Wallas' four stages of the creative process

¶ … arises in the mind. Ideas give rise to concepts, which are the basis for knowledge. The artistic notion of ideas is that they do not evolve from previous experience; they are the birth of something totally new. But, ideas don't just happen. Perhaps preconceptions are pushed aside, but when devising an idea people think about their past experience and what want in the future. This is not to say that the creative process does not involve original thinking, but it is based on prior knowledge.

According to Wallas (1926), one of the first to explore the creative process, there are four sequential steps in the creative process. The first is the creative process in which a deficiency or a gap in knowledge is sensed. The second stage is incubation in which information is acquired, ideas are explored and solutions begine to be formulated. Next, illumination happens. In this third stage, there is a flash of insight that contributes to the birth of the new idea. The final stage is revision, in which the options are evaluated and the most promising is chosen.