Friday, July 23, 2010

Creative Thinking

My brother sent me an email the other day entitled, "How to Fail a Test With Dignity." It included a lot of . . . erm . . . creative but clearly wrong answers to test questions. However, this one was my favorite.



I have to tell you, I laughed and laughed! And I even considered forwarding it on, which, I have to tell you, I never do. (Yes, yes, chain letters, they always end with me. And I've suffered dozens of hideously monstrous death for it! *shiftyeyes*)

I certainly did not immediately think, Hmmm, this is a great metaphor for writing! But you have to admit, that is some creative thinking!

I have had a lot of questions about creativity thrown at me the last month or so, both in blog interviews and in real life. It's apparently a trend right now.:D Where does your creativity come from? (No clue.) Do you think you are more creative than non-writers? (Uh . . . no clue.) How do you come up with all these ideas? (Still . . . no clue. Are you seeing a theme here?)

Every author I know gets (and dreads) the question, "Where do you get your ideas?" After flippantly casting off the answer that I get my ideas at the idea store and if there's a sale I get two, I have to honestly say that I don't know. It's like asking trying to ask how I lift my arm. I don't know, I just . . . lift it . . .

I've also been thinking about creativity and ideas a lot lately because I am winding up the last novel in my series and then I will need to work on something new. It's a little scary to embark on a new project, especially a new series, because it has been so long since I plotted out the Wings series, I'm not sure I remember exactly how to do it. My hope it that it's like riding a bike.:D But who knows.

And I don't really have a conclusive ending to this blog entry, just a math problem with an elephant, some quandaries, and a shrug.

Ciao!

P.S. Sixty-eight ZILLION bonus points to the first person who can actually solve that question. Yanno, the RIGHT way.:D Just reading it made my brain hurt.

17 comments:

Brianna Hart said...

Can I just lift my arm instead?

Charmaine Clancy said...

How could you not give points to that answer, it's creative and logical! :-)

Christina said...

Haha. My sister sent me this email too-only it was title "Why teacher's drink" I liked the one asking to name six animals that live in the arctic.-2polarbears and 3...no, 4 seals.

Emily White said...

That's great! Those darn elephants always get in the way.

I'm actually looking forward to the day someone asks me where I get all my ideas (just that first person--I'm sure it'll get old quick) because that means they're interested enough to care. Ah, dreams.

Ezmirelda said...

I couldn't answer that to save my life!
I laughed so hard my belly hurt, haha
very creative way to fail a test :D

storyqueen said...

hahahahahaha!

I love that elephant! I think was in the way a lot when I was in college.....

Shelley

Génette Wood said...

My physics prof posted all of our tests online (after she stole them from SparkNotes or sommat). Needless to say, we had Google running in the background.

Red Boot Pearl said...

This cracks me up... Back when I was grading papers I loved it when the kids put something crazy--it just makes you laugh--and a whole lot less angry than when they'd leave something totally blank. Not that they got a better grade, but at least I got a good chuckle.

Swimmer said...

Ha I have a feeling that student didn't pass.....

but I don't think I would have on that question either!

Heather said...

Wow, that's quite the question, both the test and the reoccuring one you keep getting! I'm not sure I could answer either one...

Josin L. McQuein said...

Ugh. The "where do you get it" question is like someone asking "where do dreams come from". It's the same place.

Your experiences and personality added to that ever important question "What if....?"

And as to the question, if you're gonna fail, at least make them remember you.

WritingNut said...

Hahaha... too funny. That darn elephant. Thanks for sharing!

adam.purple said...

I get,

a) 1.72 meters
b) Yes, it would return to the 5 meter height.

Why yes, I am a geek. Why do you ask?

Anonymous said...

HAHA! I wish i would have done that on my tests! Get the same grade either way!

Kari Pike said...

Happy birthday!

Valerie Ipson said...

All I see on that page is a confused jumble of numbers and words and a cute little elephant.

Kudos to adam.purple. Even if your answer is wrong, I'll never know!

A Pen In Neverland: Angela Peña Dahle said...

Bwah ha ha ha! Clever brother you have there! I agree with Charmine "How could you not give points for that clever answer." Here is where your brother was wishing math were subjective like literature/writing. LOL. I give him an A+.