Screenwriting : Creativity vs Story by Mike Chinea

All the time.

Yes and no. I think creativity is necessary for story layering. I do however think it can get in the way of simply writing the story.

Creativity is what goes into your story. It is how solid the story is and how creative the characters are.

If you mean your imagination runs wild but you can corral it back into the prescribed plot points, yes but isn't that just part of the process?

What Mario said.

Creativity does not get in the way of the story. A man or woman gets in the way of their own story. Most of the time creative ideas are built up in the mind then trimmed down till it's perfect. It is the difference between being a dreamer and being grounded in reality. We have to dream about our ideas. Then we have to bring them down to the ground. In other words the only thing that gets in the way of the story is you. I mean this in the most positive way. If you come up with a really good ideas find a way to narrow them down and a eliminate ones that don't work. Writers block is sometimes a lack of relaxation. Writers block can be trying to force an idea and then getting frustrated about it. Rather than relaxing and free associating. Taking breaks from our work can be good. I hear from many people the best ideas come from the shower. We get our creative sparks when the mind is most relaxed.

Excellent comments. Solid advice all around. This is off topic but it is worth invoking my Senior Citizen Privilege: Having William Martell, Hollywood’s most prolific writer chiming in made my day!! I still have a dog eared autographed The Secrets of Action Screenwriting book he wrote and I also bought the Blue Books collection. Gary Shushett, RIP, introduced us in Michael Mann’s office when I was trying to pitch a WW II movie, maybe 10 years ago (?).