Developing Your Creativity

Now that you’ve unlocked your creativity, it’s time to develop it. Everyone is creative—even if you don’t think you are. You use creative thought every day. Some people use it a lot, others not so much. However, many writers become slaves to inspiration. They sit around waiting for the light bulb to go on. But you can do more than wait around. You can make sure the light bulb goes on by practicing some basic mind-developing techniques.

Sci-Fi author Ray Bradbury once said, “The more you put into your head, the more you get out.” Author David Ritz, a virtual writing machine with seven books out this year alone, is a voracious reader. He puts a lot of information into his head on many different subjects.  It’s only natural that a lot will eventually spill out in his writing.

But before you can develop your creativity, you must find time to be creative and let your creativity flow. In today’s busy world, this isn’t always easy. Look at your weekly schedule and see if you can find an hour that you can devote to creative pursuits. Once you start, you’ll look forward to that time. Eventually, your mind will think more creatively the rest of the week.

The creative mind knows no age limit or I.Q. The way you direct your thoughts is more important than knowledge, itself.  Your imagination is directly related to the kind of person you are.

To successfully develop a creative mind, you’ll need a few things. The first is solitude, especially in the beginning. You can’t afford to be distracted. The second is patience—it won’t come all at once but will take time to develop. And the third is intuition. Most people think only women have this ability, but men do, too.
               
You may be a creative person already but just don’t know it. Do you possess a sense of curiosity?
Do you perceive the world differently? Do you persevere when things get tough? Do you have a heightened awareness? Do you have ambition? And above all, are you enthusiastic? If you answered yes to even a few of these questions, then you’re a latent creative person. All you have to do is wake up that latent creativity. But how?

There are some things you can do to stimulate your creative mind. One is to develop a special interest. People used to call this a hobby. This is something that you enjoy doing, but it also fosters creative thinking. You’ll be developing your creative mind while doing something you enjoy.    This includes all types of subject areas, from learning to play an instrument to gardening, collecting various items, painting—you name it.

Another way to light a spark to your creativity is to spend some time with another creative person. This may be someone you already know or perhaps someone that you haven’t met yet. You’ll know that the person is creative by how they talk about the world around them. And it’s not just artistic people that are creative. What makes a person creative is how they solve problems. Scientists and inventors are very creative people.

And from now on, whenever you meet someone for the first time, ask them about themselves before you tell them about yourself.

Reading is a part of writing. It’s how you take in information. But just reading anything won’t do. To develop your creative mind, you need to read stimulating material, such as non-fiction or biographies. While fiction may be good for entertainment, they do little to stimulate your mind, no matter how well they’re written. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t read a novel or short story once in a while.

To get yourself on the road to developing a creative mind, start a pet project. This could be designing a new garden or redecorating a room in your home. Or perhaps you need more storage and you need to design units that meet your specific needs. Or maybe you’d rather do something artistic like create a photo essay or learn new photo techniques. Whatever it is, it’s bound to stimulate—as Agatha Christie’s famous character Hercule Poirot says—your “little gray cells.”