Creativity

Stephanie and Kitty have gotten me thinking about creativity this week. So I wondered when am I my most creative? I know there is that time first thing in the morning when I am waking up. My night dreams blend in with my daydreams. I have a hard time waking up because I so enjoy dreaming in this state. Not that I can remember much, or the parts I do remember are never as good on paper as they were in my mind.

But that’s the same way with writing. I have these scenes playing out in my mind, little snippets. My goal is to get on paper what I am seeing. That’s the trick. It’s communicating what I see to someone else in a way that makes them see something similar, maybe with their own spin on it.

I remember walking into my job as a technical writer/editor of the software division at the educational publisher where worked. The group was wrapping up a project and storyboards of scenes were tacked up all along the length of the cubical walls. Artists passed drawings back and forth. Others sat at computers colorizing the sketches.

I could almost touch the creativity, it was so thick in there. I enjoyed seeing how each person’s creativity rubbed off on the next person. My days only got better as I was let in on brainstorming session for the next new project.

As the official writer for the group I got thrown into the fire on several occasions. “You’re the writer, why don’t you do _____.” (technical writing, copy writing, scripts, etc.) Lots of fun and lots of challenges to grow as a writer. Everyone had the mindset of “How can we make this better? How can we do this differently? What can we do that will excite our customers?”

Now that my office consists of me and my kids, I’m trying to keep that mindset of creativity. Still looking for how my writing can be unique. Better.

I think I feed off my kid’s creativity. Or at least their enthusiasm for cool books. (After all, that’s only fair—they sap my energy!) My son is now at the age of my target market, except I’ve been writing books aimed at girls. This NaNoWriMo I’m thinking about writing a book he would like. I’ve got a cool hook. Now I’ve got to start organizing my thoughts in preparation for the big November push. How creative can I get? Brainstorming bubbles, here I come.