Parent – I thought you said I should be encouraging the development of creativity?
Dr. B – Sounds like something I’d say. So what’s up?
Parent – Well, my daughter expressed an interest in writing.
Dr. B – Great.
Parent – I gave her a notebook and pencils.
Dr. B – No quill and ink jar?
Parent – I thought you were supposed to be a good listener.
Dr. B – Go on.
Parent – Well, she dug right in, but what she showed me was almost word for word a copy of an old favorite bedtime story.
Dr. B – And.
Parent – That’s not creativity, that’s plagiarism.
Dr. B – What are you worried about?
Parent – Creativity and writing are supposed to be original ideas, not copying.
Dr. B – But copying is how Mozart and Emily Bronte got their starts.
Parent – Huh?
Dr. B – Mozart stole liberally from the Masters, and then he gradually added more and more of his own stuff to each piece he wrote.
Parent – So I’m supposed to encourage copying?
Dr. B – You’re supposed to encourage writing, whatever form it takes.
Parent – That just doesn’t sound right.
Dr. B – If she wanted to learn to play tennis, how would you get her started?
Parent – You want me to say, by watching video of Serena Williams?
Dr. B – Absolutely. She’d be learning the structure of a good forehand, just like she’s learning the structure of a well-written sentence.
Parent – So where does the creativity come in?
Dr. B – Creativity doesn’t just come out of thin air. It comes from repeatedly revising what we start with or bringing together two different things in new way.
Parent – You make creativity sound more like engineering.
Dr. B – Was Edison’s light bulb a creative act?
Parent – So what am I supposed to do when she brings me this copied text?
Dr. B – Show your interest. Be curious. Ask her to elaborate.
Parent – What do you mean elaborate?
Dr. B – Ask her what comes next. Or ask more about one of the characters.
Parent – You mean push her to do something original with it?
Dr. B – ‘Push’ is not the word I would have chosen. Curiosity, enthusiasm, elaboration. Those are words I prefer.
Parent – So you want me to encourage her to add her own thoughts and ideas to what she started with?
Dr. B – Wow. Well said. Could you elaborate on that a bit, though?
