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?
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Kristi Holl said,
Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 7:43 pm
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…
c said,
Thursday, January 24, 2008 at 10:00 pm
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?
Absolute Vanilla (and Atyllah) said,
Friday, January 25, 2008 at 5:57 am
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!
Erica Orloff said,
Friday, January 25, 2008 at 6:45 am
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.
Caryn said,
Friday, January 25, 2008 at 7:08 am
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.
Larramie said,
Friday, January 25, 2008 at 5:31 pm
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.
Susan Hatler said,
Friday, January 25, 2008 at 7:11 pm
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.
Wendy Roberts said,
Friday, January 25, 2008 at 8:02 pm
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
Chris said,
Friday, January 25, 2008 at 9:14 pm
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!
Caryn said,
Saturday, January 26, 2008 at 11:32 am
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.
Mary said,
Saturday, January 26, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Thank you for the comment on my blog.
I’m a designer (and aspiring writer) and consider myself creative. Writing is definitely creative. But there’s a different feeling to the temporal arts as opposed to the visual arts, where most of the process is outwardly creative. Writing is more internal, which might partly explain what Erica said.
slouching mom said,
Saturday, January 26, 2008 at 9:19 pm
ah, but you’re taking dictation from yourself, not from someone else. and that? is creative.
Rebecca said,
Sunday, January 27, 2008 at 10:22 am
Capturing words and thoughts onto paper is an art form – and a very difficult one at that. Many want to write but very few actually do. You are creative – and who gives an F about funky clothes and wild hair color. Just be yourself.
Caryn said,
Sunday, January 27, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Mary, I think you’ve captured a lot of what I’m trying to say: writing doesn’t feel as creative because it’s internal. It’s not as flashy.
shesawriter said,
Sunday, January 27, 2008 at 9:06 pm
I know what you mean about the dictation. Yes, I hear voices. Not audible ones. They’re in my head. That’s why the general public would consider most writers stark raving mad if they knew just HOW we get the words on the page.
Alyssa Goodnight said,
Sunday, January 27, 2008 at 10:08 pm
I love that last part–that you take dictation! Sometimes I wish I was that kind of writer. Basically I can just turn it off. It feels really weird, because I can be writing all day and then go to pick up my kids from school and distance myself from the story completely. When I get back to the writing, it feels like I’ve been gone forever.
Tink said,
Monday, January 28, 2008 at 7:43 am
Actually, if you were asleep during an accident you would fare BETTER than if you were awake. When someone anticipates an accident, their body tenses up and is more prone to jars and injuries, instead of being loose and pliable like when they’re asleep. I know because I used to think about the same thing and had to look it up!
Swishy said,
Monday, January 28, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Hmm … very interesting perspective! I like it!
Mizzz_K said,
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 at 8:33 am
Heehee! I remember a writer friend calling me soooooooooo excited because she had the start of her next book. When she came over and showed it to me? It was two lines of dialogue. Under 20 words. I have entire 20 minute, 5 pager conversations go through my head regularly, but there is no way they are a book. Her two lines, under 20 words? Are now her latest manuscript in process of revisions. That is a unique talent to be able to pull the “dictation” into something other people can hold. Creative or not? Up for debate, but still an amazing and unique talent.
77free said,
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Writing is definitely a unique talent. I feel though that personality is what we end up seeing as “creative” Some writers are intrusive and look rather normal. Normal as in they could be a stockbroker on wall street, a stay at home mom ,or even the local bagger at the market.
But then there are those writers whose personalities are vibrant and they choose to express through their hair, clothes, style, vibe, gait etc. Its like they couldn’t hide it if they chose.
For me, when people see me they think I’m a creative person by all the things above. But when I speak they know that I’m a thinker and a writer and a person with something to say. For me, expression starts in the mind and heart and then it comes to the page, to our bodies -hair etc and our clothes and in our language to others.
For those who are of the more silent type they express it maybe in the type of paint they choose, the furniture they decorate an entire home, how they tackboard the space at their day job or maybe in the shoes they buy. To me, creative people tell on themselves in some way it just depends on who you are.
Thanks Caryn for the topic and discussion and beleive me those characters are more than just telling you who they are, your talking back and confirming and shaping them as they speak. keep listening!
Caryn said,
Tuesday, January 29, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Shesawriter, I think you are so right! I suppose that at least it means we’re less prone to boredom than the average person, since we can just listen to the voices in our heads, right?
Alyssa, it must be so difficult to get back into writing again each time! I feel for you. Still, it would be nice to shut off those voices at will.
Thanks, Swishy!
LOL, Mizzz_K! I hope that someday she will follow through and end up with a book after all. Imagine how proud she’ll be then!
77free, those are wonderful points. I see what you mean, about creativity manifesting itself differently if you tend to be an introvert or an extrovert. I’m more introverted, so I suppose it makes sense that any creativity I might have would come out in something like internal dialogue and writing.
Barrie Summy said,
Friday, February 1, 2008 at 1:35 am
You take dictation from a muse named Dolores? Sounds pretty creative to me.
Maybe we’re all creative, but we don’t know it. I say this as I slog through this second book, feeling decidedly uncreative.
Caryn said,
Friday, February 1, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Thanks, Barrie! Of course, Dolores is the one doing all the creating, so…
And good luck with your second book! I’m sure it’s better than you think.
veronicaromm said,
Monday, February 4, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Hi again. You are a writer therefore, an artist. The paper (or screen) is your canvas and those words that you type are your paints. Have no doubt you belong with the artists whose quotes are in my post. Thank you for coming by and you should add one, some other readers have added to the list. All the best. Veronica
Caryn said,
Saturday, February 9, 2008 at 11:47 am
Thanks, veronicaromm. That’s always nice to hear. And I loved the quotes you posted.
Lily said,
Thursday, February 21, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Unfortunately I’ve been told I was weird since way into my childhood, and often, so I think I allowed it to sink in. Though I don’t particularly feel “weird” either.
Then again I have a theory that, in a way, we’re all a little crazy.
After all, aren’t we writers always talking about these fictional people that won’t give us a moment’s peace? *grin*
As one of the previous commentors said, the mere fact that we both have and listen to these “voices” must count for something. If not creativity then maybe insanity?
I personally choose to see it as the former. After all, straight-jackets just aren’t classy anymore.