Editor’s Choice— Top 10: The Chief Enemy of Creativity Is Good Sense

Reading our top 10 writers will encourage them to write even better

Pablo Picasso said that.

Hundreds of contributors have written articles on this topic. Only the Vogue magazine translated his quote as, ‘The chief enemy of creativity is common sense.’

You can choose between ‘good sense’ and ‘common sense.’ But I believe any rationalizing process is an enemy of creativity. Whenever you try to conform to any established standard, your creativity suffers.

We like to read non-sense, but we want to write ‘sensible’ things. Suspending your disbelief is the key if you wish to enjoy any piece of literature — or a movie. Trying to adhere to popular arguments and scenarios is the perfect recipe for becoming a mediocre writer.

What do I mean by ‘non-sense writing? I’ll explain that in a minute, but telling you about sensible writing is easy. If your piece fits nicely into what everybody already thinks about the topic, you have written a piece that makes perfect sense. For example, explaining how a marriage is a trashy way to find company or a wonderful method to live with a soulmate. Both arguments make sense, engage readers, and get praise — always.

Now back to ‘non-sense’ writing. If your mind can make perfect sense of what is happening and what might ensue, you lose interest quickly. Writers such as Edward Lear and Lewis Carrol popularized a form of literature called literary nonsense. ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Through the Looking Glass’ are masterpieces of literary nonsense.

When you read ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ you don’t know what is coming next because nothing makes complete sense. But despite the apparent nonsense, these works of art convey profound meanings. In our time, Stephen King’s series of novels ‘The Dark Tower’ is full of nonsense, but the writer can tell you things that you would not be willing to read if he wrote in a sensible way. The BBC’s tv-series ‘Dr. Who’ is also nonsense with great messages.

The effort to make sense will inevitably lead you to conformity, and ultimately uniformity. Your content will be practically indistinguishable from others — all those who were trying to make complete sense. If you start thinking about your writing a lot, you’ll probably quit writing.

As Ray Bradbury said, “Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You must simply do things.”

So, you must write your story. Nothing you say must adhere to established norms. Absurdity, nonsense, and unpredictability attract more read

Please read our top 10 stories to help the writers reach their dream. Here is a link to convince you to read the top 10 stores every day:

10. A Note From Your Pen

Josie Klakström is the editor of The True Crime Edition. She’s a journalist and crime junkie.

She is an excellent writer. Her style is witty and refreshing. You’ll love this satire. Do check her other work.

I’ve been with you since the day I was given to you by your adoring parents, who assumed I would write your essays and research papers when you went to college. Instead, I was thrown into a jar with the rest of your discarded highlighters and the feeble Bic pens you found at the library over the years.

I was supposed to be the pen you cherished, but instead I was overlooked time and time again. I could have been the pen attached by a piece of string to the dorm room note pad. I should have been the pen you wrote your belated Christmas cards to, but no. I was slowly pushed to the back of the sippy cup you were given at your first freshers party that now holds your other writing accessories. Who needs that much Wite-Out?

9. You Can Be Shocked But Don’t Be Surprised

Kate Cohen is a wonderful human trying to make some sense of this world. She is an MA in psychology.

She is an excellent writer. Her writing style is informative, logical, well-arranged, and very engaging. You’ll love her work. Do check her other work.

When we were told an inauguration crowd was the “largest-ever” in history, we laughed it off and made memes. When Neo-Nazis were called “very fine people”, lawmakers remained silent and complicit. When accusations arose that foreign entities interfered in our elections, individuals in power looked the other way with indifference.

But when an iconoclast speech called “Stop the Steal” urged rioters to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue to the U.S. Capitol and “give our Republicans, the weak ones…the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country”, which ultimately paved the path for an insurrection that resulted in congressmen fleeing for their lives and 5 causalities, people were suddenly surprised.

8. A Helpful Lesson to Win the Game of Life

Matt Reicher is a researcher, writer, and content creator trying to find his place within this world of words.

He is an accomplished writer. His writing style is honest, practical, wise, and very engaging. Do check his other work and don’t forget to follow him.

Many years ago, a school advisor I’d talked to no more than a couple of times gave me a powerful piece of simple wisdom. Had I put it into practice, it likely would’ve changed the course of my life.

If only I had actually listened.

While looking up at me from behind his desk, he said that life is designed to work one of two ways. You can either pay now and play later or play now and pay later. There is no third option.

7. The Results-driven Offer: And How To Use It To Grow Your Business

Rodney Daut helps you discover the marketing mistakes coaches and consultants make and what they can do to jumpstart growth.

He is an exceptional writer. His writing style is compelling, honest, and engaging. Don’t forget to check his other work.

When you sell a service, benefits alone can feel a bit abstract. A client isn’t sure what they’re getting. But if you offer a clear result, they’ll get curious and ask you questions. You’ve just hooked a potential client. So how do we create results-driven offers that get attention?

There is a superacid so powerful that it will destroy steel, glass, and just about any other substance it touches within seconds. It’s called fluoroantimonic acid and it’s likely that you have the one material this substance cannot turn into a pile of goop in your kitchen.

