Mister Hugh's World of Randomness

Recently I seem to have had quite a few people say to me that they consider themselves "not creative". This is probably something to do with the fact that i'm self-obsessed enough to start talking about myself and my experiences as a writer with nearly everyone I meet. The most common thing people say to me in response is that they could never imagine themselves doing what i've done; often they explain this with the aforementioned opinion that they're just not creative at all.

I think this is a real shame. Personally I really believe that everyone is creative; it's part of what makes humans who they are. No single person i've ever met has been quite like any other, and a large part of this comes from the fact that every single one has different ideas about the world. All that one needs to be creative is to have something to express, and a means to express it. Everyone, because of their unique perspective, has something original to say if they can find the words, or other medium.

I think there are two main things which hold people back:

• A lack of belief in the value of their own creations. As I said at the start, many people seem to automatically assume that they can't be creative and that compared to other, more talented people, their contributions would be worthless. Now i'm of the opinion (like Edison) that so-called talent arises more or less entirely from having enough interest or fascination for a subject that you can dedicate your thoughts to it. Basically, I think anyone can create something worthwhile if they care enough about it and allow themselves to believe that they can do it.

• Getting stuck in a rut. Most jobs these days seem to be pretty stressful and demand increasing amounts of people's time. But more than that, jobs nowadays seem to demand more mental expediture, to require people to think hard, but in certain fairly narrowly-defined ways, for extended periods. People are forced to be too rational, too considered, and not spontaneous. People are not encouraged to develop their ability to express subconcious as well as concious ideas, something which I find both challenging and absolutely central to creative writing, and which is probably equally essential to any other form of creative process. Nor is the overload of bureaucratic detail which comes with most jobs conducive to keeping a wider perspective on life; it's very easy to lose your sense of the wider scheme of things when you're forced to concentrate on minute details all the time.

Now none of what i've just said is at all original (ironically), but I felt like saying it anyway. By the way, those of you who actually read all this stuff might have noticed a strain of seriousness creeping in to this blog in recent weeks. If you would prefer me to keep things lighter and sillier, you could always drop me a comment. Alternatively, if you actually prefer my somewhat pretentious semi-philosophical ramblings, send a comment to that effect. Basically what i'm saying is that the style of this blog is subject to the democratic process, or would be if anyone actually used their votes. In the absence of any guidance, i'll just write whatever comes into my head at the time. Given the nature of some of my thoughts, even i'm quite scared by this prospect.