In the previous post we considered the roles of clothing in prompting creativity. Props can serve the same function, probably more easily.
I got to thinking about this after reading on the 99u site about some studies, including this one, relating clothing and other items to creativity:
"A 2011 study led by Charles Lee at the University of Virginia showed that university students perceived a putting hole to be larger (thus making more putts) when they used a putter that they thought belonged to the pro player Ben Curtis, as compared with a standard putter."
I think that effect accounts for the popularity of Moleskine notebooks. They sell for a premium because they sell the story as much as the notebook. This is from their site:
"It all started many years ago, with a pocket-sized black object, the product of a great tradition. The Moleskine notebook is, in fact, the heir and successor to the legendary notebook used by artists and thinkers over the past two centuries: among them Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and Bruce Chatwin."
That "heir and successor" claim could be made by any similar notebook but the Moleskine people were smart enough to stake that claim first.
What prop makes you feel more creative by association? It could be reading a few pages of a book autographed by your favorite author, or a fountain pen like the one they used, or wearing something similar to what they wore.
Perhaps an image can work, too. On a wall near my desk I have a frame that holds postcard portraits of some of the writers and thinkers I admire: Shakespeare, Samuel Johnson, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Robert Louis Stevenson, Oscar Wilde, Bertrand Russell, W. Somerset Maugham, and Graham Greene. Hmm, maybe I should spend more time looking at those pictures...
Want an even simpler link to greatness? How about breathing? I have it on good authority that Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Heminway, and Bruce Chatwin all breathed. In fact, if you send me a mere £25/ $39 I will send you a container of air that is the heir and successor to the air breathed by the greatest writers of all time.
(You could also be inspired by the writing advice given by the greats. You'll find masses of it in my book, Your Creative Writing Masterclass, published by Nicholas Brealey and available now from Amazon or your other favorite bookseller.)
