Hey there!

Programming and especially game development - is a creative process. Game developers are like tiny Gods who creates their own worlds, with their own rules, characters and stories.

I was always amazed about how creative some people might be. It started with reading books with amazing stories and now looking at indie developers creating their awesome worlds.

The problem with me is that I do not consider my self a creative person. The best I can do is to think of a remake of an existing game other than inventing my own atmosphere and story. However I do believe that one can develop his creativity.

I'd like to hear some suggestions from you guys. If you consider your self a creative person (either by thinking of your self as one or being told by others that you are such), please share how do you develop your creativity.

Thanks!

Not everyone is a creative person, just as not everyone is technically inclined or artistically inclined - even so everyone can improve their abilities in these areas.

I suspect that people who are struggling with their creative side lead a fairly predictable life style and limit themselves to the things they have already been exposed to and enjoyed, at a cost of disassociating themselves with the things that are unfamiliar.

For me, improving my creative ability means absorbing as many experiences and ideas as possible; creativity in games (or indeed other fields) isn't necessarily coming up with entirely new concepts or ideas, it's learning how to compare and associate your specific knowledge and life experiences, and adapting that to your current problems.

The first step is to experience more - for me this means traveling extensively outside of my usual cultural boundaries - if you're from a modern Western society, spending time in rural Cambodia or with the monks in Vietnam can be a real eye-opener. Reading is of utmost importance, not just the things you're interested in and not just fiction; read as much as you can, especially if it's tangentially related to what you're currently working on; I find recognising similarities in some written material with my own work helps significantly. Music, film, art, all of this is digestible and can help. Take courses in new fields of study that you've never looked into before on places like Coursera.

I'm not a very creative person probably because I don't read many books.

So read books (literature)!

Oh, I see the above poster already mentioned it.

I don't really read a lot but i think a lot so creativity isn't a problem.
It's natural for me

Endorphins. Most of the good ideas I have come during or right after going outside and pushing it. At least that's what I tell my wife. Adrenaline helps pay the bills.

Creativity can come from literally anywhere. It can be a movie, a book, a TV show, a song, or even just staring out a window. That spark can happen randomly, almost like "Oh! What if I did something like that?". There's no set way to foster creativity. That being said, there are ways to increase that chance of the inspirational spark happening. Reading, film, etc. are all great ways.

What gives you goosebumps? Think about something that makes you euphoric, imagine how you can rise the lvl of the goosebumps, dont restrict yourself (dont think like "what others might think of that"), you should learn to not depend on others creations to have goosebumps, create them yourself. you should understand the nature of your own tastes, learn to satisfy yourself (Im in the mood to watch some movie like this, but which movie? -> go create the movie idea, dont give up cause you dont have access to such movie, do it yourself) With time (practice) you will develop your own style. With time you can use your own ideas to have inspiration to create new ideas (originality will raise). Its all about creating emotions you want to feel.

Developing creativity doesnt really make any sense to me...you can develop skills to satisfy your inspirations, thats being creative, you cant rise it, you can just get better at doing it. Reading books will only help if they are inspiring you, if you dont like reading books, keep them away.

Creativity can come from literally anywhere. It can be a movie, a book, a TV show, a song, or even just staring out a window. That spark can happen randomly, almost like "Oh! What if I did something like that?". There's no set way to foster creativity. That being said, there are ways to increase that chance of the inspirational spark happening. Reading, film, etc. are all great ways.

Well said.

Creativity isn't a skill, something u practice. It is more a state of mind, where you allow threads of inspiration, experiences, memories and emotion to intermingle to bring forth something new, special. That's the 1000 ft interpretation anyways. You can help things along by filling out the buckets from which inspiration draw, be inspired, live life, make memorable moments and be attentive to the emotions of that moment. Hope that helps, good luck!

Thanks everyone! Ill try to do some of the suggestions you gave here, especially to find something that Im passionate about.