What Carl Jung, photography and creative writing have in common

Do you think that creative writing is something you can learn? Many of the aspiring authors who join my Write a Book in a Week program ask me this question. They know they have a story to tell. Most of them are afraid they don’t have what it takes to release their thoughts into a real book.

Teachers can help you hone your craft. They can even teach you tricks to overcome obstacles to the creative flow, like writers block. But I doubt they can teach you to be creative.

Why not? Because creativity is a gift. It comes from within, and is personal to you as an individual. You either find it within yourself and work with it, or you don’t. It’s much the same with writing or painting. You can allow the creative force within you to come out, or not. All a teacher can offer to do is help channel that energy.

Carl Jung, the father of psychoanalysis, speaks of the creative instinct. Humans have innate instincts, which cause us to strive, build and create. So, if creativity is a basic human instinct…