Using Technology To Boost Creative Ability When Writing

Writers already understand the importance of creativity: after all, writing is an art form, and art forms rely heavily on imagination and the ability to craft something unique.  Technology is sometimes painted as the enemy of creativity, but that is simply not true. From provoking inspiration to facilitating the means of finding it, technology has simply enhanced the ability of writers in their pursuit of creativity, not hindered it. Here is how:

Tuning in to the right distractions

Technology is sometimes cited as the enemy of concentration – mobile phones constantly pinging and entertainment facilities such as TV and video games marking hugely distracting and mind-numbing activities which take away from our more productive activities and thinking time.

However, cannot these advances actually perpetuate imagination and creative thinking? If through video games we are able to enter incredible online worlds, and in movie theatres we are able to step into lives that are far-removed from ours as we could possibly imagine, are we not in fact feeding creative thought? Of course, there is a time and place for such distractions, such as when we have a task at hand that demands our full attention.

Using technology within helpful restrictions

Technology offers unlimited choices. Unfortunately, choices can be counterproductive, as there is also evidence to suggest that the greater number of choices we are faced with, and the greater the number of options we can select from, the more we resort to out tried-and-tested, and thus, less-creative, options. Consider a restaurant where there are 500 choices on the menu. In such a case, are you more likely to choose something new, or become so overwhelmed by the number of possibilities that you order a burger through sheer panic?

Using technology to ask questions

What technology can do, to an incredible extent, is facilitate your ability to ask questions and get answers. “It still amazes me how the internet in particular has facilitated our ability to find about things that we always wanted to know. In fact, some people have almost become dead to the idea of this, but I say use it for absolutely everything it is worth to feed your knowledge and creativity,” says Stanley Strachan, a writing consultant at Australian help and Academized.

Play educational games

Research from Michigan University has pointed to children who play video games actually showing a higher degree of creativity than their peers. Now, this doesn’t mean that writers need to immediately jump into the world of Fortnite, but it can mean that, with the selection of the right sort of game, your creative juices can start pumping. Games which inspire problem-solving capabilities are particularly useful.

Getting creative with help of photographs and videos

Technology has facilitated the ability to record images and videos, and subsequently share them, in a manner that could not possibly have been envisaged a short time ago. Use these images to inspire creative thoughts and to help paint the visuals you need in your mind’s eye to produce the story you want to tell. “As an example, now you can write a novel set in Africa if you have never been there simply because images and videos can facilitate your understanding of that place” says Lucy Hutton, a blogger at State of writing and Big Assignments.

Balance privacy and sharing

One final word of warning here. Creativity can also be greatly bolstered through what is known in the business as ‘incubation’, that is time spent alone with one’s thoughts and ideas in order to foster the greatest possible outcome. This rings as true now as it ever has, so be wary of sharing your ideas to freely before they have solidified in your mind.

I have often been warned against ‘oversharing’, and I think this is pertinent advice. Let the idea come to fruition first, because once you have released it, it is not yours anymore.

Nora Mork is a journalist at UK Writings and Essay Roo. She shares her ideas by speaking at public events, and writing posts for Boom Essays.