How to Develop and Exercise Your Creativity

Member

By Patricia Gilliam
User-Submitted Article

Article Rating: (4 Ratings)

Creativity is an interesting thing in that the more you try to force it to work, the more frustrated you're going to find yourself. There are ways of developing your creativity however. Here are some tips you may find helpful:

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Step 1

One side of creativity involves what you're putting into your brain--if you stay glued to a TV and never vary your daily routine, your brain may just not have a lot of information to work with. Reading can help a lot. So can just simply browsing around a library or bookstore looking for nothing in particular. Visiting a new location in general (it can be in your own hometown--you've just never been there) can be sometimes be helpful as well if you're in a rut.
Step 2

Create an environment in your home or office that fosters creativity--this could involve everything from the color of your walls, what you have around your line of vision, keeping notebooks and files of information that interest you for later use, the music you have available, and anything else that makes you more comfortable and helps you're thinking.
Step 3

If you're preparing for a large project (such as writing a novel), get yourself warmed up with small daily exercises. It will make the larger project go a lot more smoothly. The same idea can be applied to music and art as well.
Step 4

Search out and bookmark any free creativity exercises online that you enjoy--these can include some games, but make sure that they're an aid more than a distraction (if you're mainly wanting to use them for quick breaks as opposed to playing them for several hours).
Step 5

If you start feeling stuck, don't dwell on it. Try changing your environment--switch from a computer to a notebook and pen or vise versa. Go outside if the weather is right for it.
Step 6

Another thing you can do to help your creativity is to try something new that may not be along the lines of your normal art or skill--such as trying music if you're primarily an artist or art if you're mainly a writer. You may surprise yourself, as sometimes our brains do continue to change even through adulthood--you may be better at something than you thought, and if gets your brain working in a different way.