This is a textbook. It was written for any student who might sign up for the course entitled Psychology of Creativity. However, anyone who wanted to study it on their own could also find the book useful. It is for artists, leaders, managers, musicians and writers. It will describe the creative process for artist as well as writers or people from other disciplines. It allows the reader to find similarities and differences depending upon the creative process that each individual is exploring. It may de-mystify rituals of inspiration. Hemingway drank. Picasso used women in the same way that Hemingway used alcohol; he consumed them. This book may eliminate the mythology that you must have a gift in order to create. It never hurts to be gifted, but techniques do not have to be mysterious. Changing the world is an inside job.
Knowledge of the creative process cannot substitute for creativity itself. Some people seem unable to start. Those people should remember that a journey of one thousand miles starts with a first step. It seems easy to get stuck. Writers get writer’s block. Managers and executives sometimes plateau and as a result fail to continue to grow and prosper. Dr. Larry Liberty used to say that people are like plants. If you aren’t growing, you are already dead. Sometimes challenges seem too overwhelming, seem too intimidating and free inspiration seems blocked. There always seem to be setbacks and frustrations. It helps to know that these are phases of the natural cycle of creative processes. Perseverance is one component of the creative process. Long-term goals can be achieved. Sometimes there are milestones to be celebrated or even recognized because they are telling people that they are on the right track. Some struggles can take a lifetime. Frank Lloyd Wright was 72 before his work began to be recognized. Colonel Sanders was nearly bankrupt at 65 and died a multimillionaire more than two decades later. It was a struggle that generated incredible pleasure and joy. A lot of the things happen in life: false starts, mistakes, sometimes life itself gets in the way. Many attempts people make are imperfect; yet each one of those imperfect attempts is an occasion for growth. As Thomas Edison put it, "I haven’t failed; I’ve found 10,000 ways that don’t work."
The creative process is like a religious quest or odyssey that takes a person down a spiritual trail. Prisig would say that the motorcycle that you are working on is yourself. Nietzsche would probably say that a creative act is the only way to eliminate despair and alienation. The Zen monk might say that you can find yourself by losing yourself in your art form. There is a meaningful, original, authentic self inside of you waiting to be discovered and expressed.
How talented are you? What do Einstein, Picasso, and Bill Gates have in common? What are inspiration, insight, and improvisation? Do we need to wait for the Muses to come or is there another way to develop our imagination? Readers can get answers to these and other questions in this book. Discover the genius inside of you. This book provides a historical review of a variety of approaches to creativity. The material covered emphasizes psychological components of the creative process, the application of creativity in the writing process, the visual arts as well as music, leadership, problem solving and science, the preconditions for creativity, and the general characteristics of creative people. Hundreds techniques for creativity stimulation are organized into 15 workshops. 540 pages, 60 color illustrations.
