Creativity Basics

There are a large number of specific creativity tools and techniques available. Most of these are based on a small number of basic principles. In essence
The goal of creativity is to have more good ideas
This is a numbers game - the best way of having more good ideas is to have more ideas. Of course we'll also have more bad ideas, but so long as we can distinguish betwen the good and bad ones that doesn't matter. The goal of most creativity techniques is thus:
generate more ideas

Idea Generation

So, how do we generate more ideas? There are many detailed creativity techniques, most of which use one or more of the following basic principles:

Maximise Experience
There is an argument that we never actually create anything new, we simply reorganise and rearrange. Experience is our raw material for this process, so get more experience. Widen your horizons, read, learn, get involved. The more experience you have to work with the more potential you have to be creative.
Judge Slowly
Many good ideas are lost simply because we are too quick to judge. A thought is thrown out because it is "obviously" of no use. Yet very often some of these "useless" ideas can, with a little modification, lead to breakthroughs.
Record
How often have you had a brilliant idea and thought "I'll do something about that later." When later comes, the idea has gone. Get into the habit of carrying a notebook everywhere and write down every idea, however fleeting.
Adapt
Evolution is about adaption and the same applies to creativity. Brilliant ideas very rarely spring fully formed into the mind. Usually they are produced from adapting other ideas, some of which might be unworkable on their own. The basic methods of adaption can be grouped in many ways, one I like to use is "CoMRADe": Combination, Modification, Reversal, Addition, Deletion These can either be applied consciously during a creativity session or simply allowed to bubble away in the back of the mind.
Select
Producing good ideas is one thing, recognising them another. To create many good ideas we must also create many bad ideas. At some stage we must evaluate and select. The key is not to do it too early.
Implement
A good idea remains just that, a good idea. To make it worthwhile it must also be implemented. Whether it's something as simple as adding a new herb to a casserole or as complex as scripting a television series an idea must be implemented to have value. Of course, you needn't do the implementation yourself. Some of the richest people on most planets are those who know how to leverage the implementation skill of others.

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