Point is, screw the 10 rules and do your own thang until you figure out what works for you.

I debate your post, point by point, on my blog:
http://bigbadbobby.blogspot.com/2009/08/checking-creative-pulse.html

As a design student I heard a lot of this word. There were certain types of advertisements we were shown that were supposedly creative. These were very witty ads, they were unexpected and got into books of witty ads.

I came up with 2-3 of these so called creative ideas during the whole time I was in college. They were like those ideas you see on adbusters.org, and on the same topic. I didn’t put much thought into them, for one idea my brain magically connected Egyptian hieroglyphs with corporate logos (a lot like the adbusters american flag with logos) and presto! My teacher was impressed along with the students.

Would I come up with this idea if I didn’t see countless witty ads and adbusters flag, but only saw hieroglyphs and corporate logos? Not likely.

Ultimately this idea is a gimmick, a distraction. It is as small and useless as the ideas that inspired it. It has a much better chance of inspiring another gimmick than a useful idea.

If you could stimulate an artist’s brain in a way that would make it a creative idea factory, most of those ideas would make some art teachers happy, fill a gallery and sell some junk. This is assuming the artist is fixated on art and nothing else, unlike Leonardo DaVinci. Most artists are not like him.

If the brain is not filled with deeply understood, detailed knowledge about the world, perhaps history or science, then it will act on the limited knowledge it does have. Those actions won’t change the world even if they receive worldwide attention.

This is why the world is indifferent to the so called creatives. Nobody appreciates their efforts, just as nobody appreciates the efforts of other professions that can be performed with mental deficiencies.

If you want to make the part of the brain you use most more effective, the best approach is to build up your brain’s other strengths. It’s pointless to close up, get in moods and enjoy the fragile creative experience.

Great post, as usual. I believe that most of us are born creative (just watch a 2 year old play) and then society conditions us to suppress that creativity. Some technical disciplines teach us that there is only one right answer to any given problem. Once you internalize that, you stop seeing the world as shades of gray, but either black or white instead, dismissing the creative process as a waste of time.

Corporate life can be a creativity-killer too. When doing what your boss says, playing it safe to avoid making mistakes, and trying to be always politically correct are sure ways to thwart creativity.

The best tip I have in order to jump start your creativity is to do things that you like. When you discover a passion for something, your creativity immediately comes to life. For example, when you’re doing something you like, even seemingly unrelated events get you thinking along the lines of: how can I apply this to my passion, how does this relate to what I’m doing, etc.

On the other hand, it’s difficult to be creative when you’re doing something that you don’t like.

I agree that I don’t believe creativity can be taught. “Creativity” like most terms in the English language has layers of meaning. I think “creativity” is term we use for people who look at the world in a certain way. Who look at the world and new thoughts are “created” in their heads. But the ability to think new thoughts can be nurtured. The more you read, the more you add to a database of information your “creativity” uses to make news thoughts.

On to the disagreements. I’m not an artist, I’m a writer (although I started young in art classes and one day will go back)so perhaps that’s why I look at creativity differently.

“Don’t listen to feedback” is one of the cardinal sins of being a writer. As writers, we fall love in love with our own characters, scenes, lines of dialogue, etc. but frequently those items that we love have no place in the story we are telling. We need an outside voice to tell us “cut it.” Of course, “feedback” or “notes” (as it’s called in the entertainment industry) can destroy what story we’re trying to tell. Here’s an example of a so funny, cause it’s true skit of a notes meeting: http://twurl.nl/pi07k5 In that case, I agree “don’t listen to feedback.”

“Ignore trends” is another toughie. If you want to sell your work, you usually have to follow a trend. If the studios are buying scripts about crazy lawyers you should have a script about crazy lawyers. Then it reaches a point where no one is buying that trend anymore so your script about crazy lawyers is not that useful. And you do always need an example of original work for when they ask for it.

Then there’s another kind of trend that you can’t ignore: design. If someone looks at your website and thinks “that’s very Web 1.0″ vs Web 2.0, they’re (possibly) talking about a design aesthetic. CSS come along and opened the possibilities what web design can do. I don’t think you’re saying everyone should stick with HTML because CSS is a “trend.”

“Don’t try and fit into a genre” is what you as a writer would like to do but the publishers usually say it’s this genre or that. If you’re really, really lucky the publisher decides your work is straight-up fiction even when it’s not. Random House decided that Dan Brown’s “Da Vinci Code” would be labeled as “fiction” even though I think it really is more a “scifi/fantasy.” If it was labeled scifi/fantasy I doubt it would have sold near as many copies. That’s not to say it’s impossible (ignoring Harry Potter as an outlier), there are scifi/fantasy books that end up NY Times Bestsellers and International Bestsellers. You just don’t get covered by the mainstream press.

With this long a comment, it really feels like it needs a concluding statement, but I was never too do at those, so… In conclusion, Adam, this was a great post (no lie).