--- title: "Creativity" description: "Creativity posts explore techniques for coming up with new ideas, inventing new thoughts and techniques, and generally following those activities that are perhaps more right-brained but also could involve heuristics..." canonical_url: https://idratherbewriting.com/category-creativity/ --- # Creativity Creativity posts explore techniques for coming up with new ideas, inventing new thoughts and techniques, and generally following those activities that are perhaps more right-brained but also could involve heuristics and other content generation approaches. The following content is in the **creativity** category: #### [Using curiosity to decenter](/blog/using-curiosity-to-decenter) | Feb 16, 2026 #### [Seeing invisible details and avoiding predictable, conditioned thought (ZAMM series)](/blog/seeing-invisible-and-avoiding-predictive-thought) | Jun 26, 2024 #### [How the blog-to-book experiment is going: challenges and thoughts](/blog/blog-to-book-experiment-progress) | Jun 15, 2023 #### [Book review of the Art of Noticing, by Rob Walker](/blog/art-of-noticing-rob-walker-book-review) | May 19, 2023 #### [Three questions people ask me each week](/2015/07/01/three-questions-i-receive-every-week/) | Jul 1, 2015 #### [Benefits of tool diversity, part II](/2014/08/07/benefits-tool-diversity-part-ii/) | Aug 7, 2014 #### [The part of the brain you should listen to when writing](/2014/07/16/the-part-of-the-brain-you-should-listen-to-when-writing/) | Jul 16, 2014 #### [Asking questions is more important than finding answers -- why?](/2012/04/27/asking-questions-is-more-important-than-finding-answers-why/) | Apr 27, 2012 #### [Guest Post: Is Technical Writing Creative?](/2012/03/14/guest-post-is-technical-writing-creative/) | Mar 14, 2012 #### [A Lifetime of Reading Versus a Lifetime of Writing](/2012/01/13/a-lifetime-of-reading-versus-a-lifetime-of-writing/) | Jan 13, 2012 #### [What I've Learned from Lunchtime Creative Writing Workshops](/2011/09/30/what-ive-learned-from-lunchtime-creative-writing-workshops/) | Sep 30, 2011 #### [My Problem with Fiction, and How I Tried to Resolve It](/2011/08/11/my-problem-with-fiction-and-how-i-tried-to-resolve-it/) | Aug 11, 2011 #### [Presentations Versus Conversations](/2011/06/17/presentations-versus-conversations/) | Jun 17, 2011 #### [What Does It Mean to Be Innovative?](/2011/05/24/what-does-it-mean-to-be-innovative/) | May 24, 2011 #### [I am perhaps finishing my basement, someday](/2011/02/23/i-am-perhaps-finishing-my-basement-someday/) | Feb 23, 2011 #### [*Don't know how you do it all*: Some Thoughts on Productivity](/2011/01/11/dont-know-how-you-do-it-all-some-thoughts-on-productivity/) | Jan 11, 2011 #### [Content Curation versus Content Creation](/2010/12/22/curation-creation/) | Dec 22, 2010 #### [Being Contrarian](/2010/10/29/being-contrarian/) | Oct 29, 2010 #### [I miss working with my hands](/2010/08/25/i-miss-working-with-my-hands/) | Aug 25, 2010 #### [Problem Solving and Sprinkler Repair](/2010/07/15/problem-solving-and-sprinkler-repair/) | Jul 15, 2010 #### [Breaking Things as a Form of Creativity](/2010/07/01/breaking-things-as-a-form-of-creativity/) | Jul 1, 2010 #### [The Compulsion to Figure Things Out](/2010/04/30/the-compulsion-to-figure-things-out/) | Apr 30, 2010 #### [The Long Tail Applied to Writing](/2010/04/20/the-long-tail-applied-to-writing/) | Apr 20, 2010 #### [Comparing Creative Writing with Technical Writing (2 min Videocast)](/2010/04/01/comparing-creative-writing-with-technical-writing-2-min-videocast/) | Apr 1, 2010 #### [What You Cannot Do Sitting Down](/2009/12/24/what-you-cannot-do-sitting-down/) | Dec 24, 2009 #### [Removing ice from a driveway is like .... everything](/2009/12/19/removing-ice-from-a-driveway-is-like-everything/) | Dec 19, 2009 #### [Theme Parks and External and Internal Input](/2009/11/05/theme-parks-and-external-and-internal-input/) | Nov 5, 2009 #### [NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo Start Nov 1](/2009/11/01/nanowrimo-and-nablopomo-start-nov-1/) | Nov 1, 2009 #### [Forms of Play](/2009/10/16/forms-of-play/) | Oct 16, 2009 #### [Being boring (Sins of blogging)](/2009/10/13/the-seven-deadly-sins-of-blogging-sin-3-being-boring/) | Oct 13, 2009 #### [Choosing Between Academic and Corporate Life: Did I Make the Wrong Choice?](/2009/10/10/choosing-between-academic-and-corporate-life-did-i-make-the-wrong-choice/) | Oct 10, 2009 #### [Being irrelevant (Sins of blogging)](/2009/10/04/seven-deadly-sins-of-blogging-2-being-irrelevant/) | Oct 