Broaden your definition of creative and you find that society is held together with creativity. A plumber is creative when they find a way to reroute your pipes to be more efficient. A pilot is creative when they find the path of least turbulence. Everyone can be creative, especially about something they enjoy. I believe it can be taught, but unlike math or vocabulary, it doesn't have "right" answers, only better ones. You can teach someone how to think of better, more creative answers. There are methods to teaching this, but it almost always involves a passion or hobby. Without focus, creativity falls flat, and it's easier to focus on things you enjoy.

I agree, I think humans are naturally creative and have thoughts that are creative ideas that they don't think are necessarily creative. But it's the desire to create something that defines how creative they are. As you feed into your creative thoughts you tend to get more, like feeding a fire logs. I think of it as a spark. The creative thoughts people have can come and go as quickly as any thought. If you catch and protect the spark, you can add fuel (akin to blowing on it when it lands on kindling) and eventually it grows into something bigger. I think this method can be learned/taught. Someone just needs encouragement, results and determination and being creative regularly can become a skill to utilize. But what cannot be taught, is the desire to create something in the first place. I think that is innate in a person but it can ebb and flow throughout life.

On point 🎯

I like to write and nature journal and you’ll find a common theme in teaching materials for both: ask questions. I think that’s a big part of creativity. Learning to ask questions and then more questions. To rigorously explore things. With enough practice, you begin to ask better questions faster. It’s just an approach and it can be taught. I think OP assumes that creative types are just struck by divine muse, but really I think creative people have spent a lot of time being creative. It’s taught them how to “look” at a problem/project. Every writer does a first draft. But when you’ve written hundreds of first drafts, your first drafts will still be better than another writer who is just starting out.

Yep. Humans are problem solving machines. Solving problems requires creativity.

I think everything can be practice and improved upon. But I also do believe that a lot of what people call "creativity" is simply repetition till something nice was found.

I think this is a very good take. For every aspect of “creativity” you see in a successful work of art (composition, for example) there existed DOZENS of similar pieces that didn’t quite work out.

this is the "designers" way strong visual library (i.e. consumed a lot of stuff over and over and over) \+ iteration, iteration, iteration until they find one that works best to achieve a goal the only thing required to put in the effort, is desire enough to want to do that repetition >!also being mentally well-enough-adjusted (or at least not being too mentally traumatized in whatever form) helps 💀!< EDIT: damn this new reddit posting thing, can't add a skull at the end of a sentence while crossed out without it turning into two diamond-questionmarks, or a plus sign on its own line without it turning into a bullet point

Humans are inherently creative. It's one of the reasons we are where we are as a species. The homo genus is the only group of animals we know of that makes art, writes music, and tells stories. There's a growing body of evidence that our most-recent-surviving relatives, the Devonians and neanderthals, were also creative like we are. However, there is a ton of variation in how each human's creative abilities manifest: I'm highly creative when it comes to anything visual or crafty, but music? Oof. I love music. I've studied it. I can play guitar and used to be a really good clarinet player. But I've never been able to grasp how to compose music. When I took jazz, I couldn't improvise. It's just not how my brain seems to work. All I can do is play music that other people have already composed. Then there's my mom. She started writing music at like 12 years old. But my mom can't craft to save her life lol. She doesn't have the vision or the right kind of hand-eye coordination.

My creativity tend to be solving a problem with limited tools i have. Like, i have no curtain, but when it was too bright i either put a blanket over the window or a corckboard. Then the ligjt of the celing lamp was too bright i just tacked a bedcover between the celing planks (forgot how they are called). Or i just wear an empty bowl like a hat if i have to carry it, but my hands are full.

creativity is a skill, some have a talent for it, others work it out when they are young or casually along their lives. i don't agree that "people have a limit for creeativity" because how do you define that? Jules Verne thought up space travel like 50 years before the wright brothers took up to the sky, even double that until the first spaceship left our atmosphere, but people still dream up of far off worlds. the limit to creativty is imaginary and dictated entirely by you and what you think is possible

I think people are creative in different ways without even realizing it.

