Theories of Creativity and Quality

THEORIES OF CREATIVITY AND QUALITY1

Theories of Creativity and Quality

Jeff Callaway

Angelic Parrinello

University of Phoenix

Advanced Creative Writing

ENG/495

Dennis Nilson

January 21, 2012

THEORIES OF CREATIVITY AND QUALITY1

Theories of Creativity and Quality

“Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those, who do not write, compose, or paint can manage to escape the madness, the melancholia, the panic fear, which is inherent in a human condition” ~ Graham Greene.

"One of the things that kept me out of trouble was doing something creative - creativity can`t be judged"~ Beyoncé Knowles.

Writing is easy. There are rules to adhere to and guidelines to follow. Writing is concrete and therefore, easily judged. Creativity and quality are another matter altogether. Creativity and qualityare intangible. Therefore, defining and judging these intangibles is often left to interpretation. Although many theories involving the creative process exist, the theory that the creative process is therapeutic seems to be agreed upon by most. Likewise, theories of judging creativity abound, but most are geared toward judging the cognitive aspect of creativity rather than the creativity of a tangible work. The Consensual Assessment Technique, proposed by Baer and McKool (2009), attempts to address this problem. Even though creativity, like beauty, is open to the interpretation of the viewer, the creative process is therapeutic and can be judged.

Theories of the Creative Process

There have been numerous theories about creativity in general as well as creative writing. Some are simple ideas and others are in depth looks at how creativity comes alive in each individual. One sole theory on how a creative work is should be developed that everyone agrees on remains elusive. Creative writing has no limits or rules that define what is appropriate or what qualifies as a piece of creative work. However, one thing that many agree on is thatthe creativeprocess, particularly writing, is therapeutic.

The theory that using creative writing as a tool is understandable because the way that it can be shared is relatively limitless. Jotting open-ended thoughts in a journal can make a person feel less stressed, simply for sharing his or her feelings regardless if there is an audience. Writing narrative based on a traumatic event leads to healing. Care workers at Sutter Health Hospital use Creative Arts Therapies as a premise to help patients because they believe that the

use of arts in the healing process awakens a language of images, symbols, and metaphors. This language speaks for the deepest aspect of the self. It promotes an interactional approach to mind/body wellness with the emphasis on helping individuals take an active part in their healing process and develop outlets for creative expression(Szabo, n.d., p. 1).

Developing the ability to write poetry, short stories, and other works of literature without the structure of specific rules allows patients to express their feelings. Painful feelings can be displayed with metaphors and fictional characters instead of facing the situation head-on as an autobiographical account.

Gillie Bolton believes creative writing cannot only be used as a self-prescribed tool but also as part of professional treatment. She says that writing “has a power all of its own…It can allow an exploration of cognitive, emotional and spiritual areas otherwise not accessible ... The very act of creativity ... tends to increase self-confidence, feelings of self-worth and motivation for life"(Bolton, Howlett, Lago, & Wright, 2004, p. 1). Creative Writing can work on many levels by allowing the writer to take a time-out from his or her life and hide in a story that he or sheis writing. For a short period,they are living in the world that they create. Therapists in the mental healthcare industry successfully employ creative writing exercises that“help people to explore emotions and become more self-aware”(Evans, n.d., para. 6).

This theory applies to all genres of writing covered in class. Most works chosen by thestudents have been holiday based and whimsical in feeling. Emotions run high during the Christmas and New Year season and students enjoyed focusing their creative process on relatable and nostalgic stories. However in the poem “Struggle of Steel,” emotions flow from the author’s pen. These emotions stemmed from a bicycle that the author owned and loathed, and he admits that writing the poem was cathartic for him even though the feelings he was releasing were decades old (J. Callaway, personal communication, January 20, 2012). On one hand, when there are no parameters to what can be put down on paper, people can pick any genre. On the other hand, with a general guideline given for a creative writing project, a writer focusesthose feelings on the specific genre or type of piece defined.

The theory of creative writing as a therapeutic tool makes sense. When people write without fear, they feel better. Sharing words or thoughts that they would not feel comfortable saying aloud is liberating. Theories of creative writing vary as much as creative writing types and pieces themselves. Creative writing can be fit to match what the author’s need at any given time.

Theories of Quality

Judging quality in creative starts with an understanding of what it means to be creative. Walonick (1993) cites Joyce Wycoff, saying, “Creativity is the act of ‘seeing things that everyone around us sees while making connections that no on [sic] else has made,’”(para. 1), and J. Bronowski, saying, “Creativity is an attempt to discover ‘hidden likeness’ in the universe,” (para. 3). While Walonick is not completely satisfied with these definitions, they provide a prudent starting place to explore how one should judge and does judge creative works.

