Creativity Tip #10: Purposely make silly things.

By Chris Dunmire

No matter what creative discipline(s) we are engaged in, we are often inclined to create "pretty things" to please the approval eye of others. Sometimes it's quite necessary we do, other times it's not. This is about those times it's not.

This exercise in silliness goes beyond the perimeters of the cubed box. It is exact permission to embrace the odd, the zany, the goofy ideas that pop into your head before you quickly swat them away like flies with an embarrassed "Shoo!" Go ahead and follow your instincts and make those silly things. Go on, do it!

What are silly things? Anything you think is silly. It could be painting the sun blue and the grass red in your picture, incorporating Picasso-esque exaggerations or perspectives in your art, or inventing satirical eBay stories that never happened. Gluing googly eyes onto peanuts surely falls into the silly category. As does an interview with a cartoon character. Anything that makes the conventional critics squirm and your pulse race because you very well know that what you're doing may end up being for your amusement only.

Dare to be silly. Try it and see what happens. You never know what will become of your creations when you purposely make them unusual or odd. Want to see what happened to one of mine? It wasn't my intention to get my Peanut Pets project published, but a newspaper in Maryland, USA, contacted me for permission to print it. Yes, it found its way to black and white newsprint states away in the April Fool's issue of the Montgomery County Sentinel (see clipping here). And this serendipitous thing happened why? Because I dared to be silly.

P.S. This Web site has many examples of silly things I've made to amuse myself. You can see more of them in my humor/fun section. •

© 2006, 2007 Chris Dunmire www.chrisdunmire.com. All rights reserved. Please do not reproduce this article without my permission.