Do You Have Imagination?

Mr. Einstein speaks to we who are writers here. Logic is just fine for mathematicians but imagination is a better requirement for those who partake in the writing craft.

Take a look at this list of synonyms for the word imagination found in Webster's New World Thesaurus:

• intelligence
• thoughtfulness
• inventiveness
• creativity
• ingenuity
• artistry
• impressionableness
• perceptibility
• acuteness
• mental agility
• wittiness
• wit
• sensitivity
• fancy
• mental receptivity
• suggestability
• visualization
• congntion
• awareness
• dramatization
• pictorialization
• insight
• mental adaptability

I think the one that works best for me is creativity. To use our imagination, we need to have that creative ability--to dream about a world different than what we see spread out before us in logical formation. 

Remember that witer's exercise called What if...? You set up a situation in a story, then ask yourself a series of questions beginning with those two words. The idea is to continue asking the question and jotting down the answers until you have a full series of possibilities to make your story sparkle with creativity. 

Kansas Authors Club sponsors an annual writing contest. This contest is open to non-member writers residing in Kansas and to all members of the Kansas Authors Club, regardless of residence. Each year, the District that hosts the state convention in October selects the theme for the contest. There is a special category in both prose and poetry for those who write to the theme. This year, it is Imagine. Only one word that leaves the entrants wide open to creativity. 

Maybe it's too wide open! I've been trying to be creative and come up with an idea for a story, essay or poem to enter in this category. So far, I've written one very lame poem and nothing else using that theme. Deadline is June 15 so I keep thinking that a brilliant idea will fall out of the sky and hit me in the head any day now. If only! If you're a writer who lives in Kansas, consider entering the contest. There are several categories besides the all-important theme. See link above for information.

Yes, imagination will take us to places unknown or perhaps even unthought of. Ever hear someone described as a dreamer? Sometimes, that label has been used with derision, especially with kids in school. Seems to me, however, that those dreamers are the ones who have real imagination. They are the ones who become the creative people in life. The ones who write plays, sculpt statues, paint canvases, pen novels or create music that reaches out to us. 

If you list imagination as one of the qualities you have, be happy. Then be creative!