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I have been thinking about the concept of creativity. It seems to me that creativity is a technique of taking old ideas and applying new methods to them to create something new. I don’t think entirely new concepts can be created without “copying” in some manner. (How many infants with no knowledge have created a masterpiece.) So it seems to me that in some form or another, all ideas copy in one way or another.
New story plot. A private detective is hired to locate a maltese falcon. That is not creative… How about A platinum falcon? Nope. Still not creative. A silver swallow? What? African or European? Still lame. At what point does my story become creative?
The closest way I can create something completely original is to close my eyes tight enough so that just a hint of light reaches the rods in my eyeballs. I then relax and enter kind of a daze and let my brain interpret the images that appear. Most of these images that appear are mostly blobs or possibly alien life might look like. But my interpretation of these lights depend entirely upon my prior knowledge. Therefore it isn’t truly original.
Is creativity a skill? Could it be a considered an attribute to a person like intelligence, strength, dexterity and constitution? Or is there more than one type of creativity? I am not exactly a musically inclined person so how could I possibly be musically creative?
Is creativity a thing people are born with? Can you improve your creativity? How would creativity differ between an individual and a group of people. Is it like the saying to many cooks ruin the soup? And if that is the case what does the internet mean for society? Well that’s off topic…
I would love to get feedback on this one.
wr414andmycats 
I love the questions that you pose here. I think that many of us who are striving to create unique and interesting pieces of work, think about this idea a lot – at least I know that I do.
Upon reading this post, I immediately thought about our dear friend Shakespeare. During that man’s era there were many other play-writes, and many other theatres. From what I have learned, and researched about it was very healthy and a common practice to take from one another to create “new” stories. There were many “Romeo and Juliets” and hundreds of versions of “King Leer.” But what is important, and what is still relevant today, is who told/wrote the story the best. And what we discover or know about Shakespeare is that generally he was the one who told the stories the best, thus many believe he was the only one who wrote about them.
So for our day, are we much different? I don’t think that we are different from those bards of Elizabethan Era. Our task is to take a story, either told many centuries ago, or even a story that was told yesterday, and see if we can make it better, or different, so much so that our readers believe that we were the original authority on it all along.
You ask what is creativity, and can we develop it? I think that some of us come with an inherit creativity, but I also think, like with most talents, that it can be fed and watered and made into a blossoming plant of unimaginable beauty.
With that said, you are right, nothing is truly “new” or “creative,” but there are those who can make them seem that way.
William Makepeace Thackeray, once said that it is every authors duty to “make old things new, and new things familiar.”
Thank you for spurring such thoughts, on this rainy day.
Slade Thackeray
I think ‘creativity’ is an abstract and ambiguous concept, like most we use. I think it’s meaning is based entirely on your own perception and what you feel creativity for you. For me, creativity is the ability to take your own experiences to build a story. The characters are not unique in archetype, as I’m sure someone has written a lot about bikers and business men/women, but they’re unique in how I write them, how I portray their characteristics. I think the same is true for music, for visual arts. The concepts aren’t entirely unique, but how each person, musician, or artists presents them are unique in perception and presentation.
In all honesty I think creativity is a mindset rather than a skill. It is the way a person looks at things and processes them. Of course that doesn’t mean that it cannot be acquired, there are things that can be done to become creative. The best approach I can think of is to simply start with a blank slate and just focus on an object. Think about that object long and hard coming up with where it came from and who it belongs to. Keep doing that and eventually your mind will just start putting it all together. It seems to work well for everyone I know, but I am sure there are other approaches to this as well.
It seems like you’re dealing with a few things, both creativity and originality.
When it comes to originality, there’s a quote (I think from the Bible) that says “there’s nothing new under the sun.” Whether you’re dealing with writing a story, painting a picture, or composing a song, you will always be dealing with elements that others have already played with. There’s no new ideas for a novel, there are no new colors for a picture, there are no new chords for a song. Everything is “copied” to a certain extent, but people still put their own spin on things. Even though humans have been creating for centuries, we still thrive off of each other’s creations. I think musicians are harder on their music than their listeners, writers harder on their stories than their readers, and so on. Artists are aware that what they’re doing has been done before, but their job is to make it feel new or different to their audience.
As for creativity. . .I think of it as imagination or spontaneity, and I do think there is a general sense of creativity and more specific ones that can be applied to art, music, writing, etc. I think creativity can be developed, but possibly only up to a certain point. Our brains supposedly stop developing around 25, so I think it’s important for kids and young adults to do as much as they can when they’re young to stretch the synapses in their brains. Of course, I’m not a brain scientist, I’ve just read about it here and there! (http://www.news-medical.net/news/20110923/Human-brain-development-does-not-stop-at-adolescence-Research.aspx)
Great topic! Everyone struggles with this at some point, whether they’re musicians, game designers, writers, etc. You know, Tolkien once compared stories to a great tree. While the leaves are different, since they belong to the same tree they inevitably bear similarities to one another. Below them, around the tree’s roots, lie the brown leaves of countless summers past. Should the new leaves be unhappy that so many have gone before, and so many will come after? Tolkien thought not.
Tolkien himself is often hailed as being so original and creative. Yet Tolkien’s stories are largely influenced by Norse mythology, so even he was standing on the shoulders of giants. Outright copying is one thing, but this is something different.
Also, Because we’re all human, we’re going to share similar experiences, emotions, philosophies, and the like. As such, our creations are going to be similar as well. It’s great for us to bounce ideas off each-other, because that keeps our minds from becoming too stagnant. That said, it’s also important to try and block out all pervading influences of what we’ve read or seen in the media, and dig into the core of what makes us who we are. From that will flow our own creativity, and how often we do so influences how creative we are. What comes out won’t be completely original, but at least it will be ours.