Archive for November, 2006
How do I create?
Posted on November 28, 2006, by dazzer67, under creativity basics.
Imaginality covers the whole spectrum of creativity and being creative - and that includes the basics.
Create is a verb. At its simplest it means to ‘make’ or ’cause to come into being’. It is also described in terms of being ‘inventive’ and using the ‘imagination’. But its very essence is an action. Being a verb is, as we learnt at pre-school 101, a doing word.
The point is that we can’t simply sit around and expect to be creative. Even as we sit and think about something it is the act of thinking that leads to the act of creativity.
The only excuse for not not being creative is that you aren’t making any attempt. To create you need to ‘do’ something. That isn’t to say that there aren’t obstacles to overcome and techniques that will make creativity easier, but it all starts with a will to act.
As for the techniques and barriers, we’ll be covering them right here, so stay tuned.
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Six word stories
Posted on November 6, 2006, by dazzer67, under inspiration.
Take some of the most well-known creatives and writers around (Ok, they are fairly high on the celeb-o-meter) and give them the task of writing a story in just six words. Then give these stories to some good designers and the resulting pages are in Wired magazine. The results can be found in this fantastic article at Wired magazine can be found here.
Why not have a go yourself, the limitations of using just six words is actually liberating, a little like haiku.*
*It works on the basic premise of this site’s thesis, the more you can move into preparation the less perspiration and inspiration is needed. By creating a limitation you create the boundaries in which you will work. The concern of ‘how long is this story’ is gone from your head, which increases productivity.
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Free novel writing software - yWriter
Posted on November 2, 2006, by dazzer67, under inspiration, preparation, software.
There is an old adage that says nothing in life is free. Well that isn’t true for the above. As I start out on Nanowrimo all the planning for this month of self-punishment has been done in yWriter a wonderful piece of free software, from Simon Haynes, who has also written some published novels using this very same software. Designed by Simon specifially to be used for writing - by a writer for a writer - yWriter is really great.
It takes a while to get used to, the GUI isn’t the most pleasant and it is obviously for the more literary minded, don’t expect stunning landscape vistas to inspire you as you type away. I have had to restart several projects as I learnt to use the program by clicking and typing (yeah OK, I should have read the online help, but hey, who does?) but even though these are negative points the software does work, is very functional and is perfect for planning that novel… and writing it too. But it never claimed anything other than being a functional piece of software.
So, if you need something that will keep, organise and develop your ideas then check out yWriter, surely one of the best pieces of free software out there.
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