

How to be Creative - acoyfellow
http://howtobecreative.co/

======
bitsoda
The copy at the top of the page threw me for a loop. I read it as "You don't
have to be artistic to be creative", but then it's followed by "Whoever told
you that, lied to you". This negates the first statement making me think that
I _do_ need to be artistic to be creative. Maybe I need some sleep. Let me
know what you meant by the copy.

~~~
htp
I'd wager "Whoever told you that, lied to you" was meant to say "Whoever told
you 'you have to be artistic to be creative' lied to you."

~~~
acoyfellow
"Whoever told you that you need talent to be creative, lied to you."-- any
better?

~~~
bennesvig
How about:

"Whoever told you creativity is something you're born with, lied to you."

~~~
acoyfellow
Even better.

------
scoot
"Creativity is not art, skill, or luck. Creativity is a problem solving skill"

Either it's a skill, or it isn't.

~~~
acoyfellow
I over thought the sh*t out of that. Thank you for pointing out this obvious
confusion.

I'm trying to simplify a extremely complex idea, and because writing is not my
strong point, I'm bound to mess up. Thanks again.

------
magic5227
I'm excited for the next ebook "How to be handsome"

~~~
acoyfellow
You callin' me pretty, boy?

------
justjimmy
At quick glance, spotted a few typos. Suggest running it through a spell
checker. Paragraphs jumps from left justification to full justification - use
just 1 (left is my suggestion). And you can afford to turn off hyphenation
with so much sentence space.

Stick to letter/A4 document size - easier to read/scroll through and print for
those that want a physical copy.

Those blue lines (in all caps), they seem so random. Sometimes they are of
their own paragraph. Sometimes they appear at the start, sometimes at the end
and sometimes they're in quotation marks. Avoid using all caps if the sentence
is long, it really reduces readability.

Either you're pressing enter twice to break the paragraphs or the spacing is
too much. Try decreasing it.

Good typography really help. So thought I'd throw those suggestions at ya.

~~~
acoyfellow
Thank you so much for pointing these out. All things I am going to use to
modify the .PDF-- I want it to be as optimal as it can.

~~~
robotresearcher
Forgive my pedantry, but things are either optimal or they are not. There are
not degrees of optimality, though things can be nearer or farther from
optimal. Like uniqueness.

I know some people hate this kind of comment, but since you are writing and we
like to offer constructive advice around here, please take this as a friendly
bug report.

~~~
acoyfellow
I forgive your pedantry, and I consider what said to be very constructive,
thank you.

I respect your opinion; but I really disagree, I believe "optimal" is a word
that is only defined by relativity.

One person can be more optimal at doing a job than another, one tool can
optimize your website better than another. You can be really far from optimal,
or really close.. Or somewhere in between?

"There are not degrees of optimality, though things can be nearer or farther
from optimal. "-- Well they can be degrees of near or far.. To me that is
"degrees of optimality".

I'd love to continue talking with you about this outside of HN, if you want
to. Coeyman at gmail.com

~~~
robotresearcher
The OED definition is "Best, most favourable, esp. under a particular set of
circumstances".

So it really is not the degree of goodness or bestness, but the absolute best.
Again, like uniqueness, a boolean property.

This is only important to me because I'm a scientist/engineer. If I claim my
system performs optimally, this is a big claim and needs proof, since I'm
claiming it could not possibly be better. Since I have to be so careful in
technical writing, my spider-sense tingles when I see technical terms used
with an almost-but-not-exactly correct meaning. YMMV.

------
ahallerberg
Interesting. Reminds me of Hugh MacLeod's book Ignore Creativity:
[http://www.amazon.com/Ignore-Everybody-Other-Keys-
Creativity...](http://www.amazon.com/Ignore-Everybody-Other-Keys-
Creativity/dp/159184259X)

~~~
acoyfellow
I took a different approach to creativity than Hugh did in his eBook "How to
be Creative". One of things he says is that creative type people have 2
"jobs", one to pay bills and one to be creative. I think he is dead wrong.

Creativity is a problem solving technique. It's not art.

Me mentions religion, and some scientific ideas, where I try to take a new
angle on the subject.

------
joshschreuder
I'd definitely like to work somewhere where 'Imagination Specialist' is a real
job title :)

~~~
acoyfellow
I hope to eventually work for myself, and be able to take whatever title I see
fit.

