Where to Find Creativity

First, I want to ask you, where do you find creativity?

Is creativity within you, around you, or some other source?

For writers, it is all about you in forms that most people don’t recognize. Creativity is in nature, in places writers visit, the people they encounter, and much more.

Creativity, find it in reading a book. Writers should be reading everyday as well as writing something every day.

What should writers be reading?

Writers should be reading the classics, if writers choose to write in a specific genre, they should be reading books in that genre. You are probably asking; why should I read books.

The simple answer is to see how others do it. This is especially true for new writers. By reading what you want to write, you can learn a good deal from distinguished authors of the genre you want to write.

It is not about writing like them, but to see how they use words, construct sentences, create tension, and handle point-of-view. These are the things writers need to handle correctly so they don’t bore the reader.

Why not read an authors that sells books and see how they write, then emulate they way they handle a story.

This is where creativity lies, within the pages of books, and in life.
As writers, you should be keeping your eyes and ears open to everything around you, and write down observations in a notebook, for future reference in a story. What a way to create your next character, a composite of people, places, and settings you’ve seen and written down in your notebook.

Try it and see if something comes from it. You never know where your next creative idea will come from.

Robert Medak
Freelance writer/Editor/Reviewer