try! - Dr. Seuss
Scale reminds us that memories are formed at the extremes of life, either very big or very small, not in the middle. Every action has a big and small aspect. Understanding these extremes helps us grasp the range of possibilities. In my coffee shop scenario, sometimes I sit quietly reading a book on my own, other times the place is heaving with people shouting. In the first situation I feel calm and happy. In the second, stressed and frustrated.
Surprise
Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun. – Mary Lou Cook
Almost everything we do has an established rhythm, e.g. our tone of voice, sentence length or the catchphrases we use. Patterns like the setup/reveal in jokes become predictable, and once recognised, people stop paying attention. The challenge is to identify and break these patterns in the media we create in. In my favourite coffee shop, international rugby players gathered right next to me before a big match. Surprise elements, even small ones like sentence length or font size, can re-engage the audience.
Other resources
The Creative Process talk by James Taylor
Creative Momentum post by Phil Martin
Ten Ideas Per Day post by Phil Martin
Could Bionic Fred be my lasting creative legacy? What a thought.
Have fun.
Phil…
