Creativity as a pillar to harnessing our neurodivergent advantage

Creativity isn’t just a nice extra. For many of us, it’s a lifeline...I know it has been for me!

Growing up, I was always a bit too much. Too weird. Too intense. Too imaginative. The kind of kid teachers didn’t quite know what to do with. It wasn’t until my GCSE English Language mock that someone saw something different. Not just noise, but potential. Still, like many of us do, I spent years after that conforming. Playing the role. Doing what was expected.

It wasn’t until I wrote and released my first novel that things shifted. That part of me I’d been keeping quiet finally had somewhere to go. And everything changed.

In fact, when I looked back, I realised that the mock exam was a creative writing piece and guess what I wrote...THE RAVEN! It will have been the very first iteration of what is now an eight-book dark fantasy thriller series that is proving to be my most successful series to date and something I am immensely proud of for many reasons.

Creativity has shaped nearly every part of my life. Not just as an author or screenwriter, but in my policing career too. As a Chief Firearms Instructor, some of the most effective training scenarios I’ve delivered were born out of imagination, not instruction manuals (of course sticking to the curriculum, but adding my own flair of creativity for scenarios, back stories and storylines). What might look like strategy on the surface usually started with a “what if?” That’s the creative spark right there.

We grow up in a world obsessed with external validation, and yet the real important thing is our own validation, the rest of the world comes second in all reality.

But here's the thing. People often think creativity has to look a certain way. Books. Art. Music. Something clearly labelled and publicly celebrated. That’s not it.

My eldest son finds creativity in data and numbers. My youngest dances his ideas into the world. My daughter draws and builds. My wife sculpts peace from the garden. Creativity isn’t a box. It’s a current. It shows up in ways we don’t always expect, and we need to stop acting like it only counts if it ends up in a gallery.

If you’re neurodivergent, creativity might be one of your strongest assets. But it’s also the thing many of us learn to hide. We mask it. We dampen it down to get by. We stop sharing ideas in meetings. We pull back on the weird, the wonderful, the “what if?”

Why? Usually fear. Fear of ridicule. Fear of getting it wrong. Fear that what we’ve made isn’t good enough. Sometimes it’s money. Sometimes it’s time. Often, it’s just habit. We grow up in a world obsessed with external validation, and yet the real important thing is our own validation, the rest of the world comes second in all reality.

But creativity, when you allow it to have a place, gives something back. Even if you never show the thing you’ve made to anyone else, you’ve still made it. That moment is yours.

Right now, I’m working with an internationally recognised actor and director to bring one of my screenplays to life. That opportunity didn’t come from playing it safe. It came from owning my creative voice, even when it felt risky to use it. I am hoping it works out, I know many projects like this never make it the full way, but my AuDHD brain means hyperfocus and creativity are constant bedfellows, so there's no lack of determination!

Creativity is pillar three of NeuroEdge, but for many of us, it’s the first part of ourselves we learn to suppress. I’m telling you now, don’t. Whatever your version of creativity is, give it a bit more room.

You don’t have to write a book. You don’t need to fill a theatre or sell a painting. You just need to remember what it feels like to make something that’s yours. That’s where the edge starts.

If this resonated with you, know that it’s just one part of a bigger picture. Creativity is a strength, not a side note. And if you’ve ever felt like your brain doesn’t work the way others expect it to, there’s a reason. NeuroEdge is my way of exploring that reason and helping others do the same.