It’s the stock and trade for writers, so I’ve spent a lot of time studying it–what it is, how it works in the brain, how to tap into it, enhance it, access it (even when your emotional state says WAT? NO!). This isn’t just for my own work, but the future work of my children–as I was telling my two oldest kids over the weekend, I believe the ability to tap your creative side and bring it to your work (no matter what kind), will be a critical skill in the workplace in the coming decades. My youngest is a natural fount of creativity–for her, the challenge isn’t tapping it but directing it. But for most people, creativity is something our society/educational system/work give lip service to but actively suppresses. Lots of people tell me they’re “not creative”–which to my ears sounds like “I’ve shut down part of my brain so completely that I don’t even know it exists anymore.”
Which makes me ache inside for them.
I just finished the fantasy novel Daughter of Smoke and Bone and one of the hallmarks of that excellent work is its high degree of creativity. It’s *bursting* with fresh ideas and imagery and characters, and it’s inspired me to spend some time this summer finding new ways to churn my creative wells.
But you don’t have to be a writer or creative professional to access the creative side of your brain. Just learn something new. Take up an art or a hobby. Anything that goes beyond paint-by-numbers or assemble-via-instructions. Even a small amount of time will spark that creative side, no matter how deep it’s buried.
Before I set to pen to paper, my creative side was trying to get out. I took up cake decorating, making ever-more-fancy works. I staged elaborate birthday party celebrations, transforming our basement into a mock-Mars landscape or creating a jungle out of carpet rolls. I invented new ways (ironically) to get MY KIDS to write, crafting small booklets or finding unique tiny spiral books for them to create in. These were all ways for me to throw scraps of attention to my creative side before the full-super-nova discovery of writing hit me.
Allow yourself this. Keep your expectations low and your internal critic on mute–just enjoy it. I promise you won’t regret it.