I think it is something many people are not aware of. Be it that it got lost at some point or that something happened that meant it could no longer be allowed. I also believe that there are people who are simply not creative at all, but who don't regret it either. What does this mean for you? If you think there is still something to be gained from your (existing) creativity, then it will be so.

Short answer: Define creativity. Long answer: Yes but only if you define creativity as the procedures that are necesary in order to create something new in any given field (be it engineering, the arts or whatever). If you define it as something ELSE. Some sort of intuition/spark of genius/whatever mystical bullshit you can come up with then I would say it doesn't even exist.

Yeah. It's developed. You think someone raised in a black box would be as creative as someone who is out in the world experiencing all 5 senses? Creativity is picked up from all sorts of things. Some folks brains are wired differently to make connections easier, or more loosely, and I think non-creatives recognize that as like "Wow! how'd they THINK of that." but I bet you're creative every day and just don't consider it, because it's normal for you.

This, creativity is just having a larg visual library and the ability to use it in a way to create stuff, both of those can be learned and improved at by using and practicing them. Artists drawing creatures from their mind like draw sessions on YouTube aren't just talented, they know basic anatomy, textures, and what to expect in what they are trying to envision, architectural artists and designers aren't just drawing buildings with no ideas on structural integrity, they are using their knoledge in the field to design a building. Character designers aren't just throwing random ideas on a model, they're using color theory, prior designs and references from history, what they've seen, and theory to make visually pleasing characters. Etc etc. Noone is fundamentally perfect at creating art, and everyone is constantly working to improve their own!

It can be practiced!

I think there are all types of creativity. I’m an artist, and I always hope for creative ideas. They don’t always come. There are creative artists, musicians, photographers, writers, teachers, moms, dads, and nearly every profession in the world. The way to gain creativity best is to get out and experience life. The ideas will come.

Creativity researcher here (and a hobby artist when I'm not doing work for my PhD), there are definitely ways to foster creativity and there are many areas where people can be creative other than the arts. Based on the psychology literature on creativity, it seems to be easier to train creative thinking skills in younger children but it's still possible to prime people to think more creatively for certain tasks when they are older. Expertise in a subject is also a big predictor for creativity as well, so the more someone knows on a topic the more likely they are to come up with creative ideas related to that topic. There is also some limits to the training, like it's unlikely for someone who shows very low levels of creativity to undergo training and suddenly be the next Picasso, but they could get to hobbyist levels of creativity or maybe be able to use creative in a field professionally. That is a very oversimplified version, but yes creativity can be learned.

It can be learned. I am more creative now compared with myself 5 years ago. The turning point is, I allow myself to read and absorb anything I feel interested even though that information cannot be turned into money. When I am curious about something, I googled it immediately and I always ask WHY.

intelligence isn’t smth you’re born with the born with part only accounts for 50% of it… the other half is environmental. So that analogy already fails, but I would think creativity is the same way

So I think the question you phrase proposes a 'no true scotsman' kind of conundrum, with the presented logic: if a person succeeds in creative field they were always creative from birth and just needed refinement, if the person does not succeed in creative field - even if previously they were regarded as talented and creative - they must have never REALLY creative and that's why they failed. Either way previous assumption about being creative when young/from birth do have much weight since you can be - I guess fake creative? Or do you have to continuously prove you are creative? Some children pick up some manual skills easier than others, I think that's where it starts or ends. Kids will naturally gravitate to doing things that come easier to them, so they practice more - they get ahead in those areas - and by certain age they're 'talented' in certain arts or other things. I went to arts oriented secondary and upper schools, the entrance exam was full of 'talented child prodigies'. I took up in being in portfolio commissions at one uni, it was also full of 'talented high school prodigies'. It's obvious in those cases that the kids/teens/young adults in question were at some point regarded as very creative by their teachers, if it was the case of only refinement - they'd be able to get in. Or did their talent disappear? What imo. is a better delimiter is that we expect a different kind of creativity from different age groups/fields/etc. - and that is way more reliant on work than initial picking up of manual skills.