Wycoff’s definition lies at the heart of many creative works, especially comedy. Comedians and writers of situational comedy observe real-life experiences and draw connections or conclusions about these situations. If they are successful, the audience laughs, if not, the audience is mostly silent. The audience’s reaction to the comedian or writer’s observations is a judgment on the quality of the comedian’s creativity. They laugh because they see and relate to the connections and conclusions the comedian/writer has drawn.

J. Bronowski’s definition tightly relates to Wycoff’s in that the writer is looking for those common aspects of life and looking for the “hidden likeness” of that aspect in other things. Writers often employ metaphor and simile to show these likenesses to readers. The more uncommon the metaphor or simile, the more enjoyable the reader finds the writing(Burroway, 2011). Writers also use irony to highlight these universal truths in a way contrary to the reader’s expectations. Like metaphor and simile, the uniqueness of the irony contributes to a positive response in the reader, but in addition, the bigger the “twist” in the ironic situation, the more positively the audience responds. Readers of creative works make these judgments mostly on an unconscious level, with perhaps the academic, or critic as the exception. These judgments are subjective to the individual and therefore, vary greatly for one individual to the next, leaving the question, “Can creativity be judged objectively?”

One attempt to address this question is the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, which provides metrics on which to judge creativity in children in the categories of “fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration” (Kim, 2006, p. 4). However, this testhas at least a couple of problems. The TTCT is geared toward judging child development and cognitive creativity rather than the judgment of creative works written by adults (Kim, 2006;(Baer & McKool, 2009, p. 1). In addition, Baer and McKool (2009) claim that these “tests are inadequate because they fail to meet even the loosest standards of validity” (p. 2).

Regardless of the lack of validity of such tests, their use in judging the quality of a creative work is impossible. According to Baer and McKool (2009), “The most valid assessment of the creativity of an idea or creation in any field is the collective judgment of recognized experts in that field” (p. 4). Therefore, Baer and McKool propose using the Consensual Assessment Technique. This technique involves forming panels of experts in the given field of the judged work. The combined opinions of the judges form the basis on which the level of creativity is judged. Baer and McKool acknowledge that this assessment method is less than perfect because it is ultimately based on opinion. However, considering the difficulty of quantifying and qualifying an intangible concept such as creativity, it seem to be the most constructive way to judge a work of creativity. The use of this method in judging anything from a project in a science fair to a piece of work being considered for the Nobel Prize validates its value (Baer & McKool, 2009).

The Consensual Assessment Technique seems to solve the problem of judging the quality of creative works in an objective and quantifiable way, but it is not useful for the individual who wishes to judge a work alone. Unfortunately, the individual may have to be satisfied with the subjective judgments made when reading or viewing the work. Judgments on grammar, spelling, format, and structure are a small task for the individual because these areas of writing are concrete and can be listed on a rubric. However, judgments on the quality of the creativity are not so easy. According to Baer and McKool (2009), “These kinds of decisions aren’t based on a procedure or rubric that awards points for different attributes of a painting, composition, or theory” (p. 2). Therefore, it appears that for the individual, despite his or her education or level of expertise, judgments on the creativity of a work will be largely based on opinion.

Conclusion

There is no simple way to pinpoint the best theory of creativity or judging qualitybecause there are different criteria to take into account. What the purpose of the writing is, why the chosen topic or type is chosen,and how the author feels when writing are just a few aspects to consider. The theories of the creative process are only meant to understand the who and the why behind the authoror to provide therapeutic benefit. The author’smotivation to pick up the pen and directhis or her passion into a piece of literature varies from one situation to the next. Theoriesthat address the evaluation of the quality of creativity in writing are lacking. The best of them seek to judge the cognitive and developmental aspects of creativity in humans. While The Consensual Assessment Technique offers a method of judging the creativity of written and other creative works, the method is unsuitable for individual application. Finding a theory that encompasses both the creation and the judgment of creative works may not exist!

References

Baer, J., & McKool, S. (2009). Assessing creativity using the consensual assessment technique. In C. Schreiner (Ed.), Handbook of assessment technologies, methods, and applications in higher education (pp. 1-13). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Bolton, G., Howlett, S., Lago, C., & Wright, J. K. (Eds.). (2004). Writing cures - An introductory handbook of writing in counseling and therapy. East Sussex, England: Brunner-Routledge.

Burroway, J. (2011). Imaginative writing: The elements of craft (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Education.

Evans, K. (n.d.). Writing ourselves well. Retrieved from

Kim, K. H. (2006). Can we trust creativity tests?A review of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT). Creativity Research Journal, 18(1), 3-14. Retrieved from

Szabo, P. N. (n.d.). The creative arts as a therapeutic tool. Retrieved from

Walonick, D. S. (1993). Promoting human creativity. Retrieved from