What even is creativity? How do we create incredible pieces of art, music, or literature? Can anyone really put a single definition on this one word? How do we even begin a piece of writing from “nowhere”?

In article about the definition of creativity, Mark Runco and Garrett Jaeger write that the definition of creativity is made up of two aspects: ORIGINALITY and EFFECTIVENESS. In the article, they discuss how necessary both are. At one point, they state that original things have to be effective in order to be creative. However, I kind of disagree that all ideas have to be original because in many ways, we get our ideas from previous ideas, someone else, or somewhere else. We are always inspired by our world around us, but this article feels like it can’t be in some ways, that we have to think outside of the outside of the creativity box.

In the creative process with anything, I start off with clearing my head. I close my eyes, take some breaths, and relieve any kind of stress. For me, it gives the mind a little bit less to think about other than being in the moment.

If I am about to create pieces of writing, I start of with a few minutes of free writing. A timer is set for a few minutes, and I just type/write without thinking. I may go in with a few ideas but usually I try not to think. Just whatever comes to mind first. After the alarm goes off, I stop and look over with what I wrote. Some ideas I keep, and some I keep for much later. The ones that I think are relevant for the moment, or fit some kind of theme that I am going for, I will use and do another round of free writing only on those chosen ideas. In a way, I use a filtering system to develop my ideas, and the ones I don’t use will become “archive material” that I can use later when I get inspiration.

I feel that free writing helps me a lot in the sense that thoughts somehow appear on the paper (or screen) without having to think about it so much. That “writer’s block” cycle breaks a little bit and thoughts can find their way to out and creative juices can flow.