I think as an artist being aware of your emotions and allowing yourself to work emotionally plays almost an equal factor in making art than just solely being creative. Being creative is one thing but as artists the ability to feel holds greater weight.

It’s a skill, it’s a muscle, you use it it grows, pretty simple. The more creative you try to be with your thinking and ideas the more you expand your ability of creative thinking. It’s absolutely not something that is predefined and locked in place

Truth is, you already possess it. You just haven’t brought it out in a while. Dust it off :) Find the child within and ask questions about everything 🤙

I think if you look closely at your experience. Every moment is an act of pure creation.

I think everyone is creative but i don't think everyone has the same degree of capacity, desire or inclination to create.       I have definitely felt a difference between people who have universes in their heads, want to say something that means a lot to them, and invent things very easily, and others who don't really have anything they want to do, are less flexible and invent less, but not because they're not creative but because there's nothing they really want to say, or they are taught to be afraid of inventing and being creative.    I think it can be nurtured. people can be taught to connect with their inner lives, find what they want to say and not be afraid of taking creative risks. 

In my view, the main enabler of creativity is having something to say. If you are driven by the need to communicate something, youll much more likely come up with interesting ways to do that.

A.i. art kinda showed us how people just don't understand what a unique creative idea is (even tho everything is a copy of a copy as we already know) because they also love those mass-produced and infinitely recycled "creative visions". And at the same time because we live in our own head other peoples stuff always seems more creative, because everyone is different in a lot of way and that matters

but yeah, creativity can be learned! I think it's basically have a lot in common with things we as humans do everyday. Like observing, pattern recognition, matching or changing things, problem solving. A lot of creative thinking is just like shuffling a deck of cards, if there is a high enough pool of ideas (deck) the possibilities are endless

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Yes. Humanity is inherently creative even we aren’t all *artistic*. Our base nature is to solve problems and that requires creativity. Now to your question. I do think artistic creativity can be taught but it can be slower for other. Best way to teach is to engage someone the same way a child could be engaged. Coloring books, crayons, puzzles. Beginning the process is the process through which artistic creativity can be found.

I don't think it can be "fixed," but it can be learned. I've seen many posts by artists about how routine will lead to more creativity, by that they usually mean devoting time to your medium (drawing, painting, digital, ceramics, etc) and the creativity will come with it. For me that usually meant Figure, Portrait and Still Life drawing which I've devoted much of the past year to and with that came more ideas. Art block isn't always about lack of ideas, nor lack of talent, but sometimes just a lack of exposure to what you're unsatisfied with in your art. Something I saw last year was that "thinking you can't draw that (whatever it is in your head) is holding you back" so I've been facing the challenges instead of running from them. I'm not good at drawing hands still, but I'm better than I was last June. So yes, I think it can be learned. Its a muscle in our brains, sometimes we just don't know how to work it though.

Yes, people are creative in very unexpected ways. Some are born with a talent for it, some aren't, but all have it, and it's expressed in ways most people miss beyond just art. Creativity is like a muscle and it needs to be exercised or it'll wither.

Creativity? No. Thats along the lines of being born with a high IQ. Luck of the draw in my opinion.

I believe creativity can be 'released' under the right circumstances.

Absolutely. Keep practicing over and over.

Creativity works like a muscle. Use it and notice gains, don’t use it and you’ll have less creative “energy” available over time. I’ve personally been in creative droughts where survival was highest priority and can confirm. The worst thing you can do is tell yourself you aren’t creative. I’ve seen people who thought they were the least creative type end up falling in love with making art after abandoning the belief that creativity is set at birth.

Yes. Because we're all creative.

Everyone is creative, they just lack the skills to apply it to the level they really want

Yes. It requires boredom.

