The role of imagination

Imagination is the secret behind art. What we conjure in our minds, is the personal touch we add to the outcome of our work. When we write, we think of everything we have been taught and what we have learned to help educate ourselves and the viewer. But in order to personalize our thoughts we add that touch of imagination. There is the "what if" questions that pop into our heads all the time and if we explore them on paper we begin to form scenarios and new ideas. This makes it interesting and provokes new thoughts.
Babies and kids have the wildest imaginations since there are no boundaries in their worlds. Without boundaries we more free and we think without questioning the wrong. Wrong confines us and it tells us what we can and can not do. But if there is no wrong there are plenty more opportunities and forms we can create. Imagination is what allows us to add new to the old and keep us thinking.
Applying this to academic writing, it is harder to be imaginative without crossing the "rules" which english teachers have taught us. Students must follow certain guidelines and stay within their respective boundary. As we grow older we are allowed more leeway or given an "artistic lisence" but we still limit ourselves sometimes to remain within the norm. Being too drastic or unordinary can be unliked and cause too much concern.
It's all about finding the balance and submitting what we believe is realistic or effective. That is however what our purpose is when we wrtie, to have an affect on the viewer. We leave them with our own thoughts, our own imaginations.