Tag Archives: creativity tips

I Could Never Be Creative

Posted on March 10, 2015 | 4 comments

“I could never be creative!” 

A plaintive cry from those who see other people create marvellous things and all the while bemoan their own futile attempts. 

Perhaps they tried once, and failed, not to take up a creative tool again. Yet the desire is there, the want is there, the need is there. They feel something is missing, a vacant space on the mantlepiece that wants to be filled.

I suspect at the root of it is fear.
The fear of failure. 
The fear of commitment.
The fear of rejection by family and/or friends.
The fear of not being good enough.

Every creative person I know has these fears. I have these fears. However, I do not let the fear dominate. 

I know I will fail. This is how I will learn to improve.
I know I must have commitment. This is how I learn discipline. Without it, I will not achieve my goals.
I know I will be rejected. This is normal for a writer. Rejection does not define my creativity.
I know I will not be good enough. This is how I will strive for greater. Comparison is a false economy to judge yourself.

“I could never be creative!”

YES. YOU. CAN.

(Think Bob the Builder).

You can be creative. You have to give yourself permission to start being creative. You have to start. You have to continue. You have to finish. 

Then you start again.

Start small.

If you want to be a writer, write a paragraph.
If you want to draw, scribble on a Post It Note.
If you want to cook, make cupcakes.
If you want to garden, buy a pot plant.
If you want to knit, learn to knot a basic square. Knit enough to make a baby’s blanket.
If you want to serve others, volunteer for a local charity.

For whatever creative endeavour you want to pursue, start small. Something you can do in twenty minutes or half an hour once this week. Commit to doing this creative act once a week for a month. In the second month, commit to twice a week. Give yourself permission to miss it if you need to (just don’t beat yourself up over it). In the third month, commit to as often as you are able: once, twice, three times a week. Even daily.

It’s understanding the power you have to be creative. Doesn’t need to be world-changing, just changing your world. Creativity is a safe place; a place where you are able to be you.

Be creative. Create.

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What Will Your Verse Be?

Posted on January 27, 2015 | 3 comments

What is the power of creativity to contribute a verse?

This is the ending of one of my favourite films, Dead Poet’s Society, starring Robin Williams. It was a film that defined my generation growing up, along with Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club and the like. The phrase, carpe diem, “seize the day,” was synonymous with this film.

But the power of this final scene only emerges with an understanding of a previous one. It was purloined for a recent advertising campaign by a computer company named after a piece of fruit. The ad is a complete piece of onanism but the sentiment is what I want to explore.

“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits, and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman: ‘O me, o life of the questions of these recurring, of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities filled with the foolish. What good amid these, o me, o life?’ Answer: that you are here. That life exists, and identity. That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?”

How do you contribute a verse?

Grandiose plans to change the world are good and well but I want to look closer to home. 

You contribute a verse by starting small.

Start small by writing a poem in an old notebook.
Start small by writing someone a letter (a friend recently asked for her birthday for people to send her some thing in the mail using the good old fashioned postal service).
Start small by getting out a colouring book and pencils.
Start small by taking a photo a day on your camera (an intentional act of creativity).
Start small by joining a local amateur dramatic or musical society either as a chorus member, backstage crew, admin, promotion, anything. Ask.
Start small by taking an art class or a writing class.
Start small by learning an instrument.
Start small by asking, “What can I do?” to help meet a need.

You need a job to provide a living but you also need a cause to be passionate about, something you believe in. 

Creativity provides that outlet. 

You contribute a verse because you learned to create for yourself first. Then you understand that it can be used to help someone else. And your creativity can contribute to the job you do, the ‘noble pursuits’ mentioned above, that allows you to begin changing the world. 

But you start with one person; you start with yourself. You create, make it a habit, teach others to create, inspire others to pursue their own creative path.

That is how you contribute a verse.

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Want To Be Creative? Ask Good Questions

Posted on April 15, 2014 | 4 comments

The key to unlocking creativity is asking good questions.

There is no singular question, like having the key to a cupboard, to unlock creativity. It’s more like being given a set of keys to unlock many cupboards, boxes, safes, vaults and the little box you thought you’d forgotten about.

When you know which key unlocks which box, you have an opportunity to develop your creative skills.

Non-creative people, those who are yet to understand that they too, can BE a creative person, look on in wonder and ask, “Where do you get your ideas from?” They are looking at the key in their hand and using it to dig the wax out of their ears or stir the milk and sugar into their cup of tea.

Last year I wrote 11 Facetious (and 1 Serious) Answers to the Question, “Where Do You Get Your Ideas?”

The question is a default position where the person does not believe they can be a creative person, and they are seeking out a secret formula to unlock the means to creativity. The non-creative person thinks, “If only I had an idea I could be creative.” There is a two-fold belief system happening. First, I can’t be creative and second, I just need an idea and I’ll be creative.

These two belief systems stem from a lack of belief in a person’s ability to be creative. It gives the non-creative person an excuse NOT to do something, because they don’t believe they can generate an idea nor do they believe they have the skills to be creative. They compare themselves to others and think, “I can never be as creative as Person A or Person Z.”

For the creative person, the generation of ideas varies. Some have no problem finding ideas, others select their ideas judiciously while still others discover their ideas like diamonds, digging through layers and layers until they strike upon it.

Questions, Questions, Questions

The key to being creative lies in asking good questions. What those questions are will vary from person to person, and from medium to medium.

The writer may not ask the same question as the painter, or the photographer may not ask the same question as the musician.

There are two fundamental questions that all creative people ask:
What is the purpose of this work?
Who is my intended audience?

Beyond these basic questions, creative types need impetus and direction. To develop a creative life we need to ask questions that begin with “What…?” or “How…?” or “Why…?”

  • What will challenge me?
  • What have I not tried before?
  • Who can I collaborate with?
  • Why do I want to write or paint or draw or learn an instrument?
  • Can I try this piece in a different genre? a different form?
  • What inspires me?
  • What negates my inspiration and sucks me dry?
  • What do I want to achieve?
  • What have I not achieved yet?
  • Have I set a timeline for my goals?
  • What skills can I learn from experimenting in a different medium?

In the search for understanding about what it means to be creative, to understand how a creative person generates ideas, we must ask good questions; ones that provide momentum and direction to our creative endeavours. Good questions help us understand our creative processes and build good creative habits.

If you have ever wanted to be creative, learn to ask good questions to help unlock your creativity and have a fulfilling creative life.

What questions would you ask to unlock your creativity?

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