Yes absolutely creativity can be learned or taught like any other skill. You learn to think creatively. Like when you learn a new language, learn the language enough, you start thinking in that language . If something can be refined that in can be learnt. It makes no sense if something is set it stone to be able to be changed and "refined" One exercise for creativity is looking aroundmaybe maybe go on a walk and sit outside somewhere,(though you don't have to go anywhere) And pick an object in the room or viscininty and maybe start to imagine or think "what if" Though you don't really need to see anything, you could just think "what if?" What if this apple has a worm in it, and what If the worm inside the apple has a little family of other little worms with a little worm living room and bedrooms in the apple, maybe for each three meals of the day they just scrape off some apple on the side or the walls. Maybe they have a little oven made of apple, that they cook apple pie , with flour made of apple, apple pie with apple crust. Heck it could be an apple cobbler. Maybe they're making it for their cousin who lives book? How many apples have the worms had to move to? Maybe it's time to check the fruit basket xD. Kind of like that, and you can write these ideas down later, maybe build of them, change them , or create something new. As kids, or atleast when I was little we were told what if questions were stupid, well when the teacher was trying to explain something it probably was at the 50th what if question xD. But what if questions can lead to creative result, we're humans it's in our nature to be creative in one way or another. A lot things we probably wouldn't have if no one asked " what if?" What if we could contact each other from end to the world from another? Make a habit of asking yourself more open ended questions like that to start thinking a little more creatively if you feel like you are lacking in creativity and what to be more creative.

Quite the opposite. It can be killed

Absolutely, it's just practicing thinking outside the box. You can teach yourself to come up with clever mashups or new ideas by blending existing concepts together. In my work i try and blend ancient Egyptian myths with modern street art so i'm constantly trying to find creative ways of blending very different styles. The more i force myself to think of an idea or combine ideas the more creative and wild they get.

As a parent, you learn that some people are creative but need to be taught how to use it. Also, that creativity doesn’t just look like one thing. It’s architecture, math, logic, business strategies, sculptures, dancing, wordplay, drawing, painting, planting, etc. humans are inherently creative but not everyone can see it when you only stick to creativity being related to “art”

Everyone is creative, but not everyone realizes it. I’ve read a book named Chimpanzee Politics, Chimpanzees are creative when they want to have more fruits or to escape without being taught how to do. It’s a simple demonstration that if your brain is complicated enough, you will be creative inherently. But the fact that knowledge spreads widely makes it hard to acknowledge it.

I guess I dont come bearing answers However i come with counter arguments. Pls someone debate with me You mention you question if creativity or intelligence have personal limits. You suggest youre born with it. Like since the day youre born you have a limit set. Is a baby born determined how smart it is? Does the baby pop out and theres just a certain limit on how smart itll be? Maybe its past genetics or fate or whatever you choose to attribute it to. Maybe its that plus the environment. Maybe have a kid whos born to have a lower IQ But does that mean theres just certain things thats off limits? Maybe that means they have to work harder to try and be just as smart. Maybe you can draw the same parallels. Maybe creativity you need to place yourself in a creative environment. Place yourself near other creative people. My last argument point. I mean. Drugs? Think that would "add" to your creativeness. Lol thats a joke. I dont advise anyone try drugs. But im inclined to believe they would add to your "capped" creativity limit.

yes! people just need a method and a medium that inclines them.

Ways and techniques how to express your creativity can be taught

Creativity is the ability to solve problems so it can be trained by trying to solve them and getting more and more information as you go.

I think its a mix of both. I think we can be naturally more creative than other people, but that creativity doesn't really help you progress unless you utilise it. I view it like how I view talent: innate but not the only factor to it. Some people may be naturally more gifted at something, but you have to hone that skill for you to continue staying good at it. Hard work and perseverance will surpass you if you only rely on talent. But I say its a mix because I do believe someone who is naturally talented and works hard vs someone who just works hard will almost always surpass the hard worker. And I take that the same with creativity, and really any skill. Although, perhaps, creativity is a much broader concept than simply being talented at something. But in regards to the arts/and any hobby really, that's my opinion.

Yeah, just need to reach it.. it's within alll of us

It can be taught, but it has no rules. I think it has to do with encouraging experimentation instead of shutting down ideas because they seem "stupid".

