Literature

Enrich your imagination (tips)

Imagination is the engine room of creativity. And experience is the main basis of imagination. Most of the contents of creative writings are sourced from experience, personal or otherwise. To be a good creative writer, therefore, you have to be a keen observer of events, people and places.

Basically, two types of imaginations are involved in the creative process; real and creative imaginations. Real imagination refers to the mental picture or the recollection of what your sense(s) perceived in the past; that is, your immediate and remote experiences. Creative imagination, on the other hand, refers to the mental process in which pieces of images from your various experiences are assembled into a new image or experience ? a kind of collage.

Some of the words and expressions you use today could hardly be traced to their sources; when and where you heard or read them for the first time. So it is with some of the settings, characters and other literary ingredients that evolve in your works. Just as your linguistic ability is a cumulative result of your years of listening and reading so are your real and creative imaginations derived from your wealth of experience.

This means imagination does not take place in a vacuum. Even in writings such as science fiction or ghost stories you need some experience, because that so-called new or strange creatures or happenings you are (re)creating is nothing but an assemblage of materials from the shelves of your memory. This truth is not peculiar to creative writing alone. In real life, when a man is confronted with a new experience he uses images from his experience to describe it. For instance, when man stepped on the surface of the moon for the first time in 1969, he described it as a "sea of tranquility". This description was used obviously because the sea is the widest plain scenery man had ever seen which could be compared to the monotonous expansiveness of the moon. Hence, it could be said that one?s imagination, which gives rise to his descriptive and narrative abilities, is determined by the volume or range of his experience. The more experience a writer gains the more fertile his imagination becomes. Hence, you need to always seek out new experiences and take a closer look at events around you. Take part in some of them (if possible), because the more senses you get involved in the process of perception the better the memory.

Another important factor in the creative process is knowledge. Like experience, knowledge helps to enrich the imagination. In fact, the two complement each other. Where experience is in short supply, knowledge comes handy, and vice-versa. Knowledge gained through listening and reading could help you to form the idea or image of what you have never seen or experienced physically. And that is why even though you have never seen a monster (as it is a mere concept) you could create the image in your stories. You may have not seen a creature without a head, but because you have read a description of such creature in some story, you could create a similar being. At times this is done unconsciously; you may not even remember where you read such a description. That is the power of knowledge; what you know becomes your own, it becomes part of you, ready to serve at any time.

So to be a successful creative writer, you have to seek knowledge, especially through constant reading. Some of us are so busy writing that we don?t have the time to read other people?s works. It is not healthy for literary development; it is like milking a cow without feeding it. Imagine the consequences!

Let me conclude by reiterating that you need to keep on increasing the stock of your knowledge and experience because they are the basic raw materials for your literary endeavour; they sharpen your imagination and enhance your creativity, making you write more easily and convincingly on any theme or subject-matter.

(c) Sumaila Umaisha.

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Literature