How do you learn to be creative?
grandalf: Creativity is the process of getting your brain not to shut down ideas that it comes up with before you can really give them a chance.One way to do this is to focus on asking questions:- What if this is the wrong approach?
- How can this be made more general?
- Should it be more general?
- Should I be doing the opposite?
- What other uses might this have?
- What problem is this a better solution to?
- What are the pieces of this idea?
  - What can I make with each piece?
  - (Repeat first steps)
- How can I implement this idea?
  - On a budget?
  - With an unlimited budget?
  - "Green"
  - For Red staters
  - For blue staters
  - For the third world?
  - For free?
- Why not do this before now?
- Why not do this after now?You get the idea.  Just let your questioner run wild and enjoy the process.  I recommend asking about 1000 questions and figuring out what makes you most excited or what you think packs the most punch.I think creativity is more of the absence of a trait (excessive internal "downmodding" of thoughts) vs the presence of a trait.Oh, and this may be a bit cliche, but sleep on it.  Doze off thinking about it and then maybe in the shower the next day you'll get some ideas.Also brainstorming with a friend can be a fun way to flush out cool ideas.