If a good idea, song, character or plot for a book, etc comes to you in a dream, is it your idea / creativity? Or is creativity only things you work on consciously?

I don’t think it matters. Creativity is creativity, regardless if whether it was a conscious effort or the snap of a finger.

My guess (at least for me in my experiences) is that you can’t manufacture creativity or ideas – rather, they come to you in an unpredictable flash.

I don;t think you can actually pinpoint a case of someone “thinking up” a song or a story or a work of art, that isn’t how creativity works.

The spark for an idea arises out of the subconscious whether asleep or awake. It can be hearing a bird’s chirp at an odd hour of the day, the way the light on the leaves of a tree intrigue you, seeing the interaction between a child and a parent.

Sleep or awake, subconscious or conscious, if it comes from within you I think it’s the same creative act.

Who knows what mysteries lurk in the subconscious of man? But it is yours. No reason the subconscious mind can’t be creative and is probably the basis of the creativity (so often mistakenly) thought to be the sole product of the conscious mind. So give your subconscious mind the credit it deserves!

We’d all like an explanation for the process, but unless the idea or product is stolen or fraudulently obtained the process is irrelevant. Success is ALWAYS gonna be the mark of genius.