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Summary: Want to be able to turn on your creativity like a tap?
You can. Follow these simple tips for ultra-creativity.
Category: Writing
Words: 950
Training Your Creative Self: Five Tips for Ultra-Creativity
Copyright (c) 2002 by Angela Booth
If you knew you could be as creative as you wished, whenever you
wished, what could you achieve?
Surprise you can be as creative as you want to be. Creativity
is a state of consciousness. And here's the best part you can
access this creative state anytime.
Try modelling those whose creativity you admire. Whether you're a
writer or not, you can learn from super-creative Barbara
Cartland.
Barbara Cartland, the prolific romance novelist, completed one
romance novel a fortnight. She wrote two complete romance novels
a month. That's 24 novels each year. She wrote 24 romances a year
for many years, as well as writing other books. She was in a
perfect partnership with her creative self.
> Tips for Ultra-Creativity
Based on Barbara Cartland's methods, here are five tips for
ultra-creativity. They work.
> Tip One: Routine acts as a trigger to your creative state
Each afternoon, Barbara sat down on her sofa, covered herself
with a rug, and dictated that day's word count to her secretary.
The secretary sat on a chair behind Barbara, out of her line of
sight.
The key here is that Barbara trained her creativity to perform on
command.
Your creative state is a state of consciousness. It's a flow
state, that you can trigger at will once you understand what it
feels like.
The easiest way to trigger it is via a routine. If you use the
same triggers until they become a habit, accessing your
creativity will be like throwing a switch.
However, changing consciousness takes a little time. When you
change consciousness from wakefulness to sleep for example, as
you do each night, it takes you around ten minutes to go from
wakefulness to sleep.
Your triggers to changing consciousness to a state of sleep are:
showering, putting on your pyjamas, climbing into bed, turning
off the light, wriggling until you get comfortable...
It takes around the same ten minutes to change consciousness from
your normal busy-busy, slightly anxious, slightly hyper everyday
state of conscious, to a creative state.
> Takeaway: changing states of consciousness takes ten
minutes
When you know this, you'll stick at tasks which initially seem
distasteful just that little bit longer. For example, when I'm
walking, I know that at around the ten minute mark, I'll start to
enjoy the exercise. I'll have changed my consciousness to an
"exercise" state.
What do you hate to do? Or what habit do you want to break? If
you're breaking a smoking habit, for example, and you really,
really want a cigarette, fight the craving for ten minutes, and
it will dissipate.
If you're creating, stick with your creative task for ten
minutes. You'll "get in the mood" so to speak, at around ten or
eleven minutes.
> Tip Two: You can't get there from here
Barbara never set limits on her creativity. She had her routine,
and she knew that accessing her creativity was as simple as
turning on a tap.
You don't know what you'll produce in a creative state until you
produce it. So you get into the creative state by using your
triggers, and you start to work write, paint, design and
your creativity surprises you.
But you need to know that your creative inspirations aren't
accessible to you in another state. You need to get into the
creative state first.
The feelings of: "I'm not creative", "I don't feel in a creative
mood", "I'm too tired/ sick/ stressed to work" belong to your
normal state of consciousness. Ignore these thoughts, and the
feelings of discomfort which accompany them. Then get into your
creative state via your triggers, and what you produce will amaze
you.
> Tip Three: Command your subconscious mind (intend)
Whenever she finished a novel, Barbara said that that night she
would tell her subconscious mind: "Tomorrow we begin a new book.
Get it ready."
The next day, she'd sit on the sofa, cover herself with her rug,
and begin to dictate her new book. Yep, as easily as that.
Your subconscious responds to words spoken aloud. So if you want
to write an article, tell yourself out loud (in private might be
best) "At eight tonight I am writing a new article. Get the idea
ready.")
> Tip Four: Negative thoughts are just thoughts replace
them with positive feelings
Barbara Cartland understood the value of positive feelings.
Developing the ability to feel positive about yourself starts
with recognizing when your thinking is negative.
Thoughts are like waves on the ocean. The ocean produces waves,
your mind produces thoughts. Thoughts lead to emotions. You can't
stop your thoughts, but you can refuse to buy into them.
Noticing your thoughts, especially recognizing negative thoughts,
is a major achievement. It takes a while to realize when you're
thinking negatively, because for most of us, negative thinking
comes more easily than feeling positive.
When negative thoughts discourage you, replace them with a
positive feeling. Think of something you love: going to the
movies, pizza, puppies. Think how you feel when you see a puppy.
Encourage that feeling in yourself. When a negative though
intrudes, immediately switch to thoughts of a movie, pizza or a
puppy, whatever makes you feel good.
> Tip Five: Do what you love. It matters
Barbara loved to write romance. That made it easy for her to be
creative.
When you enjoy what you're doing, it will come through in your
work. Loving what you do helps you to be creative, and ensures
that you don't burn out.
Therefore, choose creative work that you enjoy.
Good luck with these techniques. The more of them you can apply
each day, the more you'll train yourself to be creative on
command.
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About the Author
Australian author, journalist and copywriter Angela Booth
has been writing professionally for over twenty years. She writes
business books and copy for businesses.