Demystifying the Muse: Five Creative Myths You Should Stop Believing
As creativity becomes a commodity traded by so many people, it is more important than ever that ideas are constantly popping up. But are these creative careers available to only a few gifted people? Not at all. Most of the ideas about creativity as an elusive muse are simply wrong.
This post originally appeared on the Crew blog .
There is a letter from the 1815 issue of the General Music Journal in which Mozart describes his creative process as instantaneous: no struggle or writer’s dead end. The muse just appeared and he was ready.
Problem? The letter is a forgery.
Like many other myths about creativity, the mystical method described in the letter only serves to emphasize what we already mistakenly think about creativity: that it is a kind of magical ability that some people have, while others do not.
We’ve created an idea of what creativity is, which is completely wrong. If you don’t believe me, here are some of the biggest myths about creativity that most of us still believe in:
1. Creativity is what you were born with
How often have you heard someone say that creativity is “what you were born with?” Either you have it or you don’t. But is there any truth in these old proverbs?
While most modern psychology textbooks often assume that there are some cognitive aspects associated with creativity that can be inherited, few go so far as to suggest that there is some kind of creative caste that you might be born into. Yet the myth persists.
In part, this could be due to famous creative families such as the Waugh family, which gave birth to three of the greatest writers of the 20th century (Arthur, then Alec and Evelyn) or Bronte . We currently expect the children of celebrities and artists to inherit the talents of their parents.
But research will show you that being influenced by your family is a skill that we all have by nature and that can be cultivated, developed and taught.
Jack Kerouac believed that “genius gives birth, talent gives,” while Nobel Prize-nominated writer Edward De Bono said: “Creative thinking is a skill, it is not just a matter of individual talent. the river listens to baroque music and hopes you get inspired. “
“But I’m a right-brain thinker! I’m a creative person!” you scream. Not according to modern neuroscientists, who now deny with all their hearts that there is a single part of the brain that controls creativity. Instead, a modern approach, although not yet fully mapped out, shows how creativity activates all the different parts of our brain and is made up of many interacting cognitive processes (both conscious and unconscious) as well as our emotions.
From preparing for incubation to lighting and validating an idea, we can access the dorsal attention / visuospatial network (for working with physical objects), the executive attention network (for focusing on a single task), or even the imagination network (for more details). ). abstract thoughts).
The creative process is a union of parts of our brain that we all have, and not “the result of some magical area of the brain that some people have, but others do not.”
Creativity comes in small steps. This is not something that happens instantly. To say that this is what you were born with negates all the hard work, effort, and time that goes into creating something of value.
Afraid to do a little work? James Dyson is known to have created 5,000 prototypes of his vacuum cleaner in five years before refining the technology, while Walt Disney was fired from his job at Kansas City Star in 1919 because, according to his editor, he “lacked the imagination and good ideas. “
2. You have no control over when inspiration comes.
One of the biggest myths about creativity is that you can’t control – it’s the “a-ha” moment or Eureka’s scream when it all adds up. The muse comes when it is ready, and you have no control over when or how it happens.
For me, some of my best ideas come when I’m in the shower (which is why everyone has to have one ofthem ), surrounded by a dark tiles and white porcelain, away from anything that might affect my thoughts. But research is now showing that these moments of sudden inspiration and inspiration are actually the culmination of previous hard work surfacing in our minds.
Harvard researcher and psychologist Shelley H. Carson says these moments are the result of an “incubation period” in which our minds are distracted from the problem at hand and are free to wander and make connections that we normally would not (a phenomenon called divergent thinking , which is one of the building blocks of creativity).
So Eureka’s moment isn’t all that special after all. What it is is the culmination of hard work and previous thoughts. It’s the result of you coming in and doing work, rather than sitting around waiting for inspiration.
There is a great story about a Hungarian psychology professor who wrote to 275 creative people asking them to interview them for a book he was writing. Of the 275 people, a third answered “no” due to lack of time (another third did not answer, which may also mean that they did not have time).
Creativity is born in work; from the appearance.
Looney Toons animator Chuck Jones argued that you have to draw 100,000 bad drawings before you get a good drawing, and legendary photorealist Chuck Close is famous for his words: “Inspiration for amateurs – others just come and get to work.”
