Creativity is neither something learned by applying a formula nor is it the unfettered, chaotic product of a genius. Instead, creativity should be viewed as an individualized process that helps the creator find order within chaos (or vice versa).
Creativity seems to emerge from multiple experiences, coupled with a well-supported development of personal resources, including a sense of freedom to venture beyond the known. To create is to "bring into or cause to come into existence; make; originate".
I find most often that my creative product is my scholarship. Whether I compile a script, enact a performance art installation, or construct a fragmented review of a performance, I take a leap and then look around to see what I’ve gotten myself into. Although my scholarship takes many forms (screenplays; non- linear narratives; and combinations of video, sound, and movement pieces), initially my research resembles a puzzle, a collage of images and texts that do not seem to go together. I appear to have gotten into a mess, which is exactly where I had hoped to be. For me, creativity is a messy process that leads to the creation of "messy texts".
I will provide you with my working definition of creativity. Next, I will discuss the concept of "messy texts," including a brief historical overview of how such expressive forms of scholarship developed. Third, I will explain how and why I wrote a messy text. Finally, I will challenge you to write a messy text of your own.
Creativity is just something that’s always been a part of my life. Ever since I first drew cartoon heads in the margins of our family Bible, I have been labeled "creative". Infrequent name calling aside, I always embraced and welcomed the label. Teachers and family members encouraged it. I felt appreciated despite my perceived "kookiness" because some people valued my creative innovations and willingness to view things from multiple perspectives.
This willingness to innovate is alluded to in self-growth guru Gail Sheehy’s book Pathfinders (1981). She suggests that we should think of creativity as a four-part process: 1 ) Preparation, 2) Incubation, 3) Immersion & Illumination, and 4) Revision. Although interesting, Sheehy’s description of the creative process does not really capture the essence of my own creative process. However, I finally found one that provided the flexibility I needed. Franklin Baer, a public health physician fascinated with the topic of creativity has created an interactive web page that can help anyone create her/his own personalized creativity process. So I went to the site and created my own process, an acronym using the letters of the word CREATE :
Collect -- gather information from a variety of sources
Reflect -- generate many ideas, questions, and responses to the information
Embrace -- select which idea(s) to focus on and expand
Amend -- work with an idea until it begins to take shape
Toil -- become obsessed with a project until it is complete
Exhibit -- find a venue for displaying the creative product
These verbs come closest to describing how the creative process works for me. "Acronym" is closest in meaning to ______ .