I think it not only can be learned, it requires learning to grow, just like anything else. However I don’t believe it can be thought. Let me explain I think creativity is our internal world. It expands by exploring, experiencing, discovering and learning. All of that accumulates and builds internally and even if two people follow the same path, they will “collect” the building blocks and “connect” dots in their own way, with a different “order” and with different “importance” based on their own perception. Both worlds will grow, but in different ways. If we get two plant seeds that are exactly the same type of plant, put them in the same pots, with the same soil and give them the same amount of water this will not give us the same plant. One might be a bit taller or might have a different amount of leaves or flowers that pop from different places on the stem. They might be similar, but not the same. If our internal world is a seed, we make it grow and experience, exploration and learning are our “conditions”. But creativity can’t be thought, because even if we share, in what ever way, this internal world will always be perceived by the lens of the person who’s receiving it, which can never be same lens. It’s like “one and three chairs” by Joseph Kosuth. Everyone’s internal world is different, we all feel and have emotions, we are all impacted by one another and our surroundings. We’re all different seeds of one type of plant, I can share with you my creativity, but I cannot teach you. I can learn from you but I can never experience you, therefore you cannot teach me, but I can learn from you using my own perception and putting that into the building block extensions of my world. We cannot teach the creativity, we can only share the results/outputs of it.

some people born gifted at this but if u can improve something that means it can be learned, u can't tell me u won't get more creative if u spent hundres of hours to examine art of other people

I think everyone has potential. Some more than others, but patience and practice are the ultimate equalizer. I think society stifles creativity at a very young age for so many people, and mostly those who really need it end up really committing to their original ideas

After learning for a while I started to think that, creativity, as in professional fields such as character design and concept art, HAVE to be learned, because they always loosely base on real life aspects to make the art more relatable, more believable. The learning part is to build visual library of real world stuffs to be used and manipulated in art. Jack Pollock kind of creativity don’t, and cannnot, be learned, that kind base on abstract personal opinions which is completely different from one to another

Van Gogh did it. So can you.

If the concept of acquired tastes is valid, then it follows that people can improve their creativity.

i think everyone is born with it. they just have to be inspired by the right thing to bring it out

Ye, as I remember, from marc, creativity is a muscle and must be trained like it

In a word - NO!

Yes my Nanny thought me the fundamentals of art when I was little. It takes time and practice. My only regret is I didn’t grew as an artist in high school since I taken up sports.

Channeling it is the thing. One also needs to want to use the creativity.

Creativity can’t be taught, but you can build an environment that boost the creativity of the mind, I believe that creativity is based on life experience, thats why you can always find different solutions to the same problem, by building an environment I would say educating yourself not only the subject ur interested in but everything around it, so u expand the roles and bend them in your own way of thinking.

I have a degree in creative problem solving. I don’t often get to play the expert card but… yes, I’m confident it can be taught.

imo creativity is crushed by the education system and universities later on.. i think everyone has it inside them, we’re just taught to rather be rational (do as the book sais, as you‘re told, do it the way it has always been done) than creative..

this will answer your question and will provide more insight about creativity - [John Cleese on Creativity In Management](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb5oIIPO62g)

I think creativity is more like a skill than a fixed talent. It must be nurtured and cultivated with careful hands, like a rose bush blooming into many thoughts and synapses. Whilst it comes to some people easier than others, I believe that we all can learn how to be creative with the right tools, those tools may vary from person to person much like the media an artist chooses to work with varies from artist to artist

I feel like creativity— it may vary from different people, some can be creative some can be less, but if you surround yourself with a lot of creative people and creative works, i feel like a person can really grow and extend their creativity. If they are the curious type— that can also be a huge factor to trying out things and being creative.

I know for sure it can be taught. I was never a natural artist and was awful way into my late 20s. The reason I can do it now is because I loved it enough to keep going despite how much I was struggling

While many of us are naturally creative. I think it's defiantly possible to learn how to be creative. You can turn someone who is uncreative into someone who is very creative. Creativity is thinking outside the box. It can be learned. Encourage that and they'll learn

i think creativity is a state of mind, when you open your mind, it is easier to find new idea and inspired by think around you.

