How to Be More Creative

Believe it or not, any person can be creative in his or her own special way. Not everyone can be a master artist, or a writer but one can sure find ways in expressing one’s creativity. Hey, even telling jokes is an art form so why not try to be good at it.

Here are a few tips on how to be more creative.

Experiment and Explore

Not just because you got low grades in your art appreciation classes, you wouldn’t even dare touch a piece of crayon again. Try other media. Sing. Dance. Act. Write a poem. A story. You’d never know until you try them all out. And even if you suck the first time, that’s not a guarantee that you won’t be good at it.

Set a Goal

Aimlessly doing things is not the way to go. The lack of focus usually leads to zero output. Try to set a goal for yourself. Gauge it to see if it’s attainable, even rank it based on difficulty. Check out the pros and cons (every goal has one). Creativity starts at deciding to do one thing even if it has some points that go against it.

Be in Tune with Your Mood

Some writer friends claim that they write best when angry (or drunk!) but that doesn’t mean that you have to be angry. There’s a way to psyche oneself up. Most of them just think about those things that they hate (nothing extreme) to get in the zone.

Well, for most, we can always just think of that one mood that keeps us going. Then, when we’re mentally and emotionally inline with that, then we’d be in that “zone” where we think and feel best to produce.

Find Your Special Place

We all have special places where we’re most creative. As for me, anywhere quiet does the trick. Maybe it’s a room. Your home office. Under a tree. Your garage. The basement. It may not even be a special maybe it’s just your desk arranged in a certain way. Or working with music on. A friend even works best with jelly-filled donuts.

Just create the environment that helps your mood. Geniuses always have their own workshop.

Learn the Tools and Tricks

Getting to your goal means that you have the right tools for the work. A writer should have a word processor (or the good old typewriter, or even pen and paper), a dictionary, and a thesaurus. Traditional artists who paint should have a good set of brushes. So whatever field you may want to explore, you need to master tools and certain techniques. Maybe in the process create your own. Now that’s creativity in the process!

Commit Yourself

This means no distractions and no quitting. Just you, your tools, and your goal.

If in Doubt, Take a Break

Most creative work doesn’t happen overnight. If you feel like you’re entering a slump in your 3rd or 4th hour of work, take a break and rest. You still have the next day or other days to work on it once you’re in the zone again.