I recently learned to distinguish these two, for the purposes of writing. A friend asked me which one I was, if “imaginative” was synonymous with generating ideas, and “creative” was synonymous with generating work. I had to admit that I was far more imaginative than creative; and far less creative than I wanted to be.
The distinction is easy to see when we look at the infinitives. To imagine is to dream, conceive, visualise. To create is to generate, make, produce. Like me, you may do more of one than the other.
This blog is a way to motivate the creative in myself; and also in you, if you are following. It is an encouragement to turn our imaginings into good work.
Each week, I will be applying the advice of a writing guide, and reporting back to you with an honest response. What was the advice? Where did it come from? How did it help me? And could it help you?
I am curious to see where this journey leads us, from being writers with ideas to explore, to writers with work to show.
Let’s turn our imaginations into creations.
Hello Alexa!
This is Aman from futurelearn. It is great that you are blogging about the art of writing. I haven’t read it all but three posts here (Sorry, if I would start to read all these things, Mr. Marlow and Mr. Milton will be angry on me; I got some pending task, also like you, I write stories).
I would like to ask what exactly are you going to teach here which is different than the Open University course which we are learning on Futurelearn.
Kind regards
Aman Ahmed
P.S. Feel free to contact me through this email.
Hi Aman,
Absolutely, you need to prioritise your time and attention. I’m not seeking to teach anything here (although we never know when we might find a lesson)!
This is a place for me to review the writing courses and guides out there (mainly the free ones), with a fair and experienced eye.
People might be inspired to take a course themselves, or just save time once they read my summary and realise that it’s not for them. I’m always doing courses and trying to develop my writing, so I thought I’d share my discoveries with people.
All the best, Alexa