On Nurturing a Creative Spirit

At least as early as 5th grade and perhaps earlier, I loved involving people in my stories. I had two friends that I played with regularly at recess. The three of us worked out what might have been a very simple version of serialized fiction. Each of us had a particular role, and when recess came, we would rush out to the playground and assume the identity of our respective characters. I came up with the story line, and each day told them where the story was going. They jumped into their roles from there. Although I didn’t have the name for it at the time, our serial was a “space opera.” I was a local commander for a particular intergalactic agency that was responsible for patrolling this part of our galaxy. One friend was my director for intelligence, and the other was responsible for handling the diplomatic and political ends. We had many fantastic adventures together.

I had not heard of E.E. “Doc” Smith’s Lensman series when I was this young, but some of our themes echoed the struggles of Kimball Kinnison against the Boskonian Empire. A couple of years ago discovered this series, and of course absolutely fell in love with it. How could I help myself? I had grown up on a steady diet of “Star Wars” with generous helpings of “Star Trek” and “Buck Rogers” mixed in. As I matured, I discovered the likes of Issac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein and Philip K. Dick. Their great stories fed my imagination. I developed a love of science itself and astronomy in particular in part from their fictional worlds that I found myself so immersed in.

I don’t think my active imagination was that much different than many boys my age, except that perhaps there was more richness to the material. I think part of what has driven me is the desire to draw others into those imaginations. I could not help but be a storyteller. My dad is a storyteller as well. He loves telling stories. It amazes me how he is able to capture attention and draw his listener in.

I can see some of this coming out in my son’s highly active imagination as well. It amazes me, and I can’t help but feel proud when he plays with his toys and builds these great fantastic worlds and weaves tales set in those places.

I feel like most kids are born with a good spark of imagination, but only some environments really nurture that imagination to really grow. I was fortunate to have some around me that encouraged that spark to grow in me. Sure there were some that didn’t see the value in it, but in the end their voices haven’t completely ruled. In a way I can thank them: they have given me ideas to develop antagonists in my stories-- writer’s revenge!