Ideas for stories are everywhere. You can find them in real life, on TV, in other books, and in your own imagination.
According to the Cambridge dictionary, creativity is the “ability to produce or use original and unusual ideas”. Some of us have more creativity than others. It’s believed that people with ADHD, like me, are more creative than neuronormals. Which I can believe. Creativity creates ideas in your head with a small filter of what should happen, what is realistic or how things connect. We have a little filter between these jumps, which you can notice if you are talking to someone with ADHD, and their, our, conversation jumps from one thing to flower pot, as we say in Finland. This is a big part of creativity, the ability to jump from one idea to another.
These jumps can be measured. I have been told of an exercise where you are asked to write down ‘what can you use a brick for’. So this includes the normal ones, like to make a wall, a fence, a road or an oven. Or it can include stuff like something to step to reach higher, a paperweight. If you give it to a child, it could become a character or vehicle. There is a little filter in our head that thinks, ‘oh, this is stupid, not that’.
For writing, I think it’s important to stop thinking that way. There are no stupid ideas when it comes to creating a new world. This comes naturally to me as someone with ADHD, but I think anyone can create a safe place for themselves where there are no stupid ideas. A spark of an idea can create a world. You can get these sparks anywhere. I got the spark for my series from a tv series. It was a simple what if. What if instead of that happening, what if this happened. That was the start I needed. Then I started to write down a few things, and it keeps growing and growing until it was a full world. Another great starting place is dreams. Write down dreams, and they might spark something to write.
To support creativity, figure out what works for you. I am someone who tends to prognosticate, so I use that as a pro for creativity than a con. I start thinking about whatever is bugging me. It can be a scene, a person. I start to think about them, their relationships with other people or scenes. It usually goes somewhere when I just allow myself to relax and be open to it. It won’t happen if I’m stressed. Some people prefer just to write and write. I’m not the type, but there is nothing wrong with being either type. Knowing what works for you will help you. If you try to do it in a way that doesn’t support who you are, it can make you more frustrated. Self-reflection helps here. Get to know yourself. Ask yourself questions.
I hope this helps to get you to think a bit more about creativity. Most importantly, I will say, try not to worry and stress. Do something relaxing, take a moment for yourself.
Katrina writes 