Knowledge and Creativity

            As a person learns more and more about a specific craft, they gather up an increasingly sizeable pool of knowledge about the subject as a result. This is a given, of course, but what’s interesting is what knowledge about something can open up for you. When you know just how you can shape something, and use your experiences and previous failures and continuously improve a specific concept, occasionally diverging from the original concept to make something entirely new, you get this feeling of pride in your creativity.

            In Kaufman and Beghetto’s Four-C Model of creativity, they describe the growth of creativity as made up of four stages: mini-, little-, pro-, and big-C. Each of these stages are split up by how well one understands their personal creative process and, especially at the latter end of the scale, how much one’s creative accomplishments affect the medium itself. Once you have a grip on expressing your emotions, like possibly through a couple fridge drawings as a child, and then done a couple projects or classes on the subject, you’re on your way to pro-C, also known as the “professional” level.

            At this point, this is where at least half of your growth is based on knowledge. If you’re an artist, maybe learning a new artstyle or learning something new about color theory may expand the appeal of your work. If you’re a game designer, perhaps learning about how a new game on the market made players feel will give you a new insight on how to make a meaningful challenge. It’s very important that you broaden your horizons when it comes to your craft. After all, many groundbreaking fantasy authors were anthropology and humanities majors, or at least studied it on the side.

            Of course, what will really bring you to big-C, if you ever get there, is passion and dedication. But knowledge tends to be foundation and your tool to innovate and move forward in your profession, as it can help you light the path towards continual improvement.