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Creative Boot Camp: Generate Ideas in Greater Quantity & Quality in 30 Days

Creative Boot Camp: Generate Ideas in Greater Quantity & Quality in 30 Days

by Stefan Mumaw
Publisher: New Riders
Release Date: November 2012
ISBN: 9780133123173
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Book Description

Creative Boot Camp is a 30-day creative training program that will increase the quantity and quality of your ideas. The book begins by exploring what creativity is and isn't, how we can train ourselves to improve our own ideation, and what steps we need to take to generate more ideas and better ideas for our creative selves, our creative projects, our creative businesses, and our creative lives.

Like any muscle, creativity requires repetitive and challenging exercise to grow. The 30-day program provides an escalation of creative exercises that test our problem-solving prowess and train us to overcome the obstacles that inhibit ideation. The program tests regularly, both in idea quantity and quality, to ensure we are on track with our boot camp goals. But unlike the gym, these exercises aren't to be dreaded. They are light, fun, and take 10-15 minutes max. By the end of the 30-day boot camp, readers will see noticeable improvement in the quantity and quality of their ideas.

Table of Contents

  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication Page
  4. About the Author
  5. Acknowledgments
  6. Contents
  7. Introduction
    1. What Is Creative Immersion?
    2. What If I’m Not a Designer?
    3. How Difficult Will This Program Be?
    4. The Shopping Cart Role Model
    5. Creative Boot Camp Field Guide
  8. Pre-Test
    1. Medieval Kid’s Meal
    2. Creativity is a Habit
      1. Creativity, Daemons, and Magic
      2. Relearning Genius-Level Creativity
      3. Creativity Is Problem Solving
      4. Increasing the Quantity of Ideas
      5. Increasing the Quality of Ideas
      6. The Wrap
    3. Purpose and Restriction = Creative Fuel
      1. Duncker’s Candle Problem
      2. Purpose Sets Up the Problem
      3. Problem Contraction and Expansion
      4. Restriction Sets Up the Solution
      5. The Unspoken Third Condition: Action
      6. The Wrap
    4. Becoming An Epic Failure
      1. Overcoming the Perception of Failure
      2. Redefining Failure
      3. The Wrap
    5. Problem Solving: Baptism by Fire
      1. Staging the Problem
      2. Introducing the Pickle
      3. The Wrap
    6. Solving the Pieces
      1. Dissecting the Problem
      2. Getting to the Core of the Problem
      3. The Wrap
    7. Play is the New Work
      1. A Katalyst for Creativity
      2. Commonalities of Play and Creativity
      3. Creative Training and Strategic Play
      4. Improvisation and Creativity
      5. The Wrap
    8. Overcoming the Obstacles
      1. Jumping the Line
      2. Identifying the Stages of Change
      3. Seven Obstacles in Creative Training
      4. The Wrap
    9. Measuring Creativity
      1. Creative Capacity and Sharing Ideas
      2. Examining Creativity Tests
      3. Using the Comparative Scaling Technique
      4. The Wrap
    10. Training Prep
      1. Exercising Your Creativity
      2. Completing Section Progress Exercises
      3. Improving Your Rank
      4. Tracking Your Progress Online
  9. Ten-Hut!
    1. 1. Starting from Scratch
      1. 1.1. Ultimate Desk
      2. 1.2. Bug’s Ride
      3. 1.3. Big Box Home Improvement Boutique
      4. 1.4. Expert Professor
      5. 1.5. The Magical Mystery Tour Bus
      6. 1. Progress Exercise
      7. Section 1. Roundup
    2. 2. Numbkiller
      1. 2.1. Everyday Monster
      2. 2.2. High-Koo
      3. 2.3. Capture Captions
      4. 2.4. Instant Storyteller
      5. 2.5. Photoclature
      6. 2. Progress Exercise
      7. Section 2. Roundup
    3. 3. Flavors of Relevance
      1. 3.1. What’s Next?
      2. 3.2. Modern Playground
      3. 3.3. Say What?
      4. 3.4. Photo Nemesis
      5. 3.5. Stick!
      6. 3. Progress Exercise
      7. Section 3. Roundup
    4. 4. The Creative Barbell
      1. 4.1. The Squiggle
      2. 4.2. Treemansion
      3. 4.3. The Whatever Mousetrap
      4. 4.4. Emotigraphs
      5. 4.5. Alphabet Story
      6. 4. Progress Exercise
      7. Section 4. Roundup
    5. 5. Novelty’s Penthouse
      1. 5.1. Everyday Action Figure
      2. 5.2. The Middle
      3. 5.3. For Sale: My Cubicle
      4. 5.4. Object/Action/Effect
      5. 5.5. Dangerball
      6. Section 5. Roundup
  10. Final Exam
    1. WildWestios
    2. The Aftermath
      1. Short-Term Maintenance
      2. Midterm Maintenance
      3. Long-Term Maintenance
  11. Index
  12. Ad Page