Tapping into your own innate creativity adds sparkle to your blogs.
I firmly believe that everyone is creative, at least to some degree. Being creative is a natural human instinct.
The misunderstanding, the disbelief, occurs because when we talk about creativity, we immediately think of artists, musicians, designers, painters, sculptors, authors, crafters, artisans…
We’re all more creative than we think.
You may not consider yourself creative in the ‘traditional sense’, but really, creativity is just problem-solving. Experimentation. Play.
Starting your own business is one of the most inherently creative things we can do. We’re following our desires, we’re filling a gap, we’re seeing a need, we’re solving a problem, with our businesses.
We’re all born creative, just in different ways.
However, it begs the question…
Can you learn Creativity?
Or rather, can you re-learn being creative?
I wrote previously on how we are all natural storytellers, sharing the story I overheard between a child and an adult.
If you watch a child play for more than a few moments, you realise how inherently creative they are. It’s how they learn and understand the world.
Would it be fair to say that this innate creativity is ‘trained out of us’ by an education system that favours academia over exploration?
Schools as we understand them in the UK, were first established by the Victorian’s as a way to shape and discipline the workers of the future.
During the Industrial Revolution, emerging industrial businesses needed a ready supply of workers to maintain their future operations. To some degree, this is still true today, but in this time of Digital and Technological Revolution, the nature of work is changing.
My generation (Gen X) and those following me, no longer need training and preparation for the ‘job for life’ scenario that dominated the post-war reconstruction of Europe.
My father, my father’s father, both spent most of their lives working for one employer – Customs and Excise in the case of my dad, and Imperial Tobacco in the case of my granddad (although the war got in the way for my granddad!).
I’ve had so many jobs, worked so many temporary and fixed term contracts before becoming self-employed, that I’ve lost count! My early CV reads more like a To Do list of crap admin jobs than career progression!
Work Is Changing, Education Needs To Change With It
As someone who fell into adult learning as a career path, I find the concept of ‘creativity vs academia’ and how learning is categorised and understood, fascinating.
While in the co-working area at The Arnolfini gallery, I picked up this book from a shelf and dipped into it…
The bits I dipped into were enough to prompt me to buy, ‘Out Of Our Minds: Learning To Be Creative’ by Ken Robinson.
It includes fascinating insights, backed up by empirical evidence, about the nature and perception of intelligence and learning.
I’m working my way through the book, but I’ve already picked out quotes that resonate in this context.
For example, the pleasingly alliterative, “Cultural conditions can kill or kindle creativity.”
Your blogs should kindle your creativity not kill it! It’s your business, bring your own razzle-dazzle to your words
Tell your story, your way and do so fearlessly.
Academic VS Creative Writing
Blogging is a very different skill to writing copy, writing sales information, letters or emails.
Blogging is a creative rather than an academic exercise.
There’s a reason you don’t see academic papers and doctoral publications trending on social media…
They’re dry. They may educate and inform but they don’t entertain.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of writing academically. Anyone who has ever studied at a higher education level will be indoctrinated to write in a certain way in order to pass exams. But your purpose is not to pass an exam, your purpose is to edu-tain your audience. Help them to learn something new and not even realise it!
(Re-)learning creativity, leads to better, more compelling blogs.
What stories can you use to bring some creativity to your blog?
My next free webinar is on how to Add A Little Magic To Your Blog.
I’ll share top tips to bring the magic of creativity to your writing…
Grab your ticket HERE
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