Hands up if you think you’re not creative!
If you do you’re not alone.
A lot of us think we’re not creative.
I remember what it was like when I was in school. I remember sitting in an exam and having to write a piece of creative writing. And suddenly my mind went blank. I couldn’t think of anything! Panic set in. Which made it even worse. I mean an exam is a difficult environment to be creative in. It’s high pressure. But it didn’t matter what environment I was in, I just didn’t think of myself as creative.
I finished school believing I wasn’t creative.
I went to university believing I wasn’t creative.
And it took a really, really long time before I even attempted to do something creative. I was probably well into my twenties before I tried to make a film. I didn’t start writing stories until I was in my early thirties. Probably one of the biggest misconceptions I had about creativity was that I thought it was this magical, mystical thing. Don’t get me wrong. I still believe some parts of being creative are magical and mystical. But what I’ve also learnt is being creative is just like any other skill.
And skills are learnt.
And the more you practice, the better you get.
The creative part of your brain – your imagination – is actually just like any other muscle in your body. The more you use it, the bigger and stronger it becomes.
Writers use many techniques to fire up their imaginations. One popular technique is to write for five minutes without stopping. You just have to write anything that comes into your head, anything at all. The only rule is the pen must keep moving. It’s a trick to get your ‘thinking mind’ out of the way. When we think too much, it can get in the way of our ‘creative mind’. It’s best to try this regularly. Perhaps every day. And just see what comes. Perhaps an idea for a character will emerge. A line of dialogue. A nice phrase. Or an idea for a story. Or perhaps you will learn something about yourself. Who knows. That’s part of the fun. If you have no idea how to start, pick a word out of the dictionary and start with that. Look out the window or at a picture and write about what you see. Remember, just keep the pen moving! You’re not allowed to stop. If nothing interesting happens at all, that’s fine too. Most of what I write ends up in the bin. Writing is a bit like panning for gold. You’re just looking for little bits that sparkle in amongst all the dirt! Anyway, give it a try if you feel like it. I’ll come back tomorrow and see how you went. Leave me a comment if you like. I’m very friendly!!
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