Does creativity flow from within you, or are you influenced by your environment?

I will try and trasnslate a verse we have in hindi written by an eminent poet, I hoppe I succeed that answers your query very effectively: what do you gain from looking at the strings from which the poetry has been knitted A poet has written the piece from all the strings he had gathered from diverse experiences of his life. I think this is the answer.

My creativity is within me, the inspiration on the other hand comes from outside whether it is memory or random activity. I am always intrigued and inspired by the smallest thing I see or hear. Everyone is creative to some degree but most of us ignore that part of the brain or prefer to live our lifes in certain ways. I choose not to ignore it and start my own business last year, I wish I did that sooner, but at the time I was hesitant and we needed to save money to start with.

I also believe its both. I've actually had things that I reread at a later date and was surprised that it was something I wrote. For me, I think the underlying emotions are from things that I experienced personally, while the actions of the character may not be. For example, I may have a male character that has a wife that commits adultry. I'm not male, so I'd have to "think" male instead of female and I've never committed adultry. But I can use my emotions of what a deep betrayal felt like to write it. The environment fits in because of the view that society has.

both, but mainly it deoends upon the personal experinced.in some cases it may be the god's gift to some one.

Both. I write poems that pour out of me literally sometimes with tears. Other times I have to look around me and write things based on what I see. Its usually a little of both that keeps me writing poetry.

I think with me my creativity especially my writing is a combination of both...I know how you feel though...sometimes after I've written something I set myself apart from it and wonder, just where the heck did this come from...like I'm channeling it somehow...There are some stories I write out of various experiences I've had in my life but then there are those that can't be explained..I once wrote a short story with the Civil War as the background...now yes, I do happen to be a Civil War buff and have read lots of books about it and seen movies...but never had quite obviously any experience in a war situation...and yet, when I showed it to someone they couldn't finish reading it...reason??? He said it was too graphic...too descriptive! But rather then feel insulted he didn't finish reading it, I felt good...so I must have hit it on the nail about being great in writing the horrors of war

I think it's a bit of both. I can never truly really write something without being influenced from my environment at least alittle bit. However, sometimes, I can sit and write for hours on end and it seems to be something that comes from in me, but otherwise, sometimes it's something entirely different.