Any activity becomes creative when the doer cares about doing it right, or better.

Updike’s remark broadens “creativity” beyond the arts and into the realm of attention and conscience. The decisive factor is not the medium—writing, carpentry, teaching, cooking—but the maker’s care: a desire to do the task well, to refine it, and to be answerable to standards (even self-imposed ones). In this view, creativity is less a rare gift than a stance toward work: seriousness, precision, and the willingness to revise. The line also implies that craft and creativity are inseparable; originality can emerge from disciplined improvement rather than from sudden inspiration.