Yeah, I think there's this odd view that creativity is ex nihilo, an unexplainable intercession from the cosmos that disrupts the usual ways of thinking. Since an area I care about is creativity in AI systems, we very much hope that isn't true, because simulating intercessions from the cosmos on computers is hard. ;-)
Although it's got all sorts of things I disagree with, a decent overview of, "can we nail down creativity more specifically than just 'flash of inspiration'?", and in particular how it ties in with "normal" problem solving, is Margaret Boden's book: http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Mind-Myths-Mechanisms/dp/0415...
Although it's got all sorts of things I disagree with, a decent overview of, "can we nail down creativity more specifically than just 'flash of inspiration'?", and in particular how it ties in with "normal" problem solving, is Margaret Boden's book: http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Mind-Myths-Mechanisms/dp/0415...