Creativity is a process, not a product. You begin in places you don’t understand as beginnings. You circle around, gathering experiences and insights. Over time, you spin: a tale, a product, a satisfying life.
Sometimes your “outcome” is simple enjoyment of the process itself. Sometimes it is the realization of a dream or the building of a business. You decide. Or the structure of your life decides.
In Spin: Taking Your Creativity to the Nth Degree, you’ll get inside the process of a productivity expert who understands both the mysterious and technical natures of creativity. Lively memoir reveals the mystery, while numerous exercises and helpful lists like “12 Ways of Capturing Creativity on the Go” and “How to Break Down a Large Creative Idea” make creativity something you can decide to structure for specific outcomes.
Filled with surprising, thoughtful, often amusing stories, and illustrated from journal-sized cover to cover, Spin will delightfully give you what you need—to take your creativity to the nth degree.
Endorsements
A talisman on your creative journey. Grab a copy and keep it close. It will be your friend for life.
—Mary Carty, author of 50 Monster Ideas and Sell, Artist, Sell; CEO of Spoiltchild, a BAFTA Nominated Design Agency
“If creativity needs people, it needs more people like Claire Burge. By opening doors to her intimate stories of discovery and self-reflection, she gives you a set of keys to unlock your own creativity.”
—Justin Knecht, Director at Luma Institute: the education company that helps people become more innovative
“This book will awaken the creative giant within you and push you to explore your world with boldness and audacity.”
—Dr. Annemarie Lombard, CEO of Sensory Intelligence
“A delightful tale of whimsy and courage. Burge reminds us to find joy, creativity, and passion in our everyday lives.”
—Kelsey Wiens, Open Access Advocate
About the Author
Claire Burge is a productivity specialist, speaker, and food photographer who heads up the international company Get Organised, in Ireland. She has also co-founded Sorted Circus—an online creative service that helps people achieve their productivity goals. Visit her at claireburge.com
Table of Contents
1. It Starts Somewhere
2. Meet Brian
3. What You Will Find in This Book
4. What You Can Do with This Book
5. What I Hope You Do with This Book
6. Smoky Blankets and Safety Pins: Creativity Needs a Safe Place
7. Bed on Bricks: Creativity Needs the Unfamiliar
8. The Midnight Owl: Creativity Needs the Surreal
9. Finding the Voices: Creativity Needs Compassion
10. 9 Lies I was Told and Believed (For a While) About Creatives
11. The Little Black Box: Creativity Needs People
12. Forgotten: Creativity Needs Fear
13. 12 Ways of Capturing Ideas on the Go
14. Chasing Dust Motes: Creativity Needs Fascinated Experimenting
15. 17 Lessons Learned while Writing this Book
16. Winning But Losing: Creativity Needs to Understand Competition
17. Hot Cocoa: Creativity Needs Ritual
18. 9 Disciplines that Make the Process of Creation Happen Effortlessly
19. Compost Lunch: Creativity Needs the Edge
20. Sugar Yard: Creativity Needs to Have a Market
21. My 5 Earliest Creative Mistakes (All Learned in Second Grade)
22. Tables and Tunnels: Creativity Needs a Change of Environment
23. Not a Morning Person: Creativity Needs to Know Itself
24. A Weekly Blueprint (And Why You Need One)
25. A Master List (And Why You Need One of Those Too)
26. The Dark Room in the Pine Forest: Creativity Needs Dark Places
27. Counting Five Fingers: Creativity Needs to Master Loneliness
28. Toddler at 20: Creativity Needs the Giant Child Experience
29. 11 Ways to be a Kid in Adult Skin
30. The Udder: Creativity Needs to Drink Deeply
31. Blue Doors: Creativity Needs Time to Simmer
32. The Abandoned House: Creativity Needs Mystery
33. 7 Counter-Intuitive Choices That Have Aided My Creativity
34. A Tale of Two Chickens: Creativity Needs to Recognize Life
35. Merry-Go-Rounding: Creativity Needs to Network
36. The Busker: Creativity Needs Strangers
37. 13 Actions/Attitudes That Have Proven Worthwhile in My Creativity Toolbox
38. How to Break Down a Large Creative Idea
39. And So It Goes
Dictionary of Terms
Helpful Apps, Tools, and Practices
Buy Now
Spin—An Illustrated Print Edition, Journal Sized. $12.95, Amazon
Spin—semi-illustrated, Kindle version, $9.99