7 steps for increasing creativity

Increased creativity in any field can be learned

People seem to think that creativity is something you are born with. That it is genetic, you either have it or you don’t. That is not true. Creativity is a skill that can be enhanced and improved. This holds for any field where creativity is possible — art, music, business, entrepreneurship, design and so on. Most people could benefit from more creativity in their lives.

I am a journalist but I have always dabbled in writing fiction. Mostly science fiction and fantasy. I have a couple of short story collections out and lots more sitting on my hard drive next to a couple of novels. I write daily for a living but writing fiction exercises a different mental muscle and my creativity has blossomed because of it. After doing some research, the things I have found that work for me seem to be pretty universal.

You may already be in the relevant field or want to develop a whole new skill but when it comes to developing creativity, the processes are largely the same. I will try to keep this generic but writing is obviously going to be my baseline. Here is a process to help you be more creative.

1/ Gather information, notes, drawings, quotes, anything relevant to what you want to do

If, for example, you want to write blues music, paint watercolors, write science fiction, design a new website — immerse yourself in it. Read, browse and explore. Get to know your topic and anything you particularly like, or just find interesting, note it down. Keep everything together.

When you are going about your life you may see something that relates to what you are doing. So make sure you always have a notebook or phone with a decent note-taking app to hand. I use One Note for when inspiration strikes.

2/ Look through all your notes and collected materials

After part one, you may already be having ideas. Even if it’s currently a load of vaguely connected chaos, don’t worry too much about it.

Try and absorb as much of the information as you can, connect things in novel ways, try out new compositions, follow any random paths your notes take you. Experiment. Be free with it, no one needs to know what you are doing and no ideas are bad.

So if I want to write science fiction, I will obviously be reading a lot. But I will also watch popular series and movies, read comics, play scifi games and read anything relating to science fiction on the internet and in magazines. I would note down ideas that seem cool, characters I like, world-building that inspires me. I would then see what novel elements in my notes might connect in new and interesting ways.

3/ Do something else for a bit

This may sound weird but find something you enjoy that completely distracts you. The creative mind is persistent and will keep mulling things over in your subconscious while your consciousness does something else.

So while you are out bowling or cycling or whatever you enjoy, your mind will continue working on all the things you had recently been working on, putting things together and making new connections. Even if you are unaware that it is going on, it is happening.

Personally, I go out with friends and play pool. Or I stay home and play highly absorbing and intense first-person shooters. I am purposefully distracting myself from thinking about the project.

4/ Don’t force it, let the ideas come

I tend to find one of two things happens.

One is that an idea will come to me out of the blue and a lot of it is already worked out. It’s as if a sub-program in my brain has put in quite a bit of work already and is now sharing results. For some reason, this tends to happen while I am in the shower or about to go to sleep (and a couple of other places). These are common moments for quite a lot of people. It is as if your subconscious has picked a moment when your consciousness is relaxing.

If this doesn’t happen, I browse through the notes I made in the first stage and something will appear. The more you do this process, the more this will work for you. It may not be the whole book, song, art composition, but there will be ideas forming, even if they are in unrelated chunks.

5/ Develop your idea and feel free to create something awful

Just start creating. If your brain has been soaking in the ideas for long enough, things should be forming. Experiment and ideas will start to link together. There is no need to worry about people’s reactions at first as there is no need to share anything with anyone at this stage.

Just trying things out and bringing together what you have been mulling over, should be liberating. This is why musicians jam. It is why an artist’s studio is full of canvases that will never be shared. A lot of author’s first drafts are private and they’d be horrified if someone else read it.

These early stages aren’t for public consumption and I find it is a lot of fun. Even if you find something to be bad or out of place, keep it. Hide it somewhere. Often these ideas can spark others or work surprisingly well elsewhere.

6/ Now it’s time to actually work on it and create something good

You now have an idea, a draft, sketch or outline. Nearly all the pieces will be there. Two tips:

a/ I highly recommend keeping a schedule or routine. I try and write at the same time every day. Your brain gets used to it and seems to gear itself for the task ahead.

b/ Finish. This seems so obvious but it is surprising how often people fall at this hurdle. It is essential to ignore all self-doubt and just get the project done, whatever it is. It’s easier to knock something into shape once you actually have it done.

7/ The scary bit — share and get feedback

When you create something there will be a point where you will share it. It is mildly terrifying. Ideally, you will have a close group of people whose opinions you trust. Take their feedback and act on it. Or don’t, it’s your call. But if everyone is noting the same problem it would be wise to at least consider it.

This is still part of the creative process as you will be changing and adapting your work. Sometimes entirely. It is important to accept different points of view from people you trust. Very few creations from any field end up identical to what was envisaged.

This is the final part of the process before you send it out into the wider world.

A final point to keep in mind

The hardest part once you are done is hearing the reaction of others. You will face criticism, it is part of the deal. No one has created anything that everyone likes. I wrote about this in more detail here (it is about writing but holds true generally):

Not all of these processes described above will work for every creative endeavor but I hope some of these tips help. A few individuals are ridiculously creative but the rest of us can also develop high levels of creativity. Creating anything is fun and immensely satisfying. So go for it.