Creative imagination and active imagination are two different things. Active imagination entails perceiving things in one’s mind, and most of us imagine things in an active fashion. We can actively imagine a flock of sheep jumping over a fence when we are trying to sleep or slaying a dragon to save a damsel in distress. Anyone can imagine these things for they are easy to embed in our faculties.

On the other hand, creative imagination may involve the active perception of things, but most of the time, it involves imagining original things—concepts and ideas that no one has thought about. For creative writers and other types of artists, cultivating creative imagination is important in sharpening their craft. So how do you go about cultivating creative imagination?

It’s not rocket science

Practice the basics. Imagine anything like a flower base, a fluffy dog, or a sizzling steak. You can try singing a song in your head. Play a movie or TV show episode inside your head. If you like, play a commercial. These are all forms of mental visualizations. Our mind’s recollection of things we’ve seen and heard register inside our head. Some of us find doing these things a bit difficult, and that takes practice.

Do not underestimate your creativity and always pay attention to it. Our mind gives us more than what we perceive. Sometimes, when we encounter a person we are attracted to, we start imagining that we are dancing in a rose garden with that person. Our creativity and imagination give us that “feel good” reward over things that we cannot have. It’s a built-in mechanism that writers can take advantage of. That’s how great stories are made.

Our environment and immediate vicinity contribute to our creative imagination. I forget the name of that TV show with an episode wherein a creative writing teacher volunteers to teach inmates for a program called, “Literature for Convicts.” In beginning her lecture, she addresses the inmates: “Creative writing can help you escape . . . in your imagination,” and she grins. If I were a convict, my mind would most likely conjure creative ideas on how to escape with minimal risk of getting caught.

Eleven months ago, a friend dragged me into this free New Age workshop on psychometry. Also known as psychoscopy, psychometry is a form of object-reading. How it works is that a person hands over a personal belonging like a watch or a piece of jewelry. The psychometrician closes his eyes while touching and feeling the object and tells the owner how that object plays a role in its owner’s life. For example, I held onto one of the participant’s wedding ring, closed my eyes and made guesses about the importance of the ring to her. I’m not a clairvoyant, so I was second-guessing. I told her that her ring is full of love and that she celebrated her wedding with plenty of booze. She was elated to tell me that I was right. But that was only because I knew upon introducing herself that she owns a bar, and I made the connection. It was an exercise in extrasensory perception. As for me, it was more of an exercise in creative imagination.