Who is it for: Wordsmiths and improvisers

As far back as I can remember, I've been a daydreamer. I've always come up with little games to keep myself entertained when things turned boring. When I needed an idea for a website for a class I was taking, I was entertaining myself with one of these little games and thought, "Hey, maybe this is the idea." A website of games that will help you creatively. That was the beginning of Omusing.

Of course, in my research since, I've found that I'm not the first to go down such a path. Creativity Workout is one of the forebears of the idea. In fact, Edward De Bono claims to have invented the idea.

Creativity Workout is a book centered around random words. It's about finding connections and value where others may miss it. For prompts, the book just uses a grid of words you pick from at random. The exercises involve taking the random words and trying to find relations between them.

For instance, you may be trying to find a strong connection between two words. Or you may be trying to say two words are completely opposite. You may try to find as many connections as you can. You may be breaking the words down into component parts and trying to theoretically build something from the pieces. Or maybe you'll just use the words in a poem. These are just a few of the exercises in this book.

The exercises themselves are a little repetitive, as the name "workout" would imply. There is some value in this book, and it comes in the form of practice. Finding connections between concepts is one of the key points of creativity. Getting better at it will help you craft metaphors and find obscure paths for your characters to tread. Improving your speed at finding these connections will help you be more of a creative conversationalist and improviser.

If this sounds like something you may be interested in, give De Bono's book a try. Good luck, and keep exploring.

Buying the book from this link will help support Omusing.com