Being Creative

Can someone become more creative over time, or is it something you're just born with?

There are definitely people who are just born with it, no doubt about it. Kanye comes to mind. But even so, I think it's something that can be developed. Thinking of it as something you're born with or without is definitely a limiting a belief.

How do you get creative?

I like to think of myself as a creative, whose grown/growing into it. I put a lot of effort in this and this is how I approach it.

I start by copying. Not plagiarizing. Copying. Really studying something I admire and figuring out how it works. Think of it like taking apart a toy, getting all the pieces laid out, figuring how they work together and attempting to put them back together, first in the same way, then in new ways.

Funny thing is, this is exactly how genAI creates today - it studies from the sea of content online, breaks down what it's studied to smaller pieces, identifies the patterns and recombines them in new ways (I think).

So don't just copy. That's how you end up with output that feels uninspired, or feels AI generated. You need to know what's worth copying and what's worth combining. And that only comes from trying a lot of different things and failing a lot.

The whole "creative genius" thing is over-rated. It keeps too many talented people on the sidelines, thinking they just don't have the gift. Stop waiting for inspiration to strike. Start copying things. Take things apart instead and combine different things in interesing ways. Sooner or later, you'll come up with something people think is fresh. Then maybe they'll call you a "creative genius".

Some things I have copied so far:

CountPesa (Automatically tracks all my transactions, organizes them and helps me budget) - inspired by M-Ledger and Mint.
justTLDR (AI Youtube & Web summarizer extension) - the free version of Glasp, but better. Mine is free and allows multiple prompting options.
There're other things, but I'm embarassed to share them 😅.

Just keep trying.