I recently reached out to several people to help shed some light on their creative process and will be sharing their thoughts here through blog and audio posts.To kick off the series, here are some tips I’ve found to help me nurture the creative process.
1. Capture your ideas
Creativity is like a muscle, if you don’t have them, you can’t lift a lot. The more you lift the more you get excited and the more addicted you get to the process. For me this starts with finding a way to capture idea flow in the moment. Are your ideas in the form of words, pictures, sounds, designs? I capture a lot of my ideas through the default audio record app on my phone. When I have an idea I say them out loud and record them. If it’s a song, I hum the tune so I can remember it later. I then listen to my ideas at least once a week (Sundays) to
see what ideas I liked most and which I’d like to do something with. No matter what you use (sketchbook, tablet app, etc) find a simple method for capturing your ideas quickly and in the moment and review them often. This will help your creative muscles grow.
2. Trust your ideas
We are our own worst critic. We doubt ourselves, our ideas and our abilities. The most talented people often are the hardest on themselves. I often hear people say, “I don’t have a good idea, tell me what to do.” It’s hard to hear that because creativity exists in everything we think, hear, see and do. To become our true creative self we have to step outside our insecurities and begin to trust our voice. First you capture your ideas, then you start to trust your ideas because they make you feel something and therein lies the power of creativity.
3. Share your ideas
Number one and two are all in preparation for this tip, share your ideas. Sharing your ideas can be scary, but this is the only way to know your idea is landing the way you want it to. At first you’ll be afraid that someone won’t like it. Maybe they won’t. To build this muscle calls for my personal golden rule, show early and often. Sharing your idea EARLY allows you to be more open to feedback and input that may actually make your idea better. To hold onto your idea too long, loving and crafting it to perfection, only makes this process more painful.
No matter what your craft is, writing, design, graphics, etc find a way to nurture the creative process in yourself.
For continued learning, I found this great slide deck with lots of tips for nurturing the creative process. Although the context is not necessarily 100% applicable, the concepts are. Check it out
Article By: Bobby Beck – Co-Founder and CEO of Artella