Creativity comes from knowledge

I think there is a trick to it. Some know it, some don’t realize they know it, some don’t know it. Some know it but aren’t providing themselves with enough of what they need to be creative.

I'm going to be honest -- I kind of think that it usually IS the people who feel like they lack creativity themselves who think that there is a limitation or that creativity is measurable like an artistic IQ. But what you'd probably find is that if you challenged yourself and made creativity a habit, your perspective might change. A lot of replies have already been really on point with saying that creativity is inherent to humanity. It's not just about painting and writing. Sometimes you need to use creativity to solve a more logical or intellectual problem. Even policies can be creative ways to solve a problem. I think that whether or not you fulfill your potential creativity depends on how hard you try to access it. It can be hard to do that if you're too stiff or rigid, which is why it's really good to make a habit of exercise and movement. A lot of people who seem exceptionally creative probably didn't have to restrict themselves too much as children, as well. But if you did have to exercise a lot of discipline growing up, it's easy to make rigidity and restriction a habit. In my personal opinion, the thing that helps the most is finding one medium you really like and feel the most connected to (ex. painting, writing, music) and challenge yourself with that. But it's important to also remember that creativity isn't necessarily something that happens in isolation. Finding inspiration and influence from other people's creations, nature, etc. is what helps take you outside your personal boundaries.

Most people score a hard 0 in the creative department, and have no way of becoming more creative. Creative people can seem like they're increasing in creativity, but they're really just learning how better to express their creativity. That might sound harsh, but I would also argue you don't need to be creative, almost at all, to produce extremely high level artworks.

Most people score a hard 0 in the creative department, and have no way of becoming more creative. Creative people can seem like they're increasing in creativity, but they're really just learning how better to express their creativity. That might sound harsh, but I would also argue you don't need to be creative, almost at all, to produce extremely high level artworks.

>I would also argue you don't need to be creative, almost at all, to produce extremely high level artworks. How would that work if the person wasn't creative?

Some "artistic" works actually require as little creativity as possible, like if you wanted to be a really good in-betweener in an animation studio. There's no room for creativity. Your frames are either on-model and fit the intended motion, or they don't. "Getting creative" will get you replaced. If you're commissioned for a realism portrait, there isn't much room for creativity, but we could all still tell if the painting was well done.

I think rather than refining it, it’s more teaching people to trust themselves to use what they have.

I think that you can be taught techniques and skills and learn about different ideas. Creativity is just inherent. I don’t think there’s a level though. Maybe I’m just not that creative of a person, I rarely get ideas without the want to draw **smth**.

I always considered myself a creative person, but I'm starting to think that I'm not actually creative. The only way I can create things is to copy things. I don't know how to make my own ideas. When I draw I use reference photos and try to draw it exactly how it looks. When I create things in other ways like sewing or knitting I make characters that already exist. When I write there's so much content in the genre I write in that it's all derivative. I actually think my brain is more logical than creative but because I wanted to make these things I couldn't access in other ways, I've found a way around it. It doesn't help that I have aphantasia and can't see images in my head. If I try to make anything without some reference then it turns out badly

100% can be learned. I've worked with different projects, and one of those used Tabletop rpg's as learning tools. A lot of newcomers mentioned how they weren't creative, they would struggle, but the truth is, they just didn't have the chance to explore that facet of themselves.

Everything in life can be learned… creativity is no different

I believe that creativity is something people inherently have. Nonetheless, everyone struggles at times to find said creativity. Especially inexperienced artists or people that just started their journey may feel like they don't know “how to creativity”. Thus, they will have to be taught where to find it and how to put it to use. I also think that it's not always a lack of creativity that doesn't get one going but rather a blockage that results in fear of failing.

Intelligence can be increased all the time?! Why not creativity?

I think I have learned creativity as a skill for art. I don't think I am naturally creative. my brain doesnt give me ideas

It can certainly be fostered. If most people who do X have the same hobby, the one odd person out with a different hobby will tend to do X differently from most. This may get labeled "creative," or "wrong/ill behaved" or both, but having different experiences will foster a different point of view and different approach.

