DEVOID OF CREATIVITY

Einstein imagined himself travelling next to a light beam and remarked that if it hadn't have been for his imagination then he may never have written the s.t.r Most things come from ideas, in my opinion, that's creativity. But, in answer to your questions regards who could and could not write, I think that there are people who comment that they don't have a spark of creativity in them but really mean that they aren't interested in it. Check the co-ordination and creativity in their fashion sense and the way in which they express themselves. Then there are those who study lit and languge but, due to their nature, do not have much in the way of a lucid imagination. Then there are those who have neither, but doesn't necessarily mean that what they write wont be of entertainment if they ever put themselves to the task and were in the right place at the right time, writing about the right thing. I know a few musicians who are highly talented and creative in their art but cannot bare to read books or write. I should imagine there are loads of other types too...but I can't be fucked thinking about it anymore. Hear my music: http://music.download.com/3600-5-100795586.html

I recall a study in the 80s which tried to determine the difference between creative and non-creative people. The only thing they found was that creative people believed they were creative and non-creative people believed they were not creative. Creativity has a lot to do with being able to discern and then manipulate connections between things. The connections are there for everyone to see, but people who believe they are creative are more likely to be looking for them. Thus it might simply be a case of a self-fulfilling prophesy. "You don't need the light of the Lord to read the handwriting on the wall." Copies of Warsaw Tales available through www.new-ink.org

I agree with yan - studying lit certainly doesn't make one an imaginative writer. My father certainly seems to illustrate the point that there really are non-creative people. He just doesn't get poetry & is tone deaf. Interestingly, he also claims that he doesn't dream - although research shows that peple who make this claim do dream But never recall doing so. I think Justyn is on the right track - most people have some creativity - affirming it is all important. I claim I can't draw/paint but taking GCSE art & learning techniques & practice , practice , practice led to me creating some passable pictures. But I do think the degree of creativity does have some organic roots. Why is there a higher incidence of bipolar amongs creative writers (bipolar also has an organic cause)? This isn't an idle stereotype, Professor Kay Redfield Jamison confirned this in an extensive scientific study (and I recommend her book, 'Touched by fire: manic depressive illness and the artistic temprement') On the subject of creativity, I'm going to see a photographic exhibition on Chernobyl tomorrow and the wildlife photographer of the year exhibition on Wednesday, so that's plenty to stimulate my creative neurones! jude visit my boring website http://www.judesworld.net

I think Yan's right. No one's devoid of creativity or imagination - you need it to make decisions, pursue a career, come up with solutions etc. Every personal development scheme in every business has 'creativity' on the list of things the company is supposed to help you improve, along with 'confidence', ' When someone says they couldn't write a story or poetry, they mean that they're so uninterested in it that they've never thought about the possibility of doing so, and so can't imagine how they would go about it. I'm sure if the compulsion took them, they'd soon work out possibilities. Jude! How can you say, "I agree with yan - studying lit certainly doesn't make one an imaginative writer" when that wasn't the gist of his point, or the original question? It's true, of course, but it seems an odd little bit to pick up on.

I think everyone's got the capacity for imagination and creativity but the combination of education, life experiences and personal choice dictate the way and extent to which you use it. Studying literature's probably quite a good way to become a more imaginative writer, although it depends what you're interested it. If you're really excited by fish, going fishing is likely to stimulate the imagination pretty well, too.

I don't buy it. Everyone has a creative side trying to get out. I've worked around people for years that have never shown an ounce of creativity, though they were good workers. No amount of training or encouragement has helped them improve their creative process. The old studies of personality types have some basis in truth I think. Drivers, Creative, Analytics and Amiable. It's not learned...it's genetic programming and to some extent environment. Environment can bring out the natural tendency to be realized to its fullest.

Everyone may have a creative side trying to get out, but if they don't know it or don't care, it will not come out. Being able to see connections is a key element, I think. My mother was tone deaf, which must certainly have narrowed her world. She had average intelligence otherwise, but she was not very clever in the sense we are discussing. My father, by contrast, was very creative and clever. He was not well educated but he had an extraordinary intuitive sense of how things relate to each other, especially in the physical world. I'm not very good at spacial relationships, but abstract relationships, especially in words, are a cinch. "You don't need the light of the Lord to read the handwriting on the wall." Copies of Warsaw Tales available through www.new-ink.org

Yeah, you're right Jack, but that's very typical of me. I'd make a rubbish witness because I often pick up irrelevant details and nothing important. "Sorry officer, I didn't get a good look at the driver. I didn't get the car registration or make, model or colour - but I can tell you that they were playing the basement jaxx album on the stereo." jude visit my boring website http://www.judesworld.net

Bipolar and creativity? People with bipolar are more likely to be in the creative industries because it's only in those kind of industries that you can get away with the way bipolar people are. You have to remember that you only hear about the successful. It's just more likely that you will make a hash of things as a bipolar if you work in an industry that demands consistant, steady, reliable work and sustained concentration and repetition. In a more arts based, creative enviroment there is more latitude for someone to work in their way, rather than a prescribed and heavily policed way. Certain structures are adaptable to someone's basic orientation, others aren't. Also, creativity is innate in humans. Problem solving is creativity. If you weren't creative, you wouldn't be able to make a cup of tea in an unfamiliar kitchen, because you wouldn't be able to come with the solution of looking all of teh cupboards for the cups. Cheers, Mark Brown, Editor, www.ABCtales.com

Professor Jamison's study covered an immense population sample not just the well-known. It is true that perhaps bpd is more tolerated in creative industries, but this isn't the whole picture. Whilst jamison exposed the 'tortured poet' myth as a sweeping generalisation, her study which was scientifically sound, conclusively demonstrated a link between bipolar and an artistic temprement. She is the author of the university standard textbook on manic depression (for medical & psychology students) not some charlatan on the lunatic fringe I add! jude visit my boring website http://www.judesworld.net

"Professor Jamison's study covered an immense population sample not just the well-known." I don't think this the point. Someone would have to have had a degree of success as a creative writer to be considered as a creative writer for the purposes of a study. Someone who attempted to be a lawyer or heart surgeon but ended up being long-term unemployed because of their condition would be considered as being long-term unemployed. I imagine that there's a fairly big statistical link between bipolar and long-term unemployment. Professor Jamison might have a hypothesis that fits the facts but I think it would be a big challenge to prove cause and effect.