Deconstruction
I think being put in a situation where other people rely on me to be creative at a moment's notice has helped refine my methods a bit. That is, i've adapted and added some more tools to my belt of creative and creative-analytical thought.
I think being forced to communicate my ideas in an extremely concise and practical manner has done wonders for me. I used to pride myself on having the ability to write ten solid pages on huge array of topics at a moments notice, but now people tease me about how I like to write "walls of text". Everything now I need to condense into a few bullets and, at most, two paragraphs. You really have to get at the simplicity behind something that is extremely complex and spend your entire word budget on that.
People tend to approach developing creative thought as constructing something. I spent many years developing ideas in such a way that they were many layers deep with clever threads running this way and that. But, I think i'm only now properly learning the value of deconstructing. Now, it's like I have an idea in my head and I slowly strip away all the non-essential pieces until it reveals itself.
I don't believe true creative thought is linear: it's emergent. It grows out rich soil, not a discrete plan.
I think being forced to communicate my ideas in an extremely concise and practical manner has done wonders for me. I used to pride myself on having the ability to write ten solid pages on huge array of topics at a moments notice, but now people tease me about how I like to write "walls of text". Everything now I need to condense into a few bullets and, at most, two paragraphs. You really have to get at the simplicity behind something that is extremely complex and spend your entire word budget on that.
People tend to approach developing creative thought as constructing something. I spent many years developing ideas in such a way that they were many layers deep with clever threads running this way and that. But, I think i'm only now properly learning the value of deconstructing. Now, it's like I have an idea in my head and I slowly strip away all the non-essential pieces until it reveals itself.
I don't believe true creative thought is linear: it's emergent. It grows out rich soil, not a discrete plan.