33 Ways to Stay Creative: Quit Beating Yourself Up

Be Gentle with Thyself

Let’s face it, beating ourselves up is something we pretty much all do. They say “To err is human; to forgive, divine.” But so often we forget that divine element, especially when we are the ones making the errors. Sometimes it seems as if beating yourself up over little things is some sort of national pastime. I know I do it far too often (maybe 75% of the time I make a mistake). Needless to say, this is something that is not good for your emotional well-being. Constantly beating yourself up over mistakes - things anyone might do - is a sure way of sending yourself into a blue funk or black hole. Believe me, I’ve been there.

But think about what this does to your creativity when you constantly - or even occasionally - tear yourself down over your failures. If someone else did this, you know it would dissuade you from attempting whatever it was a second time. When you do it to yourself - the person who “knows” you best telling you that you are a failure - it is even more likely that you will give up. Your creative juices will dry up, and all those great ideas that lie within you will die on the vine.

Unless you acknowledge the fact that, yes, we all make mistakes. Not only do we all make mistakes, those mistakes are at times the catalyst to an even greater creative idea. An interesting article in Forbes (“8 Successful Products That Only Exist Because of Failure” by Sujan Patel, January 2015) details how failures gave us some of our best known products. For example, did you know that bubble wrap was first developed as a textured wall covering and then as an insulation material before someone said, “Hey, let’s wrap something up in this stuff, put it in a box and mail it off.” Well, maybe they didn’t exactly say that, but you get the idea.

One of my favorite shows of all time was Mythbusters, and one of their catchphrases was “Failure is always an option.” It all stemmed from a myth they tested about two semis hitting head on with a small car in between. After a near-disaster when one semi went off track and hit a fence, they coined the phrase. They even went so far as to paint half the phrase on each truck so when they hit the whole phrase appeared for a moment. I have taken this a step further to create a poster in my classroom that uses the Mythbusters phrase, but then reminds students to “Just remember to learn from it.”

What is the takeaway from all this? Simple. Give yourself a break, and see if it helps your creativity to flourish. Take a chance, and if you fall, get back up and try it again, and again, and again. And remember to learn from your mistakes and build on them to create something even better.

33 Ways to Stay Creative: Be Otherworldly

Yep, that’s what they call it.

First of all, what the hell does “be otherworldly” mean anyway? This is going to be the real challenge for most people - trying to figure out what you need to do to be “otherworldly.” So, let’s start with some definitions.

Merriam-Webster defines “otherworldly” (I promise, the last time I’ll put it in quotes) as:

1  a: of, relating to, or resembling that of a world other than the actual world
    b: devoted to preparing for a world to come
and
2: devoted to intellectual or imaginative pursuits

Dictionary.com has this definition:
     relating to an imaginary or spiritual world.

Going further down the rabbit hole, the Merriam-Webster Thesaurus has the following synonyms for otherworldly:
     metaphysical, paranormal, preternatural, supernatural, transcendent, transcendental, unearthly

Taken all together, I’m going to say being otherworldly is something like being in that focused state where the world around you fades away and all you “see” (damn, more quotation marks) is whatever you are focused on. I like the idea of being “devoted to imaginative or intellectual pursuits” as in the second M-W definition. That seems to fit in with the idea of a hyper-focused state. But how would this help you be more creative.

Well, maybe being hyper-focused allows you to see possibilities that might not be apparent otherwise. Your increased focus makes the impossible seem possible, as some might say. I have been working with a friend on an idea regarding multi-creative individuals and the concepts of “fixed imager” and “changing imager.” It’s too much to go into here (and we aren’t ready to roll it out yet anyway), but suffice to say one challenge creatives have is focusing on one thing to its end. Being otherworldly might be a way to bring that focus into play, at least long enough to complete one creative idea.

Obviously, the biggest drawback to this technique is figuring out what otherworldly means for you. Are you focused and devoted to some intellectual pursuit? Are you preparing for the world to end? (In that case, you have other things to worry about than creativity.) What about some imaginary or spiritual world? Whatever you finally determine is your otherworldly, let it bring your creativity to the forefront. Just don’t forget to come home when your trip is over.

