Copying Creativity

Source.  Copyright Nintendo

Yesterday I read this article that someone on Twitter linked to.  For those who don’t want to click through, it’s titled “Can Anyone Be a Novelist?”. In short, it tells of how certain qualities are needed in order for one to be a novelist.  The blogger says that anyone who can type and have an understanding of the language they’re writing in can write a book.  But it won’t necessarily be a good book.

He goes further to say that two types of talent are needed to write a good book, namely the means to communicate effectively (string coherent and intriguing sentences together) and imagination.  He says:

"To create good novels an author must be able to come up with new stories, settings, characters so the reader will be drawn in and held captive, not feel as though they’re reading a re-hash of some other story they’ve read.  This cannot be learned: creativity is inborn."

That last sentence is the topic of my post.

Let me start at the beginning.  I’m sort of a copier.  When I was little, I did everything other people did instead of being myself.  At some point I realised this and swung entirely in the reverse.  So when I got out of school, I had an interest in the same line of work my brother was studying to, but in a courageous effort to avoid copying him, I swung in another direction and started studying accounting.  Eventually I dropped that and started in the writing direction.

Which brings us to the present.  Through a series of similar events as the above, I have begun being terrified that I’m doing the wrong thing.  I.e. that I started something (like the accounting) that I don’t like or am good at, but which I’ve convinced myself is what I should do.  Basically, I worry that I might be lying to myself.

So when I read something like the post I mentioned above, I start to wonder.  Do I have this creativity?  Then I notice that I copy a lot of things and from there things get out of hand I and start to doubt myself (never mind the inclination to copy other people that is already ingrained in me).

That is probably the thing that terrifies me the most.  What if I’m not supposed to be a writer, i.e. what if I don’t have the necessary requirements to be a writer?  What if I’m wasting my time doing something I’ll never be able to do (well)?

Most writers report being born with a pen in hand and writing since they could put a pencil to paper.  Me?  I wrote a bit of scraps here and there, but never really dabbled in it.

How do you know when writing is supposed to be hard and when it’s supposed to be easy?  It seems to be always hard for me.

But I will just go on.  I will remind myself that stories (rather than specifically writing) were a part of me from early on.  Maybe I’ll never be a great writer, but then at least I’ll die trying.

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Walk a Mile in my Muse

It is often said that walking (or other exercises) can increase, among other things, your creativity.  I’ve never been much of a walker, but I thought I’d look into it.

I found several articles that spoke of studies that were done showing that brain deterioration was combatted by walking, cognitive functions were improved, and memory became better after as little as a fifteen minute walk.

The reason for this might be a number of things.  Firstly, muscles and the brain have an intricate relationship through the connection of the nerves that send signals to the neurons in the muscles to let them contract.  So perhaps excessive usage of the muscles will lead to better communication between the brain and the muscles and thus more stimulation for the neurons in the brain.  Secondly, when you exercise, your body releases endorphins and serotonin that is natural pain and stress removers.  I’m sure there are a number of other things that could contribute, but I’m no brain scientist.

The question is, of course, does it actually help creativity?  Many, many people say that it does.  They swear by walking if they have a block.  One author, Henry David Thoreau, even said “Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.”

The endorphins and serotonin can definitely help, since it can relax us and let us clear our heads of worries about other things—a prime reason for blocks in the first place.

Another important thing is the active meditation involved in exercise.  Most people picture a monk sitting cross-legged and humming when they hear the word meditation, but running or walking (or any other exercise) can be meditation too.  By concentrating on the exercise or some part of it, you essentially clear the mind of other thoughts and thus the exercise becomes your anchor (sitting meditation often uses a mantra as an anchor; a thought to fix your mind to).  Specifically in running, it is somewhat important to control your breathing, so if you count seconds for each breath, you will distract yourself so much that you will essentially be meditating.

Whether it actually improves creativity or not (the consensus seems to be yes), it cannot hurt to try.  It’s a healthy habit and getting out and seeing things might not be a bad way to hunt inspiration.

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