Diverge your thinking and get creative
Greg Weaver, staff writer
Graphic courtesy of Emily Artus
You are creative… yes… yes you. Don’t believe me? Pick up one object close to you, now think of three ways it can be used besides its intended use. Boom, you’re creative.
That is called divergent thinking; a common test for creativity. Yes, it is true that some people are more creative than others, but we are all creative beings. Whether you agree or not, it’s clear creativity is a big deal. A TED Talk done about creativity is the most watched talk ever. It is also the number one desired trait for landing a job according to IBM. People long to be more creative, but where do you start?
What really is creativity? Ken Robinson defines creativity as “having original ideas with value.” Film maker and YouTuber Casey Neistat created this three-step concept for creativity.
First, you need to just create. This is the easiest step but the most important step. This won’t be your best work and you won’t reach that many people but it’s the key to enhance your creativity for the next two steps.
Second, you create something that inspires others. Most filmmakers, writers and photographers have one project that sums up their life’s work; that’s this step. Not every time you create something will it inspire others. That’s not to discourage you but to empower you to keep doing the first step until you reach the second.
This last step is certainly the hardest, but you will reach the most number of people. Create a tool that empowers others to create. Think of when Apple created its free movie editing software, iMovie. This was huge at the time — free software that allowed others to create.
Now this doesn’t have to be a software or some crazy camera you engineered. This step can be a guide, a book about your experiences, a tutorial video; the list goes on.
To answer that earlier question on how to start, here are some quick ways to boost your creativity.
Make memories. Every time you see something interesting or inspiring; capture it. Keep a folder of pictures on your phone of different things you captured to use as inspiration.
Create something every day. This goes back to our first step of just creating. The more you create, the more your creative “eye” will grow.
Stay alert. You never know what can trigger some inspiration for a project your working. “If I’m not paying attention, I’m not being a good steward of creativity,” said Steven Brewster.
This isn’t something you’ll pick up overnight but instead something you grow. “It doesn’t matter how nice your gear is, if you can’t tell stories it’s useless”, said James Garcia, senior mass communication major.
