The mind's best work

Over the years, tales about the creative process have flourished-tales of sudden insight and superior intelligence and personal eccentricity. Coleridge claimed that he wrote "Kubla Khan" in one sitting after an opium-induced dream. Poe declared that his "Raven" was worked out "with the precision and rigid consequence of a mathematical problem." D. N. Perkins discusses the creative episodes of Beethoven, Mozart, Picasso, and others in this exploration of the creative process in the arts, sciences, and everyday life. A Parable......Page 12 1 Witnesses to Invention......Page 20 2 Creative Moments......Page 52 3 Ways of the Mind......Page 85 4 Critical Moments......Page 113 5 Searching For......Page 141 6 Plans Down Deep......Page 173 7 Plans Up Front......Page 201 8 Lives of Inquiry......Page 231 9 Having It......Page 256 10 The Shape of Making......Page 286 Notes......Page 304 Sources......Page 312 Index......Page 322 Over the years, tales about the creative process have flourished-- tales of sudden insight and superior intelligence and personal eccentricity. D. N. Perkins discusses the creative episodes of Beethoven, Mozart, Picasso, and others in this exploration of the creative process in the arts, sciences, and everyday life. A Parable -- Witnesses To Invention --creative Moments -- Ways Of The Mind -- Critical Moments -- Searching For -- Plans Down Deep -- Plans Up Front -- Lives Of Inquiry -- Having It -- The Shape Of Making. D.n. Perkins. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. [301]-309. Looks at the processes of mental leaps, introspection, insight, and critical response in an attempt to understand the nature of creativity