Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide

According to John Cleese, creativity is something one can learn. In this short, fun, and, yes, very cheerful guide, he provides tips for encouraging and practicing creativity. The first tip is to let your unconscious mind do most, if not all, of the work for you. Use it to play with ideas and thoughts, just like children do when playing or daydreaming. Secondly, he gives some more specific tips and tasks, such as writing what you already know about or thinking about how your mood will affect the creative project or endeavor you are working on because it will likely affect the outcome. And perhaps most importantly, don’t worry about making mistakes or about the end result. Just start something creative and see what happens. You might be surprised.

This well-written little gem of a book would make a wonderful gift for anyone hoping to boost their creativity. It’s one of those things you can turn to when you need a little pick me up. It’s short, in fact, almost a bit too short for me. By the end, I found myself wishing for more tips and anecdotes from this talented author. Nevertheless, it covered an engaging theme, offering sage advice.