#teaching creativity

[eirikrjs]

do you think that "american gods' " plot could serve as the storyline for a smt spin off game set in usa?

I have neither read the book nor watched the show but of what little I know about American Gods...I hate it, particularly the invented bits. Otherwise, no, I don't think it's a good premise for SMT. Then again, if you asked me if the premise for SMT5 would make for a good SMT storyline, I would also tell you "No." What makes for a successful premise for SMT is mostly quality of writing and execution, the rest the creativity/novelty of that premise. This means that anything could be a viable premise for SMT if the execution of it is handled well enough. You should try creating your own!

Here's a prompt:

Protagonist goes on an interstate bus trip. The weather is tumultuous, the driver of the bus resembles (random image from random folder):

[corepaedianews]

Nobel prizes most often go to researchers who defy specialization – winners are creative thinkers who synthesize innovations from varied fields and even hobbies

Innovative ideas spring from many sources, research finds. Yuichiro Chino/Moment via Getty Images Robert Root-Bernstein, Michigan State University and Michele Root-Bernstein, Michigan State University Experts often recommend that people specialize in one field of work or research to maximize their chances of success. Yet our recently published research indicates that successful innovators take a…

View On WordPress

[eirikrjs]

Hey, so, I don't know if this is an impertinent thing to talk about or not, but I've been thinking of writing an SMT-esque story of my own, featuring beings from world mythology, folklore and religion (my current 'broad' name for them is "Daemons", though I might change it to something else later down the line). I don't have an actual concrete plot in mind yet, but what I can tell you is that I've developed a particular design philosophy where each Daemon is specifically designed so that people can either easily recognize what being/figure they are just by looking at the design or be able to look at the design after finding out who or what it's supposed to be and find it makes sense as an accurate depiction of that being, while still making a design that is cool, sleek and memorable, a mixture of stylization and accuracy that makes frequent use of little details relating to their mythology and the culture they originate from. My approach is very similar to Kaneko's, though it differs a bit in that, where Kaneko GENERALLY got his ideas from live-action films and television as well as high fashion, my primary sources of inspiration are Shonen Mangas like Yu Yu Hakusho & Hunter x Hunter by Yoshihiro Togashi, Bleach by Tite Kubo, Jujutsu Kaisen by Gege Akutami and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (which, for the record, I know Kaneko also loved in addition to things like Devilman), as well as other things like the music I listen to and art pieces + cultural artifacts I see displayed in houses or on the street. Really, I just wanted to share a little bit of the projects I have planned because I've been having a lot of ideas; what are YOUR thoughts?

Hey, thank you for sharing this with me. I think any creative impulse is worthwhile and worth pursuing. You never know where the ideas may lead you or what form they may take even a month from now. In the past 16 years or so I have dabbled in two major creative projects inspired by SMT. The one I made public many years ago, Wisdom Eternal, began life as a simple idea: "What if there were a Devil Summoner story set in 1970s America?" Of course, by now I have excised all the Devil Summoner-ness out of it, replacing it with my own ideas and creations (even if there are resemblances in some cases). About 3 chapters of the Wisdom Eternal narrative exist but they're kinda stinky; this is why I'm taking it upon myself to write short stories instead to hone my chops.

The other major project is one I just rediscovered a couple days ago. It is from around 2010 and heavily inspired by Strange Journey (though not in the ways you might think); more accurately, it could be said to be inspired by my experiences surrounding Strange Journey. I wrote 215 pages of it and have been thinking about it non-stop since I found it again. It's still ridiculously incomplete, unfortunately.

Point is, document/archive and ORGANIZE all of your ideas. Ideas can always be refined and the refining process can be a rewarding/satisfying endeavor all its own. The initial idea for Wisdom Eternal came about around 2012 and between then and now I have maybe hundreds of pages of notes (digital and physical) that have developed the concept far beyond its initial "Megaten fanfiction" concept.

I think the greatest use of a piece of media is not merely to consume it passively but to internalize it to grow creativity within yourself, like a seed sown within soil.

[eirikrjs]

hello i'm a desi and i've been thinking about the issue of south asian representation in SMT. you see almost all south asian demons come from hindusism or buudhism,and other religions were almost entirely absent. I suppose it's probably because they don't know. Although it is highly unlikely, I hope to see jainism, sikhism, indigenous adivasi religions, and more minor religions featured in future works. what do you think of it?