33 Ways to Stay Creative: Get Away from the Computer/Smartphone

Real World Solutions

When this list was first posted, the major communication device was the computer. People wrote on the computer, they sent emails on the computer, they surfed the net on the computer. Before that, we might have said the typewriter was the main communication device - you know, the keyboard that was a direct output to paper (of course, there was no email or net surfing back then). Today, it’s the smartphone that so many people use for communication, and herein lies the truly modern challenge for this technique.

I call this “Real World Solutions” because it is all about getting away from the digital world and experiencing the real world around you. It sounds so easy, but that little handheld device we all seem to carry (and focus on) can often get in the way. But first, let’s talk about the actual technique.

From my perspective, the proper way to do this right is to find a place you enjoy and try to immerse yourself there. Getting away from the computer is relatively doable, laptops and notebooks notwithstanding. If you can walk out the door and leave the aforementioned gadgets on your desk, then that satisfies the computer element. The bigger challenge is that little mini-computer in your pocket/purse/backpack. Smartphones have made keeping connected ridiculously easy and cutting the virtual cord amazingly difficult. But if you are determined, you can make it happen. Shut your phone off completely and slip it into a less-accessible pocket - maybe inside a backpack or other bag. Try your best to ignore that nagging itch to check your social media every few minutes...or to post about where you are.

So, you manage to tear yourself away from technology, what next? Well, as I mentioned, you should try to immerse yourself in wherever you go. A wise person once said that to make a relationship work, you need to “be there” with your partner. Similarly, to really make this technique work you should “be there” in your special place. Whether that is the beach, the mountains, the desert, or maybe someplace more urban. Yes, you can immerse yourself in the city as well. It’s all about getting out of yourself and being aware of what is going on around. Safety experts call this “situational awareness,” and it doesn’t have to be only for self-protection. Be aware of your surroundings - the sights, the sounds, the aromas.

This is a good time to make use of one of our previous techniques - writing in your notebook or journal. Try just writing what you observe around you. In the past I have used a similar technique in my classroom. I would take my students outside, have them sit on the ground with their composition books, and then just write down everything they could see, hear, feel and smell (I would tell them not to taste, but some would). Then I would have them write a descriptive observation essay based on these observations. You could do the same.

What are the downsides or negatives of this technique? Well, for some people just the thought of not checking their phones every few minutes can be anxiety-inducing (all the more reason to try this method). Others may not feel they can go someplace that they can immerse themselves in because “nothing around me is interesting.” To those folks I say, do it anyway. Go to a park, go to a coffee shop and just watch the people. Try to forget about your daily “musts” and experience. And don’t let the weather be an excuse to stay inside. As they say, learn to dance (or experience) in the rain.

What do you have to lose?

33 Ways to Stay Creative: Free Writing

Write Here, Write Now!

Our third way to stay creative is Free Writing.

First of all, Free Writing is not the opposite of paid writing (nor is it what so many writers seem to end up doing for “exposure”). The idea behind free writing (or freewriting) is simply to sit down and just write. Write whatever comes to mind, for as long as the Muse inspires you. It doesn’t matter if it is worthwhile or not, it is simply a record of your thoughts, and these thoughts may later inspire other more viable, and valuable, thoughts. This connects very well to the idea of carrying a notebook. You then have a place to explore those freewriting thoughts that might provide fodder for something amazing.

This is great because you can write with no worries about content, quality, or anything. You can write true stream-of-consciousness, starting off sharing about your lunch, moving on to musing about some interesting person that walked by while you were eating, and finally to some cute cat video you watched. It doesn’t matter that your writing is disconnected. The important thing is that you are writing and exploring your own thoughts and ideas. It’s like a list in long form, where you have multiple ideas that you can come back to later for further development.

This can work very well for some people - the ones who seem to have an endless supply of things to say (and write). What if you’re the kind of person who is not comfortable with writing to begin with? I have heard it said in freewriting, “If you can’t think of anything to write, just write until you think of something.” To which I respond, if I can’t think of anything, how can I just write? Then the response to that is, “Just write ‘I can’t think of anything to write’ until you think of something.”

Am I the only one who sees the insanity in this advice? More than likely, all you are likely to do is become more frustrated that you can’t think of anything to write. Think about it - you’re telling yourself over and over that you can’t think of anything. So what are you reinforcing? That you can’t write anything. It seems to be counterproductive.

