Quantum Storytelling

Seven days left until NaNoWriMo. Here is how you can add me to your Writing Buddies. If you’re participating this year we should all link up!

About that outline…

The Handbook of Creativity strikes again!

Under the Geneplore model, creativity is broken down into two distinct phases. The first phase is the generative phase, where lots of thoughts or concepts are spawned. The second phase is the explorative or elaboration phase, where the memes generated from the first phase are expanded, explored in further depth.

You may have noticed that the Geneplore model diagram refers to ideas as ‘preinventive structures.’ Why not just use the word ‘idea?’ Because sometimes we stumble upon the seeds of ideas, rather than the ideas themselves. It may be an image in the mind, or a sound. It might be a feeling, or a sense of irony about a particular situation. It may not be clear enough to call it an idea, and so I respect that the creators of the Geneplore model chose the word preinventive. What comes out of the process between the generative and explorative phases may constitute a fully formed idea, but not until more of the memes have been formed.

In the game industry we call this iteration. You create something, and then you revise, revise, and revise some more creating more and more advanced or ‘feature complete’ versions. For that reason game developers may not be as impressed with the Geneplore model at a glance. However, describing creativity as an iterative process doesn’t establish the difference between generative and exploratory. I found this description extremely useful in clarifying my mental model of creativity.

In fact, the difference between generative and exploratory explains one of my most frequent forms of creative block. I often end the generative phase too early, and seek to explore or elaborate on too few ideas, or ideas which themselves are too limited to warrant much exploration. When the exploratory process breaks down, I get stuck. The solution the Geneplore model provides for me is to switch back to a generative process so that I will have more material to work with and keep my exploratory process well stocked with plenty of ideas ripe for exploration.

There is one other aspect worth examining, as you’ve probably noticed from the Geneplore model diagram. Product Constraints are often very helpful for developing ideas around specific values, whether they be artistic aesthetics or a marketing hook for the product. You can think of the product constraints as a kind of pivot, or support structure that the generative and explorative processes revolve around.

The Geneplore model renders a wonderful clarity to the way I think about my own creative process. I hope you might find it as useful as I do.

I’m wading through the academic prose so that you don’t have to… enjoy.

• Primary Process Cognition

“Primary process thought is found in normal states such as dreaming, and reverie, as well as in abnormal states such as psychosis and hypnosis. It is autistic, free-associative, analogical, and characterized by concrete images as opposed to abstract concepts.

Because primary process cognition is associative, it facilitates the discovery of new combinations of mental elements.”

• Secondary Process Cognition

“Secondary process cognition is abstract, logical, reality-oriented thought of waking consciousness.

…creative elaboration involves a return to a secondary process.”

The book goes onto note that in many creativity studies, the highly creative people are the ones who are more flexible and fluid at bouncing back and forth between primary process and secondary process thinking. People who are uncreative are usually stuck in a single track along either the primary or secondary, and can’t easily switch between them. From my own experiences, engaging primary process thought isn’t always easy. But there may be a way to fix that…

The following was also mentioned in the Handbook of Creativity but I’ll give you the simpler Wikipedia explanation:

“Convergent production is the deductive generation of the best single answer to a set problem, usually where there is a compelling inference. For example, find answers to the question What is the sum of the internal angles of a triangle?

Divergent production is the creative generation of multiple answers to a set problem. For example, find uses for 1 metre lengths of black cotton.”

Notice anything familiar? While they aren’t necessarily the same thing, if I had to pair one for one I’d say Convergent thinking is much more along the lines of Secondary Process thinking, and Divergent thinking is more of a Primary Process type of thought.

Is it possible that one technique for inducing primary process thought would be to force divergent thinking by attempting to create ‘multiple answers’ instead of just one? Perhaps this is why some people get mileage out of stream of consciousness writing, and other similar techniques? It’s worth pointing out though that you need not engage these principles at the actual writing phase. You can generate large lists of ideas before you ever sit down to a first draft.

This is just a small sampling of the delicious nuggets I’m getting out of the Handbook of Creativity. It’s not always an easy read, but so far worth the slog for a few new concepts regarding creativity. Stay tuned.