6. Why Your Morning Routine Isn’t Helping You

João Vítor de Souza helps entrepreneurs build healthy organizations. He is a superb writer. His writing style is honest and charming. You’ll love how he presents his experiences and conclusions.

I must confess that I had a much messier life when I started my first company. I look back today, and I can see how much I have changed. Recently I found myself questioning how I managed to achieve everything I achieved with the bad habits I had at that time. I built a profitable company with employees all over Brazil and the world. I used to work with distractions and often hurting my body by demanding too much from myself. How did I do?

5. The Washington Post is Wrong; Democracy Dies in Broad Daylight

Dr. Dion is an outstanding writer. Unbothered. Unapologetic. Unashamed. Her writing style is direct, informative, and very engaging. She has three stories on this list.

Some of her stories have gone viral in recent days. Follow her. Read her. Try to learn from her work.

It took Donald Trump four short years to destroy what it took real Americans 244 years to build. The shame of it all is that he did it with the whole country — nay the whole world — watching him the entire time. To say the modern day Republican party is complicit is a fact no longer in dispute. To assert that Fox News, OANN, Parler, Sinclair Broadcast Group, and a host of right-wing fringe actors are (and have been) a clear and present danger to the republic is incontrovertible.

4. Twitter’s Decision to Ban Trump is not an Affront to Free Speech but a Responsible Exercise of a…

Jessica Lynn is an entrepreneur and an excellent writer. She cares about helping others learn to live a better, healthier life.

Her writing style is informative, honest, and highly engaging. She is a successful writer on Medium. Do check her other work.

On Friday, Twitter permanently banned President Trump from its service “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.” Twitter said in a blog post that President Trump’s personal @realDonalTrump account, which has more than 88 million followers, would be shut down immediately.

Twitter justified its move by saying two tweets by Trump violated its “Glorification of Violence,” policy, “which aims to prevent the glorification of violence that could inspire others to replicate violent acts,” and said it “determined that they were highly likely to encourage and inspire people to replicate the criminal acts that took place at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.”

3. When Nothing is Punished, Anything Goes

Bashar Salame is an excellent writer. His work has been in many major publications. His writing style is direct, honest, and engaging.

A sudden, violent, illegal seizure of power; that’s the textbook definition of a coup, or coup d’etat. The French saying, which translates to English as, “a state stroke” or rebellion, pretty much sums up the attempt to thwart Congress from confirming the election for Joe Biden.

Call it what you will; an attempted coup, insurrection, treason, or terrorism, it certainly bears the hallmarks of all four.

2. Donald Trump’s Speech At The Capitol Didn’t Specifically Call For Violence

Steve QJ writes about meditation, content creation, and personal development. He is an excellent writer. His commentary is easy to read and engaging. Don’t miss his stories.

The more I read about the events which led to last week’s attack on the Capitol, the more I’m reminded of one of my favourite 90s movies, Falling Down. The story follows a man, named William Foster, through a series of increasingly violent events.

When he gets into a petty argument over his change in a convenience store, the owner pulls out a baseball bat. William wrestles the bat away from him, smashes up the store, takes the change (and a Coke), and leaves.

1. What Hannah Arendt Can Teach Us About The Capitol Hill Insurrection

At number one, it is Sebastian Purcell, Ph.D. He is an excellent writer. He is a philosopher and a happiness researcher as well. Don’t forget to read his stories and don’t forget to follow him.

Adolf Eichmann was an unremarkable man before he joined the Nazi party in 1932. He was mediocre in school and to make ends meet, he became a traveling oil salesman. After joining the SS, he coordinated the trains needed to carry out murder on an unimaginable scale. For his leading role, he was convicted of crimes against humanity and executed on June 1, 1962.

Hannah Arendt, a Jewish philosopher who fled Germany during the war, covered his trial. What struck Arendt was that Eichman needed no great evil intention to perform catastrophically evil deeds.

This post is part of the Top 10 Series:

1–2–3–4–5–6–7–8–9–10–11–12–13–14–15–16–17–18–19–20–21–22–23–24–25–26–27–28–29–30–31–32–33–34–35–36–37–38–39–40–41–42–43–44–45–46–47–48–49–50–51–52 –53–54–55

Final Thoughts

If your story was selected as one of the Top 10, please share another one of your stories in the comments with a brief introduction and a short review that can convince a reader to read your piece. (Please write the review in the third person and start it with your name.)

I must have missed something today. I cannot read every story on Illumination and Illumination-Curated. Dr Mehmet Yildiz, the Chief Editor and Founder of Illumination and Illumination-Curated, read, highlighted, and applauded every good story when he started his publications. He still reads almost all of the good ones. I try — and fail daily — to read all of the masterpieces.

Dr Mehmet Yildiz has kindly allotted the top 10 series a full shelf on the front page of Illumination-Curated and Illumination:

If you find any mistake, typo, or other error, please leave a private note for correction. Thanks.

Happy New Year!

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You can read my curated stories here.