imagination.

Recognizing that images have their source in sensory experience, we see
that the first step to take is to seek a multitude of experiences. Make
intimate acquaintance with the objects of your environment. Handle
them, tear them apart, put them together, place them next to other
objects, noting the likenesses and differences. Thus you will acquire
the stuff out of which images are made and will stock your mind with a
number of images. Then when you wish to convey your ideas you will have
a number of terms in which to do it--one of the characteristics of a
free-flowing imagination.

The second characteristic we found to be variety. To secure this, seek
a variety of sensational experiences. Perceive the objects of your
experience through several senses--touch, smell, sight, hearing,
taste. By means of this variety in sensations you will secure
corresponding variety in your images.

To revive them easily sometimes requires practice. For it has been
discovered that all people do not naturally call up images related to
the various senses with equal ease. Most people use visual and auditory
images more freely than they do other kinds. In order to develop skill
in evoking the others, practise recalling them. Sit down for an hour of
practice, as you would sit down for an hour of piano practice. Try to
recall the taste of raisins, English walnuts; the smell of hyacinths,
of witch-hazel; the rough touch of an orange-skin. Though you may at
first have difficulty you will develop, with practice, a gratifying
facility in recalling all varieties of images.

The third characteristic which we observed in works of the imagination
is vividness. To achieve this, pay close attention to the details of
your sensory experiences. Observe sharply the minute but characteristic
items--the accent mark on _apres_; the coarse stubby beard of the
typical alley tough. Stock your mind with a wealth of such detailed
impressions. Keep them alive by the kind of practice recommended in the
preceding paragraph. Then describe the objects of your experience in
terms of these significant details.

We discovered, in discussing the source of imaginative works, that the
men whom we are accustomed to call imaginative geniuses do not have
unique communication with heaven or with any external reservoir of
ideas. Instead, we found their wonder-evoking creations to be merely
new combinations of old images. The true secret of their success is
their in