Time and time again, renowned creatives mention that getting the job done is the key to creative success. In fact, in a study by Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, 143 creativity researchers agreed that the # 1 trait underlying creative success is resilience and perseverance. As Kevin Ashton wrote in How to Control a Horse:
“Time is the raw material for creativity. Unless the magic and myth of creativity, and all that remains is work: the work of becoming an expert through study and practice, the work of finding solutions to problems and problems with those solutions , work is a trial and error method, work of thinking and improvement, work of creation. “
3. You can’t learn to be creative
To say that you can’t teach someone to be creative is another facet of the “inborn creativity” myth and a favorite saying of dropouts from art schools around the world. All this only adds mysticism to creativity, making it a kind of ethereal quality that an ordinary man or woman cannot tame.
But creativity is taught all over the world, and there is even the International Center for the Study of Creativity at Buffalo State College in New York, founded by BBDO founder Alex Osborne (who invented the idea of brainstorming). And research into the creativity of those who hone their craft versus beginners shows the power of training your creative muscles.
Recent research has shown how the brains of seasoned writers (with at least a decade of experience) act more rationally, emotionally intelligently, without filters, and ultimately more creatively than newbies.
The study involved two groups, veterans and novices, who read the beginning of a story, discussed how it could be continued, and then wrote for two minutes while lying in a scanner.
In the frontal cortex, where our brains engage in motivation, planning, reward, and attention (among others), the experts’ brains have shown greater activity, especially in areas critical to language and target selection, including through the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG ). – an area mainly related to the processing of emotional language, for example, the interpretation of expressive gestures.
The experts not only understood the language, but were also able to devote more time to the deep emotional component of the text and more abstract ideas – the building block of creativity. As Alex Freder of the British Psychological Society put it, “ideas are seething within them, already moving from concept to expression, easily conveyed, almost choking their throats.”
4. Creativity happens in isolation (the myth of the lonely creator)
I have a mental image of my mythical creator – my creative spirit animal. He sits at a small wooden table, a single lamp illuminates a pen and notebook covered with his signature scribbles, and in his left hand he holds a tall glass of whiskey, sweating with sweat.
No wonder he is alone. The mental image of a lonely creative person, busy with long night hours, has become almost an archetype. We have a tendency to rewrite history and attribute creation solely to one person, when in reality it was hard work and a collaborative effort of a creative team.
At Pixar , when their artists create new characters, they all sit at the table, draw ideas and place them in the middle. Everyone copies each other’s ideas, effectively using the creativity and imagination of others to implement their own ideas.
David Burkus, author of Creative Myths: The Truth About How Innovative Companies and People Generate Great Ideas, advocates for Creative Man Anonymous , pointing to the famous writing group The Inklings, which included such British writers, as J.R.R. Tolkien. , K.S. Lewis, Charles Williams and others who met informally in pubs or at each other’s homes to discuss influence, showcase projects, and usually just draw strength from each other.
In fact, one story goes so far as to claim that C.S. Lewis did have to argue with Tolkien that the manuscript he read in the meetings was strong enough to be published (a little thing called The Lord of the Rings. Heard about it).
5. Creativity comes to those who have time and money
In the Middle Ages, creation was possible, but only intended for those with divine inspiration (everyone else either fought dragons and raided villages, or laid out on the farm, trying to survive if the films taught me anything). However, during the Renaissance, people were finally recognized as capable of creating beautiful masterpieces. But (and this is a big problem) they had to be great people – think of Leonardo, Michelangelo and Botticelli from all over the world.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, creativity became something that separated those born of wealth and status from the self-made pioneers who are glorified in Victorian novels.
Throughout history, creativity and creativity have been a line drawn in the sand – something that separates classes and types. But what kind of thinking persisted in all these examples? This creativity is reserved for those with the time and funds to do so.
However, modern research has shown that creative thinking is actually more likely when there are limitations.
Research by the Department of Social Psychology at the University of Amsterdam found that when people face constraints, it forces them to step back, look at the big picture, and make connections between things they usually don’t know how to do – an ability called global processing, “which is hallmark of creativity.
Even people like architect Frank Gehry and inventor Max Shepherd both list constraints as the number one factor influencing creative thinking.
Not convinced? Here’s another example: Dr. Seuss’s book Green Eggs and Ham (more than 200 million copies sold to date) uses just 50 different words , which was part of a bet he made with Random House founder Bennett Cerf.
It’s easy to hide your work because you think you’re not good enough. It’s even easier to postpone creation because “you’re not a creative person” or “you just don’t feel inspired.” But the truth is, like everything in life, creativity is something that needs to be developed and strengthened through practice.
Andy Warhol put it best when he asked, “Why do people think artists are special? It’s just a different job. “
Whether you are a writer, sculptor, designer, or banjo player, appearing, being open, asking for help, and not being obsessed with the tools at your disposal will ultimately make you a better creator.
Demystifying the Muse: 5 Creative Myths You Should Stop Believing in | Crew