I turned in a book yesterday and I wait to see what the publisher thinks. I poured my heart and soul into it, and now I wait to see if it is good enough. But it was full of my imagination and creativity. Today, I’m taking a break from writing except for the weekly blog. My imagination has been on high alert while I wrote. And in the process, I did some research on cranking up our creativity and learned a few things that I want to share today. I fell back on a presentation I did a few years ago on cranking up your imagination in case the summer heat has you down. Here are some things to ramp it back up again.
1. First accept that all people are creative. Some think they aren’t, but they need to nurture that creativity more than others. Not nurturing your creativity freezes a part of you, and you lose the therapeutic value of creativity. Look at a potential problem from another perspective – like the perspective of your character – or imagine how another person would see it in another land. What things would still matter and what would not? You can also let your imagination run wild and exaggerate the situation in your mind – and then minimize the situation. Look at it from all angles. Think what the hero would do or imagine how someone beside yourself would accomplish it. Lewis Carroll once said, “Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
2. Play with abandon – all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Play some music in the background while you work. I have a friend who writes mysteries and she listens to heavy metal turned up so loud her teenagers complain. That would not work for me, but it does for her. I like classical music playing softly in the background while I write. No lyrics, just instrumentals. I provide the words.
3. Find time to have no plans for an afternoon or morning when you can just wander out into your world and soak it up. That is easier said than done sometimes. But creativity comes from these moments. Cyberspace is not a good place to think because it is busy and exhausting. Stay off Facebook when you are creating.
4. Soak up solitude when you can get it and be comfortable just being with yourself. Find a place in the now and recharge. Revel in the connection of being with like minds. My writer’s club and critique group do wonderful things for my creativity in pointing out things I would never have thought about. Socializing with other creatives brings out the muse in all of us. Look for things that inspire you, like going to a museum or concert.
5. Always keep a notebook available for writing down those little flashes of genius – we all have them – so you don’t forget by the time you get home to your computer. I sometimes send myself emails if something comes to me during the workday. But now that I am retired, I still keep a small notebook in my purse. If you are going down the highway and lightning strikes, write it down.
Be creative and practice that creativity in ways that work for you. Build your worlds and your characters looking at them from all angles, but always make sure your imagination is in high gear. As a writer, imagination is your job.
Stay cool out there and what are you doing, writing, reading, or creating this week?
Peggy Chambers "Views from the Hammock" site 