by Cindy Sproles @CindyDevoted

I recently attended a writers’ conference where I spent some time with a published author I greatly admire. His writing is superb, marketing is amazing, and his coaching is extremely strong. So, when he came to me asking about strengthening his description, it set my mind in a spin.

We talked for some time about the ins and outs of description in storytelling before we asked, “What really DOES make good description? I smiled. It’s not a huge secret, and honestly, I’m not sure why writers forget such an important detail. So, moving forward, creativity will become a person with a capital C.

Writers become tightly bound to Creativity, thriving on it. Feeding on it at every meal. In fact, we’ll sit staring at a blank screen waiting for Creativity to woosh in and overtake us so we can write an amazing story. We wait and wait. Sometimes we fall into the black hole of writer’s block while we refuse to budge from our chair—while we wait. The thoughts will come. They will. The story will suddenly leap from our heads when Creativity is revived.

Though Creativity is very important, it has a twin that we often shove onto a tiny chair and place in the corner. This twin was once the dominating personality. It led its sibling, Creativity, outside into the yard. It took Creative’s hands and danced in circles in the grass, plucked flowers from the field, and blew dandelion fluff into the air. This side of Creativity balked at the impossible. It leaped into adventure and played in the “what ifs.” Until one day, Creativity yanked loose from its grip and snapped the harshest words it had ever said. “Oh, grow up!”

And so, the twin dropped its gaze to the ground, found its way into the house, and hid in a closet.

Sad, isn’t it? Sad, but true.

Writers become so hung up on being creative that we have forgotten what spurs that gift. We’ve closed the door and locked it on Imagination. Do you remember Imagination? You see, we’ve closed Creativity into such an idealistic box that we’ve forgotten about Imagination. We’ve forgotten that the twins are not exactly the same. One draws and plots the story while the other…the other feeds the adventure. And one, without the other, is missing the gift of magic. The gift of memorability, of exciting emotion that lasts, and lasts…and lasts.

The truth is, we’ve forgotten how to play, and if there was ever a group of people who need to learn to play again, it’s writers. Playing unleashes our imagination. Think about it. When you watch a small child play with blocks and plastic horses, you see them “imagine” riding a horse, leaping over hurdles, rushing to save a princess. You watch them stack blocks that, to you, look like stacked blocks, but to the child, the squares of wood have become a castle wall that has to be scaled. What you see is IMAGINATION. The twin to creativity.

There are tons of ideas to help Creativity release imagination, but the biggest one, and the easiest one, is to simply learn to play again. Seriously. Learn to play. Walk outside and sit in the grass. Lean back on your elbows and watch the clouds. Remember the game you played as a child? The one that required you to use your imagination? “Oh, look! That cloud looks like a bunny, and that one looks like an ice cream cone. There’s a dog and an elephant.” Do you remember what it felt like to have Imagination by your side?

Move your writing desk in front of a window and as you write, as you think through important scenes, stare out that window. Daydream. Daydream and unleash Imagination. When you do, it spurs on Creativity. Suddenly, the story takes on a dimension that was missing.

As a writer, chills crawl up your spine as you find new and exciting ways to say your skin tingled as though you’d held your hand over the steam billowing from a cup of hot coffee, or that the moment sent a prickling sensation over you that raised the hair on your arm.

Your imagination is what is missing from your writing. Remember, the twins. You can’t have one without the other because they are bound together. One completes the other.

Learn to play again. Find your imagination and let it take your creativity by the hand. Allow the two to play together and you will be amazed what lands on the page.

Cindy K. Sproles is an author, speaker, and conference teacher. Having served for a number of years as a managing editor for Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas and Ironstream Media, Cindy now works as a mentor, coach, and freelance editor. She is the co-founder of Writing Right Author Mentoring Services with Lori Marett and the director of the Asheville Christian Writers Conference. Cindy is also the co-founder of Christian Devotions Ministries and www.christiandevotions.us, as well as www.inspireafire.com. Her devotions are in newspapers and magazines nationwide, and her novels have become award-winning, best-selling works. She is a popular speaker at conferences and a natural encourager. Cindy is a mountain girl, born and raised in the Appalachian mountains, where she and her husband still reside. She has raised four sons and now resorts to raising chickens where the pecking order is easier to manage. You can visit Cindy at www.cindysproles.com or www.wramsforwriters.com.