The Creative Power of Your Imagination

Picture this.  You’re sitting at the top end of a long boardroom table.  Editors, publishers and agents surround the table.  Their backs are straight; their gazes are fastened upon you.  They have just one question they want to ask you.  If you answer wisely, you will land a multi-million dollar book deal.  Here’s the question – what is one ingredient no story should be written without? 

Use Your Imagination to Create Winning Business Products and Solutions

American Century Dictionary defines imagination as “mental faculty of forming images or concepts of objects or situations not existent or not directly experienced” and also as “mental creativity or resourcefulness”.  Even without the definition it is clear that in order to write an in-depth nonfiction article, be it the retelling of a local government meeting and the decisions and policies that were born from the meeting, written coverage of the women’s NCAA championship game or the opening of a new urban restaurant in Manhattan, the ability to see life through another person’s eyes is necessary.  It is one of the single most effective ways to connect with readers through writing.  It demands imagination.  And in the world of newspapers, magazines and nonfiction web sites, if a writer fails to connect with and engage her readers, her stories will not be as widely read as they could be. 

Imagination is not solely the makings of fairy tales.  In fact, imagination is what aids a scientist in the discovery of a new invention or cure for a devastating illness.  The ability to think outside the norm and the ability to open to new possibilities is a part of imagination.  Unless you plan to write the same articles and stories time and again, you will need a healthy dose of imagination to journey through a successful and an effective writing career. 

Albert Einstein’s Take on Imagination

Albert Einstein said that, “the true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.”  Great creators know that knowledge and intellect will launch out into the deep but so far.  It is imagination that extends into the realm of the impossible for as Madeline L’Engle said, “Imagination is a divine gift.” 

So how do you open, strengthen and stretch your imagination?  How do you not only sit down and put words to paper, but write new and energetic articles and poems, stories that have not yet been told in the fashion you will tell them in? 

Use Your Imagination to Create Great Books

You have a tool at your disposal that you can tap into any time you wish.  It often reveals itself while you are asleep.  Yes.  Your dreams.  Take bits and pieces of your dreams, a character or two from your dreams, a lesson from your dreams, and create a new story.  You might also figure out a key to a real life question or conflict that you experience. 

Look around your home, pick the first object, a picture frame, your bedroom mirror, the rug beneath your kitchen sink, and research and write a non-fiction article about that item for a home magazine or your local newspaper.  Take a walk just as the sun sets and the sky turns a burnt orange.  Carry a small slip of paper and a pencil with you.  Pay attention to the first thought that enters your mind.  Jot the thought down on the paper.  That night create the first draft, completely non-edited, of a poem or short story that dives deeper inside the thought. 

There are countless ways to exercise your imagination.  Remember, imagination allows you to see a point from a different point of view, and in this openness you may find your writing portfolio growing as you arrive at one fresh story idea after another. 

Happy writing, book marketing and successful business endeavors!

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