Drawing on my own background as an aspiring writer, I highlight the core difference between little-c (everyday creativity) and Big-C (genius) before talking about the creation (with Ron Beghetto) of the four Cs model of creativity. Mini-c is creativity that is personally meaningful to the creator, even if it does not resound with others. Indeed, there are many reasons why creative work may not reach an audience, which is the topic of the CASE (Capital Awareness Spark Exceptionality) model. How does mini-c advance to little-c? One key is getting, and responding to, good feedback and critiques of one’s work. Another is improving creative metacognition, which has two parts: understanding your own creative strengths and weaknesses and knowing when (or when not) to be creative.

At the heart of creativity is the unknown and the new, the breaking from conventions and conformity, and the challenging of existing norms and ideas. Those essential parts of creativity come with the threat of failure, rejection, embarrassment, exclusion, and non-conformity. However, the experience and intensity of this threat and the resulting anxiety and fear is likely different for each of us. So, where does fear of failure, and the anxiety it may produce, fit into the creative process? Are fear and anxiety barriers we should try to remove to become more creative? Are they catalysts for creative risk-taking and the enhanced alertness that help us recognize an opportunity for innovation, invention, and growth? This chapter explores features of creativity and the creative process that relate to the affective states of anxiety and fear of failure with the goal to illustrate the research on how these states can be managed, and even leveraged, to enhance creativity.