All people, of whatever age, are capable of putting separate thoughts and ideas together into a new and novel (at least to them) combination. Children do it in their play and fantasies, and most of us find that 'necessity is the mother of invention'. Some adults use creativity as a way of achieving status, recognition, and financial rewards, by producing socially acceptable inventions, paintings, books, music, and so on. The more independent and spontaneous creativity, found in self-actual-izing (psychologically healthy) people, borders on the transpersonal level of human development, while guidance from a spiritual source, as with Kipling's Daemon, is truly transpersonal.
A systematic study of the creative process is relatively new. It was Graham Wallas ( The Art of Thought, 1926), who first suggested a sequence of stages that most creative acts passed through: Preparation - -Incubation - Illumination - Verification. Later writers concentrated on collecting and analysing anecdotal evidence from the introspections of well-known creative individuals in the arts, sciences and medicine (Harding,1940, Beveridge, 1950, and Ghiselin,1960). By combining the findings of these writers with a developed version of Wallas's stages, it is possible to conclude that the creative process follows roughly the path set out below:
Preparation: acquiring the relevant and necessary facts, experience and skills for the task, and to ask the right questions.
Incubation: leaving the problem alone to develop in the unconscious mind, (to sleep on it ).
Inspiration: the sudden appearance of the crucial idea or insight, usually when relaxing, or even when dreaming.
Elaboration: communicating the idea in the appropriate form- and in terms of the creator's skills, be they verbal, musical, artistic, numerical, scientific, etc.
Evaluation: verifying whether the answer to the initial question is acceptable and valid, either by experiment, expert opinion, or durability over time.
Latterly, psychologists have attempted to assess the various stages of the creative process using experimental and statistical procedures. There have also been studies relating kinds of personality to creative ability. Few theories of creativity have been proposed, although Koestler (1964) introduced the idea of 'bisociation', which involves two hitherto incompatible frames of reference meeting and producing something new at their intersection. Such an unexpected fusion not only produces a creative idea, but is also the source of much humour and laughter.
Other theoretical approaches have concentrated on possible biological and neurological roots of creativity. So far, the most detailed of these is that proposed by Eysenck (1995), who traces the causal path of the creative process from genetic determinants (DNA), through hippocampal formation, cognitive inhibition, psychoticism and various special cognitive abilities. Such theories are mainly of interest to other specialists and do little to help those seeking to be more creative in their own lives. It is also unlikely that they will cast much light on the more transpersonal kinds of creativity mentioned above.
The paucity of books on creativity, indicates the extent to which this invaluable human ability has been neglected over the years. Should you have any difficulty in obtaining any of the books listed below, ask your librarian to borrow them for you on inter-library loan.
Geoffrey Leytham is Vice Chairman and Secretary of Trustees of the Network. Formerly Director of Communication Studies, University of Liverpool. Associate Fellow, British Psychological Society. Author of 'Managing Creativity'.
Harding, R.E.M. (1940, 1967). An Anatomy of Inspiration. London: Frank Cass.
Quotations from great creative workers in the various arts and sciences, classified under 'preparation', 'the appearance of inspiration', and subsequent general and specific procedures.
Beveridge,W.I.B. (1950). The Art of Scientific Investigation. London: Heinemann.
A pioneering book on the role of creative thinking in scientific research. Has chapters on 'preparation', 'hypothesis' (asking the right question), 'imagination', and 'intuition'.
Ghiselin,B.(Ed.). (1952, 1960). The Creative Process: a Symposium. New York: Mentor Books.
An anthology of the writings on the process of creativity, by well-known creative people, mainly in the various arts.
Vernon, P.E. (Ed.). (1970). Creativity. Harmandsworth: Penguin Books.
Twenty-seven readings, grouped into six sections: 'pioneer and empirical studies', 'introspective material', 'theoretical material', 'psychometric approach', 'personality studies', and 'stimulating creativity'.
De Bono, E. (1970, 1977) Lateral Thinking: a Textbook of Creativity. London: Penguin Books.
One of several books by the same author, with exercises designed to liberate the reader from old ideas, and to help in the generation of new ones. (Asking the right questions).
Claxton, G. (1997). Hare Brain Tortoise Mind: Why Intelligence Increases When You Think Less. London: Fourth Estate. Recent research into the use of intuition and inspiration in creative thinking, and how calm and relaxation are vital for creativity.
Green, E. and Green, A. (1977). Beyond Feedback. New York: Delacorte Press
How biofeedback enabled students to increase their theta brain rhythms (4 to 7 cycles per second) and achieve greater creativity. The importance of reverie in the creative process.
Westcott, M.R. (1968). Toward a Contemporary Psychology of Intuition. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
History, theory and empirical studies of intuition. Arriving at correct conclusions with less explicit information, and without recourse to logic.
Maslow, A.H. (1962, 1968). Toward a Psychology of Being. Princeton: Van Nostrand. Creativity in self-actualized (psychologically healthy) people, compared with single-talent creativity: 'a first-rate soup is more creative than a second-rate painting.'
Harman,W. and Rheingold,H. (1984). Higher Creativity. Los Angeles: Tarcher.
The spectrum of creativity, with special emphasis on the transpersonal end of the spectrum.
Koestler, A. (1964, 1966). The Act of Creation. London: Pan Books.
A prodigious book, covering all aspects of the creative process, and proposing a theory of 'bisociation' to account for creativity in all walks of life.
Eysenck, H. (1995). Genius: the Natural History of Creativity. Cambridge University Press.
Proposes a theory of creativity, with research support, which traces the creative process from DNA, through personality, to special cognitive processes, and thence to genius. How genius and madness are related.