Hi!

You sound like you value representation in creative works, and thus creative expression. I think you're right that representation from these minority religions in SMT is "highly unlikely."

But there comes a time when you realize a thing you like (in this case, a series) from a seemingly endlessly creative medium like video games has reached a creative dead end--it can be disappointing, even depressing depending on your attachment level. Your own imagination and ambition may exceed what's produced for said thing, at least in the ways you want. That's when you have to strike out on your own and express yourself in the way you want things to be. Like, I didn't have any expectations for SMT5 except that the long wait for any news was both excruciating and suspicious. And then the final result was, well, SMT5. By contrast, I didn't have any expectations for Strange Journey either but it ended up becoming my favorite SMT experience of all time. So what's the difference between them? It might not actually have to do with the content of either game but the creative attitudes each represented. With SJ you had a fresh new creative concept for the series and it felt like the series could only keep going up from there--it was a creative optimism. On the other hand, SMT5's attempt to recycle and remix Nocturne ended up being a shackle to arbitrary "traditions" that only served to stifle and suffocate creativity--i.e, a creative pessimism (see also: @sorenblr's post from a couple weeks ago).

My advice is to produce what you want to see. Create! Write! Draw! Compose! Make yourself a space where your desires and ambitions can be realized. I don't think SMT is that kind of space anymore. This is what I've been doing for over a decade-plus "behind the blog" and it is oh so more satisfying and gratifying than merely critiquing someone else's creative output. That's why I myself am starting to shift to creative writing, beginning with short stories. Literally "be the change you want to see."

[paulcarney]

Four Types of Play

Play is a profound way to learn and is inherent to our species. We can formulate play activities, engineer them in ways that facilitate particular experiences. In other words, we can teach it. #creativitycanbetaught 1. Conceptual Blending Combine or juxtapose words, ideas or images in new ways to bring new meaning. We are all familiar with schemas; mental categories for things. To invent new…

Four Types of Play

[maryswaysofseeing]

Teaching for Creativity (3/17)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY

https://www.teachthought.com/learning/teaching-art-or-teaching-to-think-like-an-artist/

I really enjoyed watching these two videos about teaching for Creativity. Especially because that idea, the idea of teaching to think like an artist, is what makes me want to be an art teacher. More than my ability to draw or compose images, I value my way to view the world, problem solve, and make (often unexpected) connections. This is really what it means to be an artist. Just like a good joke, art is pleasurable because it is surprising. The artist put things together that maybe wouldn’t normally go together, used colors that maybe no one else used at the time, etc. Artists must be brave in making these decisions because they are not usually the norm. And to be brave, one must embrace experimentation, play and making mistakes! What happens when we view mistakes as opportunities instead of knocks to our ego? 

This often feels difficult to implement for a couple of reasons. The first is, it seems that students already have it ingrained in their mind that they must follow what the teacher does and any deviation is “bad”. If I say I’m drawing a certain thing, I automatically have a bunch of kids copying me even if it was an open ended question. Their other teachers teach to have them follow directions and replicate their behavior so sometimes it seems confusing to them when I try to push them to experiment. 

The other reason is related to the previous reason. Because it’s the norm to teach for compliance instead of creativity, I even find myself sometimes making lessons that check more for compliance than creativity! I’m working on a lesson right now about making New Yorker inspired still lives but halfway through the lesson I realized all the student works were so similar and it was because of how I structured the lesson! Reflecting on my lesson, I want to give students more examples and ways to experiment with their work. How can they play with scale or texture or design in a way that makes their work unique? How can I challenge them to not just award their peer who’s good at representational drawing but their peer  who decided to run with a concept that no one else even thought about? Even though it is challenging, I believe more than ever that to teach for creativity is critical to creating socially engaged, socio-emotionally healthy citizens. 

[innovatecreatedesign]

Teacher Margaret Haviland considers the value to students of exploring creativity within limits and the need to give them license to freely pursue their creative urges within those limits.

[dt4lt]

Teaching creatively is not the same as...

Teaching creatively is not the same as teaching creativity...

— Martin Robinson (@SurrealAnarchy)

August 13, 2014