flickr photo courtesy ikkoskinen
Are you ready to get messy?
How do you come up with those brilliant ideas? Do you have a step by step process? Or are you open to the spontaneous creative approach?
Everyone has a different approach and finding what works for you may seem like you’ve hit the jackpot – until it stops working.
That’s when you have to be open to other ways. Think differently about creativity.
I have a process that I know I follow, but how I implement the different steps in the creative process changes depending upon the situation, my mood, and the topic. In a way I don’t necessarily follow a process I created, I have written down a few thoughts about what I have observed as I create.
By sharing the following, I’m hoping that 1) you’ll find a bit of inspiration and ideas to use in your creative process and 2) that you’ll share some of the things that work for you – we learn from each other!
Linda’s Rules of Creativity
(They’re actually more like guidelines)
- Creativity is a messy process – it seems like chaos for a good part of the process and I often feel like I’m not making any progress, but I am.
- The process starts with a seed of an idea – usually found in a conversation, a phrase, a question, or an overheard conversation. You know, things that make you go – hmmmm.
- The seed leads to a flurry of activity – usually a quick google search or a visit to wikipedia.
- Validating the seed’s potential is done by bringing in up in casual conversation and gaging the reaction.
- A brainstorming session of sorts soon follows. It could be a mind mapping session, a brainstormed list, or a free-writing session (usually the free-writing is done at the local coffee shop).
- Brainstorming often produces a lot more seeds – like a dandelion spreads it’s seed with the wind. That’s why capturing the brainstorming on paper (or audio recording) is critical!
- Once the seed has been watered with interest from the casual group and brainstorming – be ready to accept information at a moment’s notice. Whether you capture your further ideas on paper, on a voicemail, or in a text doesn’t matter – just keep something around to capture it – always!
- The creative process is a continuous loop. Even as your idea forms into a project or presentation, you’ll continue to loop through the above steps 2 through 7. But don’t despair. The loop is an upward spiral moving closer and closer to the time of delivery.
- The creative process has a timeline of it’s own. There may be ‘wait time’ in between the initial spark and the next flurry of creativity. Give your seed time to germinate and grow!
- On the other hand, if you need to create a fertile environment for your creativity – try free-writing again, or changing your location.
My creativity has ebbs and flows and when I need it to flow I look at these guidelines to recognize and remember that my creative process has a certain pattern. How about you?
