ABSTRACT
The reluctance of contemporary theorists to admit skill into the realm of creativity is connected with the Platonic vision of the act of creation as mysterious, inexplicable, and unanticipated. Habits such as spelling or manual dexterity at the keyboard are the foundation for more complex skills, and no high-level creativity would be possible without them. Training involves the development of critical skill and must involve some degree of understanding. The creativity evident in works of art that conform to existing frameworks certainly involves skill. The possibility for creativity rests, however, on being able to see beyond the specific problem or issue with which one is dealing and having a real understanding of the methods and procedures of the discipline and the principles and goals that lay behind them. The plasticity of the control is crucial to the possibility of creativity, but so is the control itself.
