What It Means to Be Creative--Chapter 4

This particular essay really stood out from the other ten we’ve read through this quarter. Though it’s the shortest, it really defined one of my aspirations better than I’ve ever heard it defined.

To be creative is more than painting a picture. It’s thinking of something original from anyone else, something that makes people make a double-take, so people say “Why didn’t I think of that?”
I loved how Hayakawa described that average people don’t read their emotions as well as creative people because they feel what they think they should feel. Not what they actually do feel. Or they appreciate something based on their denomination, stereotype, or political party. For most, it’s a thin line between what you do feel and what you should feel. But it’s clearly drawn for those with creative souls.

Creativity is definitely something I strive for. Unfortunately, the harder you try, the more impossible it is. I always try to make a formula for it, instead of just letting the creativity flow out of my head. I’ve found that when you’re most relaxed you write the best. Personally, I prefer to write just before I go to bed.

The most encouraging characteristic of creativity Hayakawa described was “idle curiosity.” Curiosity is like my sixth sense. I love knowing things. If I’ve given a clue, I tackle it and milk it for all it’s worth.

A specific example of what dams up my river of creativity is the inability to trust myself. The author quoted a Dr. Hans Selye about how the most brilliant scientists went with their instinct over all. I like the comparison to scientists because I envision a clean white lab with chemists and physics professors bustling about, trying to discover the meaning of everything. Theoretically, every day is an experiment for us. Learning, trying new things, analyzing, without thinking about it.

Hayakawa wanted us to view creativity through the eyes of the scientist and see that it can relate to anything and everything in daily life.

Writing Strategies
1. Describe the strategy Hayakawa uses to help the reader to understand the term "creative." That is, how specifically does he make the term clear to the reader?
I really appreciated the way the author described creativity. He gave specific examples that anyone can relate to. We've all thought "Why didn't I think of that?" Hayakawa said that a creative person goes beyond what everyone knows already, doesn't limit him-/herself to the confines of other (i.e. political parties), and has open-minded curiousity. He also uses other sources, like Dr. Hans Selye. His most important point that really defines creativity is that it can take any form, even a supermarket layout. So even the average Joe can be creative.

Exploring Ideas
3. In what ways is writing an essay an act of "creativity"? List Hayakawa's main points (or characteristics) of creativity and apply them to writing an essay. Which ones apply? Which ones don't?
To write an essay that is worth reading, you need to use creativity to come up with something new to bring to the reader. There are so many cliches in society, that to grow, we need more material. Viewing writing as a maturing process, we need to recognize our feelings and interpret our thoughts to do so. This is a creative point.

Another characteristic of creativity is not allowing yourself to be confined by roles. Whether religious, polical, stereotypical, etc. In writing, you do need to stay with one point of view, otherwise the text can be confusing. You have a role as a writer that you can swing right and left.

Playing with ideas that are often construed as silly or foolish make the best writers. Lewis Caroll had simply insane ideas (often from insane doses of drugs) as does Shel Silverstein. Nearly anyone can be persuaded towards an unfounded notion if the argument is creative enough.
But when you don't have an argument that can sway the masses, creative persons but be strong enough to stand alone and not conform.

My favorite trait described of creativity was the curiousity. This is one of my favorite words and little did I know how it could relate to what I hope to attain! When it comes to writing, research is frequently involved, but the deducing of information gathered is where the creativity comes in. You can have all the frivolous information the world has in its tomes, but if you can't connect them to life, they're useless.

Going with your gut feeling is the final trait of creativity that can be easily linked to writing, the most obvious being sentence flow. It's not a structure you can exactly follow, having shorter and longer sentences strung together. Sentence flow is just a rhythm that you feel while you write.