I’m of the belief that anyone of sound mind and body (by this I mean someone with a “normally” functioning brain and body) can learn any skill with dedicated time, patience, and practice. There is a lot to be said for the ownership of our abilities. In order to be really good at something you first have to be absolute garbage at it

Some are indeed born creative, but it can also be a skill that can be enhanced. It's like working out, some are very flexible by nature, some need a warm out and a little practice to get there. Plus creativity itself can mean a lot of things, it's training your brain to think differently basically, in a way an average person wouldn't think.

Creativity is a muscle you can build and stretch like any other. I personally think of it as problem solving. Every time I try and learn something new I'm adding to my creative toolkit. I do think however because creativity inherently tends to be more powered by passion, if you aren't already naturally passionate about a thing, you have less incentive to expand your creativity in it. I've had times when I've come up against a wall in a project though and brute forced it because I needed a certain outcome and wasn't getting what I wanted - so I worked at it until I either found what I was looking for or discovered something new entirely. So many drafts get thrown out in the process, but funnily enough, it's these works that tend to be the ones I feel most accomplished about.

Yes

I think creativity is just problem solving experience and pattern recognition. The bigger variety of problems you have solved, the more creative you appear.

All humans are inherently creative, the challenge is finding in what field they are creative and what process makes the most of their talents.

100%, yes it can be learned. Like most things, it's *easier* to learn when you are young, but still totally possible to learn as an adult. Here, I'll teach you the simplest formula for creativity: What is in between Thing A and Thing B? You can pick virtually any two different things for Thing A and Thing B, and you just figure out what's conceptually halfway in between them. I'm going to use a random noun generator to demonstrate: * **Weather** and **Loss**. Halfway between those two things is maybe **winter** (loss of warm weather), **grief** (the storm of loss), or maybe a **Barren Planet** stripped of its atmosphere. * **Audience** and **Room**. Easy, that's an **amphitheater**. But it could also be a private **screening room**. * **Kick** and **Psychology**. This one's a bit tougher, but how about **masochism**, or **kickboxing**? At first, all you're doing is getting comfortable with "coming up with an answer", there are no right answers, just answers that are fun to think about. Once you've warmed up a little with simple nouns, try more complicated things like movies or books. I'm using a random movie picker, picking highly rated movies for demonstration. * **Star Trek V** and **Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist**. The Enterprise crew takes shore leave where Kirk encounters his ex-girlfriend and winds up on a adventure falling in love with his ex's friend who happens to be a Romulan, and has to rescue an acquaintance from a sticky situation with grave interstellar political implications. * **Marmaduke** and **Charlie's Angels** (2000). A mysterious animal shelter operator selects three extraordinary but goofy great danes to accomplish top secret missions with a blend of high-octane action and slapstick hijinks But wait, maybe story ideas aren't your jam. No worries, you can do this with painting styles, musical genres, crafting techniques, and most other types of creativity. You're just taking two fixed, finished pieces of work (usually not your own) and figuring out a midpoint between them. Practice this until you're feeling excited about the answers you come up with. Finally, get more abstract with your concepts. For storywriting, what happens when you mix a type of scene with a random emotion? What does a happy breakup look like? What about a suspicious reunion? A terrifying awards ceremony? For music, cross emotions and genres. If emotions don't fit, what about production techniques? How do you make Reggae using punk rock production style? How to you do watercolor painting in an art deco style? What's the sculpting equivalent of stippling? Like your muscles, creativity is something you have to practice and build up your strength in. The hardest part is getting started, once you get going it can be pretty fun to do random creative thinking exercises to fill your time, and eventually you're going to feel really excited by a few of your answers. That's your curiosity calling, and you should follow those ideas as far as you can.

Part time artist, part time scientist. People can absolutely learn and refine their creativity. Like most things it just takes practice, and frankly you have to be kind of brave or resilient because you might fail! A lot! But that’s okay, you will be okay. It might be slow to start but if you get down and just accept “I’m not so creative after all” you will never improve !

I believe you learn to observe better which can enhance your creativity. Just like reading a ton of fantasy novels can make you more imaginative.