Category Archives: Creativity

Teaching and assessing creativity

When characters collide

Posted on November 25, 2014 by

Consider the possible basic conflicts in fiction:  man against environment, man against man, man against society, and man against self.  In most plots the conflicts are between people.  Even in Robinson Caruso and Castaway, tales of man surviving in isolation, … Continue reading →

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What makes a character, a character?

Posted on November 18, 2014 by

Recently I was following a thread of writers discussing how to find names that make characters memorable.  Honestly I believe that writers should be looking at the reverse situation.  It is the skillful creation of a character whose strengths and … Continue reading →

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What makes a classic, a classic?

Posted on November 11, 2014 by

When a person refers to classic art, you automatically assume it is the style derived from classic Greek art. This style is associated with city-states on a small Greek peninsula beginning about 500 B.C. and ending 323 B.C., at the death … Continue reading →

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Delusion and Imagery

Posted on October 28, 2014 by

Imagery is one of the harder to pinpoint concepts in writing. What exactly is the difference between describing something in detail and creating imagery?  This concept is not always easy to explain.  So I looked at what some experts in the … Continue reading →

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Creative mess

Posted on August 26, 2014 by

Psychologists often study creativity like a kind of pathology, researching causes of creativity, methods to diagnosis it, and determining best practices. The creative person is often contradictory because the strongest drive in creative people is to not be like other … Continue reading →

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Group IQ

Posted on August 19, 2014 by

One of the tricks in getting groups to be more creative is tohave a hand in determining who goes into the group. A number of gurus on increasing group creativity will mention the need for greater diversity in groups. How … Continue reading →

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Stuck in a group

Posted on August 12, 2014 by

The concept of group synergy, the belief that combined abilities of people in groups produces better ideas than individuals  is often praised. However, most research points in the opposite direction. Suppose your assignment is to work with a group to … Continue reading →

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Sweet solitude

Posted on August 5, 2014 by

Does group work encourage creativity? Not according to the art and writing instructors that I surveyed determine which classroom environments induced creativity. Encouraging students to work in groups is suppose to improve creativity, but most instructors observed the opposite result. … Continue reading →

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Mentors and money

Posted on July 28, 2014 by

In the epic poem the Iliad, Telemachus father Odysseus was absent twenty years; first at war and then wandering on his long route home. Meanwhile his Telemachus grew to an adulthood without a father. Having pity on the youth, the … Continue reading →

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Wanted mentors: Dead or Alive

Posted on July 22, 2014 by

In the city of Florence, Italy stands the cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore with a massive brick dome, a masterpiece in its day, built without the wooden framework required to hold up a dome while the mortar dried. Yet, it … Continue reading →

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