Practice

Like anything we want to learn to do well, creativity requires practice. Creativity practice is like doing drills or scales - the work that helps us get to the good stuff. But unlike drills or scales which can seem like drudgery, creativity practice is much more like play than work!

I invite you to try some of my favorites!

Ideabook

An ideabook is simply a place to store your ideas. Big and small, good and bad - you need to write them all down. You never know what might be useful, either for a current project or for one yet to be.

Writing down your ideas does more than just record them - it also primes the pump and lets the muse know you mean business. One idea leads to another and then another and pretty soon they are like rabbits breeding all over the place! It all starts with writing them down.

An ideabook can also act as an encourager on those less-than-creative days. Just thumb through it and marvel at all the wonderful ideas you have had in the past and be reminded just how very creative you really are!

I keep several notebooks going at once - a lined journal for taking notes from my reading, a blank sketchbook for those moments when I get the courage to draw and a gridded book where I write/sketch my ideas. The important thing is to find a book (or books) you love and keep it with you. Always. And use it!!

Got an idea? Write it down!

Mind maps

Mind maps are used to diagram ideas and concepts related to them. Mind maps are useful in generating and organizing ideas.

Mind maps are created intuitively starting with a central idea and branching out from there. I used a mind map to help me visualize this web site; it helped me see how everything was connected and related to the main topic. The mind map in essence became the structure of the site. I used an image of the mind map as my desktop wallpaper while I was working on the project, which allowed me to keep an visual of the entire site in front of me at all times.

The easiest way to understand mind maps is to look a few (see links on next screen) and then start creating your own. All you need is pen, paper and your imagination!

There are many good mind mapping resources on the Web. Here are a few:

Example of mind maps

Mind mapping software

  • I use MindManager but there are lots of different ones out there. Google "mind mapping software" and go from there.

Mini sagas

A mini saga is a story written with exactly 50 words - no more, no less. It is a great example of how limitations can be used to stimulate your creativity. It is also a great exercise in getting to the essence of something!

Here's an example:

Once upon a time there lived a girl who loved to design web sites. She decided that she would like to design web sites full time (instead of working at a boring admin job) so she went back to college and got her Master’s. And she lived happily ever after!

I first read about mini sagas in Daniel Pink's book, A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. You can learn more about them and read more examples (which can be creatively stimulating as well!) at the British Council's LearnEnglishCentral web site.

Photo safari

You don't need to go to Africa for a photo safari - your neighborhood will do perfectly! And there's no need to worry about dangerous animals, because on this safari we will be hunting images not big game.

Equipment needed: digital camera, open eyes, open mind.

Start by choosing your theme. I find it best to choose something general and abstract, rather than concrete and specific, as this gives you the most creative room to play in. Here are some suggestions to get you started:

  • yellow
  • round
  • vertical
  • text
  • aged
  • abstract
  • angles
  • depth
  • rough
  • rhythm

After you have chosen your theme, grab your camera, get out there and shoot! Find whatever you can that is related to the theme. This is not about creating art but about exercising your seeing muscles. Part of the fun of a photo safari is pushing past the obvious. So stick with a theme long enough to start being amazed at the world you live in.

While it's usually best to safari solo, it's fun to share your images with other safari-ers. Choose your theme of the week (or month or whatever), create an online photo account (i.e. Flickr, Shutterfly, Picasa, etc.) where everyone can post their images. For inspiration, check out the squared circle Flickr group.

Randomness

Random words and images can be used as triggers for making connections, to force your thinking out of a mind-rut and to help you see patterns you might not have seen otherwise.

Start by choosing a creative project that you are working on. Open a book, magazine or web page (dictionaries work well for words; Flickr works well for images). Randomly point to a word or image on the page or screen. Find a connection between your project and that word or image. Some connections will be harder to make than others, but these usually yield the most creative ideas. So if you get a tough one, keep pushing. It will almost always be worth the extra effort.

Don't limit yourself to obvious sources of words and images - you can use just about anything! Try a photo album, a deck of tarot cards, a can of food in your cupboard or signs along the street on your way to work. The idea is to find anything that gets your mind to think along new tracks, to see something new (or something old in a new way), to approach your project from a different point of view.

Some random sources of randomness on the web include:

Reverie

Reverie, a state of relaxed musing or daydreaming, is the mental space where ideas are born. When we are in reverie, we are as close to the muses as we can get.

Reverie is a way of accessing the intuitive, right-brain part of our minds. During reverie, ideas and images and thoughts and knowledge and all sort of things come into contact with each other in your brain. They connect, break apart, connect with something else, form patterns, new ideas and images and thoughts and knowledge. Reverie is the juicy part of creativity.

Creative people have to be able to consciously enter the state of reverie when they need to generate new ideas. Of course, since reverie is a semi-conscious state, that poses a dilemma. But creative people are, well, creative in the ways they have found to bring about this valuable - and enjoyable - state. Some of the most well known reverie-inducing techniques include:

Daydreaming

Daydreaming is like chocolate - it used to be considered an indulgent vice, but now the experts say it's good for you! So feel free to indulge your daydreaming nature (while eating chocolate if you like).

Some of my favorite daydreams are about traveling; I dream up fabulous trips to exotic - sometimes imaginary - locations. I vividly picture the hotel, the rooms decorated in bright corals and teals, the soft white sands of the beach; I take in the sweet smells and unusual sounds, the feel of the breeze on my sun-warmed skin. Ahhhh, I am there. Paradise!

A daydream is not a waste of time, even daydreams about tropical vacations. Daydreaming relaxes the mind and opens us up to ideas and connections we might not have had otherwise. And you might be surprised at how some of the images and ideas in your daydreams end up either working their way into your project or trigger other things that do. So go ahead and indulge, grab your chocolate and daydream!

Drawing

Drawing is a wonderful way to induce reveries. It quiets the logical part of our minds and lets the intuitive part have free rein. I recommend reading one or both of the following (AND doing the exercises!) – Betty Edwards’ Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and Frederick Franck’s Zen of Seeing. You will be amazed!

Most of us (including me) say, “I can’t even draw a straight line!” Drawing for reverie is not about drawing straight lines, or even about drawing pictures that look “correct.” Drawing for reverie is about quieting the left-brain and learning to see – both of which are very helpful in the creative process.

So grab a piece of paper and a pen, turn a picture upside down or study – really study – a blade of grass. Then draw. And enjoy as your mind enters reverie…one unstraight line at a time.

Walking

Talking a walk is a natural reverie inducer; when you are stuck, a walk may be all that is needed to open the door to a new idea. The rhythm of your steps, the fresh air, the change of scene, perhaps even the endorphins generated from the exercise all combine to relax and open your mind.

Water

Water relaxes the body and mind, allowing you to easily slip into reverie. Take a bath or a shower, go swimming, sit by a river, walk along a beach or just listen to a table top fountain. Just about any interaction with water - including doing the dishes - can induce a relaxing state of aqua-reverie.