4, 2009 #### [My STC Summit Blogging Presentation Is Free](/2009/10/01/my-stc-summit-blogging-presentation-is-free/) | Oct 1, 2009 #### ["Tell me a story" -- Advice from Writers](/2009/09/17/tell-me-a-story-advice-from-writers/) | Sep 17, 2009 #### [Writing as Conversation -- Brainsparks Podcast with Ginny Redish](/2009/09/05/writing-as-conversation-brainsparks-podcast-with-ginny-redish/) | Sep 5, 2009 #### [Creativity in the Workplace](/2009/09/01/creativity-in-the-workplace/) | Sep 1, 2009 #### [Avoiding the Shut Down Mode](/2009/08/30/avoiding-the-shut-down-mode/) | Aug 30, 2009 #### [The Link Between Creativity and Organization](/2009/08/15/the-link-between-creativity-and-organization/) | Aug 15, 2009 #### [Write When Inspired, Rest When Tired](/2009/08/10/write-when-inspired-jeffrey-zeldman-presents-the-daily-report/) | Aug 10, 2009 #### [Blogging as an Outlet for Technical Writers](/2009/07/31/gryphon-mountain-journals-blog-archive-blogging-an-outlet-for-the-habitual-writer/) | Jul 31, 2009 #### [My Guest Post on Unstoppability for DMN Communications](/2009/07/22/my-guest-post-on-unstoppability-for-dmn-communications/) | Jul 22, 2009 #### [If You're a Writer, Write](/2009/07/13/if-youre-a-writer-write/) | Jul 13, 2009 #### [Seeing the World in Clearer, Simpler Ways](/2009/06/22/seeing-the-world-in-clearer-simpler-ways/) | Jun 22, 2009 #### [Thinking About Vienna and the Legacy of Mozart](/2009/06/07/thinking-about-vienna-and-the-legacy-of-mozart/) | Jun 7, 2009 #### [Drawing as a Tool for Thinking: The Back of the Napkin](/2009/05/19/drawing-as-a-tool-for-thinking/) | May 19, 2009 #### [Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers and the Real Reason You Are a Successful Writer](/2009/05/13/malcolm-gladwells-outliers-and-the-real-reason-you-are-a-successful-writer/) | May 13, 2009 #### [The Wind and A Lot of Thoughts About Pessimism and Optimism](/2009/04/21/philosophy-of-the-wind/) | Apr 21, 2009 #### [What to Blog/Write About](/2009/04/15/what-to-blogwrite-about/) | Apr 15, 2009 #### [Introduction to Technical Writing (podcast)](/2009/03/24/introduction-to-technical-writing-podcast/) | Mar 24, 2009 #### ["Like My Own Personal Brand of Heroin"](/2009/03/10/like-my-own-personal-brand-of-heroin/) | Mar 10, 2009 #### [The Pleasure of Language -- Essential Listening for Hyper-corrective Grammarians](/2009/01/02/the-pleasure-of-language-essential-listening-for-hyper-corrective-grammarians/) | Jan 2, 2009 #### [What I See -- James Hall's Essays and Florida](/2008/12/21/what-i-see-james-halls-essays-and-florida/) | Dec 21, 2008 #### [Writers See Stories Where Others Don't](/2008/12/07/writers-can-see-stories-where-others-dont/) | Dec 7, 2008 #### [Snippets Toward a Philosophy of Life](/2008/11/28/snippets-toward-a-philosophy-of-life/) | Nov 28, 2008 #### [Usability Newsletter Interview – I'd Rather Be Writing – The Man Behind the Words](/2008/11/17/usability-newsletter-interview-id-rather-be-writing-the-man-behind-the-words/) | Nov 17, 2008 #### [Answering Reader's Questions: 'My Desire to Write Burns in My Heart Daily'](/2008/10/07/answering-readers-questions-my-desire-to-write-burns-in-my-heart-daily/) | Oct 7, 2008 #### [Ten Technical Writing Stereotypes](/2008/09/28/ten-technical-writing-stereotypes/) | Sep 28, 2008 #### [The Intersection of the Personal and Professional, or, Why My Attempts at Nonfiction Essays in Grad School Bombed](/2008/07/05/the-intersection-of-the-personal-and-professional-or-why-my-attempts-at-nonfiction-essays-in-grad-school-bombed/) | Jul 5, 2008 #### [Keep an Open Mind: Detention Without Amanda Jones Isn't Necessarily Bad](/2008/04/08/keep-an-open-mind-detention-without-amanda-jones-isnt-necessarily-bad/) | Apr 8, 2008 #### [Lots of 2008 SXSW Podcasts Now Available](/2008/03/10/lots-of-2008-sxsw-podcasts-now-available/) | Mar 10, 2008 #### [Two Types of Posts in the Blogosphere: Knowledge Posts and Creative Posts](/2008/03/07/two-types-of-posts-in-the-blogosphere-knowledge-posts-and-creative-posts/) | Mar 7, 2008 #### [Stoking the Creative Muse: How Finding Ideas to Write About Is Similar to Remembering Your Dreams](/2008/02/29/stoking-the-creative-muse-how-finding-ideas-to-write-about-is-similar-to-remembering-your-dreams/) | Feb 29, 2008 #### [Brain Waves and the Stimulation of Motivation/Creativity](/2007/11/01/brain-waves-and-the-stimulation-of-motivationcreativity/) | Nov 1, 2007 #### [Evening Fishing at the North Pier](/2007/07/07/evening-fishing-at-the-north-pier/) | Jul 7, 2007