Learning to be Creative

This morning I read an interesting interview entitled, "Can You Learn To Be Creative."

Some quotes from it:

Creativity for me, as it manifests itself in my poetry, is a process that's almost like a trance. I just sit down when I have that idea, and I begin to write. I've learned how to intellectualize it, to rationalize it, to speak about my poetry in an academic way. But the process itself--that first act--is just sitting down and letting myself go.

Rhoda Janzen, California Poet Laureate

What do you do when you're stuck, when the page is blank, when your creativity is cramped, when the ideas just aren't flowing?

I go for a walk, or I go for a swim. One thing I've learned is, don't make it hard. The surest way to block yourself is to make writing a disagreeable experience, so that your unconscious remembers next time that it doesn't want to go there.

Greg Benford, Physicist & Science Fiction Writer

If you have Real Player, you can view the Program (27:23) - It's pretty interesting to listen to people from such diverse backgrounds speak about what gets their creative juices flowing.

It's always good to look to other sources for ideas, inspiration, or even affirmation. What you'll find is there is no one right way to be creative - discover those things that work for you & then give yourself permission to do them.