A while back I bought several books about storytelling and the usage of imagination. I forgot all about them until a couple of nights ago. One of the books I am looking at to boost my creativity and to see if I can create stories is “The Storyteller’s Handbook” by Elise Hurst.
Besides the beautiful illustrations within the pages of this book, I like that other than the Foreword, the creator’s opening remarks, and a snippet of words on the limitless power of imagination, the book is entirely just artwork that promotes the viewer’s interpretation of the images shown. I think it’s a unique way to inspire creativity and practice storytelling through the art of visual stimulation. So much in fact, I plan to test this theory on this blog. Plus, from the looks at the artwork from this book the creative possibilities are endless.
One thing I know, to improve my skills in creativity and storytelling, is that I cannot run around with mental cloudiness. I have to set time aside to concentrate and focus on what I’m looking at and what the imagery means to me and find a way to share that with the audience in words. It’s going to require a lot of practice and some patience, but I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do to work on this endeavor and I’m excited to get started. After all, I think it’s a pretty reasonable and interesting challenge to undertake, and if it yields the desired results it would have been worth the effort.
Another thing I know, when it comes to boosting my creativity in general, is that I have to have fun. If I have to force being creative or if it becomes a chore then it is simply not worth my time. I don’t need or want to make blogging another obligation in my life. I have to enjoy what I do, especially in this regard since it is something that I choose to do by my own free will. I like to think that being creative is an outlet to express myself freely and shouldn’t become a task. In a world where we are expected to deal with responsibilities all the time it is important to find things that are enjoyable to counter that.
Creativity and, in particular, storytelling for me is a journey and a process, and I’m learning as I go. I intend to be aware of and embrace the ups and downs, trials and errors, milestones, setbacks, and victories as they come. Like every journey, you pick up things that can be used as tools and sometimes those tools can be used to get the traveler to their next destination. The book by Elise Hurst is one of those tools I’ve come across and, like all tools, it depends on how and when it’s used to determine if it’s right for the job.
So I’m going to start experimenting to see if I can draw creative insight and inspiration from the “The Storyteller’s Handbook” and see how it goes. Over time, I will share other books and resources that I find to be helpful while I continue to explore creativity, storytelling, and the arts in general.