In the end, freewriting is probably not for everyone. If it is something that works for you, by all means do it as often as makes sense. If you have never tried, give it a go and see what happens. Don’t feel bad if you can’t sustain your freewriting for any length of time. Be willing to revisit the method as you move forward in your creative life, but don’t beat yourself up if it doesn’t work. Remember, there are 32 other methods to stay creative.

33 Ways to Stay Creative: Carry a Notebook Everywhere

I’ll Make a Note of That

The second item on the List of 33 is “Carry a Notebook Everywhere.”

Have you ever had a great idea that you didn’t write down and then forgot? Yep, so have I. The idea behind carrying a notebook everywhere is that you have a ready-made place to keep all your ideas, observations, plans, dreams, etc. Notebooks come in a variety of styles, sizes, covers, and so on, so you can have one that fits your personality (or you can keep a generic notebook if you have no personality). There are many self-help gurus and business development advocates who include this idea at the top of their suggestions for people who want to move ahead in life, business, or what have you. Writing things down, again, is a great way to make sure you don’t lose that million-dollar idea.

Carrying a notebook fits in very well with the first idea, making lists. A notebook is a great place to keep lists, as it is much harder to lose than random slips of paper. Notebooks can also be used for brainstorming and exploring those ideas that you put on your list. You can take a list and then dedicate a page (or a portion of a page) to each idea. This is where you overcome that question of “What do I do with all those list ideas?” Now you can take an idea and see where it might lead you or what else it might connect to.

Along with being a repository for lists and explorations of said lists, a notebook is a great place for longer musings. You can make long-term/long-range plans for anything from projects to vacations to redecorating (which in of itself can be quite a project). If your creativity runs to long-form writing (such as longer stories, extended blog posts and the like), you can use the notebook to help you develop these writings. You can keep background information and drafts all in one place - your notebook.

My business partner always carries a notebook with him when he goes out, which is used for all of the aforementioned purposes. Not a meeting goes by that he does not have it out to jot down what projects we have going, what clients we need to contact or create for, or whatever else comes up in our discussions. He has a huge collection of these notebooks from years of jotting down these ideas. This also provides a repository of ideas that he can always go back and look over when trying to work out a current challenge. How did we do something in the past? It is probably in one of his notebooks.

But herein lies one challenge of notebooks - organization. If you write a lot of unrelated ideas in your notebook, you need to figure out how to organize it so you can find the one idea you want. Thumbing through the pages of your notebook can be just as frustrating as rifling through stacks of lists in search of the one that contains the nugget you desire. And then you reach the level of my partner, where you may have not one or two but perhaps as many as a dozen notebooks (many of our great writers had stacks of notebooks full of ideas lying around). Do you catalog them by date? This can be helpful, but what if you don’t know when you came up with an idea? Catalog by topic? Unfortunately, most people have multiple topics in any given notebook. At least you know it’s somewhere.

Another challenge of notebooks is the simple fact that you have to carry it around. Now we have to deal with size of said notebook. Do you want a nice, small notebook that you can stick in a pocket (pants or backpack), a purse, or computer bag? The problem now is that you have a SMALL notebook that will probably fill up quickly (unless your handwriting would require the average person to employ a magnifying glass to read), and you will eventually have perhaps dozens of these lying around if you are a prolific writer. How about a large notebook? Well, now you have to carry it around separately, unless you can fit it into some sort of (large) bag. And if it is difficult to carry around, there is a good chance you’re going to have those days you just say the heck with it and don’t bring it. Of course, that will be the day you get that brilliant plan to take over the world (again, just pondering here) - you know, the one that will be long gone by the time you get home to write it down.

In the end, you have to be the one to decide whether the benefits of a notebook outweigh the costs in terms of organization and portability. I personally use notebooks only rarely, mostly because my hands don’t do well with prolonged writing (at least with typing I can alternate thumbs for spacing, which are what tire out first). However, I do try to have several medium-small notebooks that I generally dedicate to different categories (teaching ideas, business notes, personal). With the proliferation of smartphones, many people now keep notes there, or use them to access their online files.

Finally, if all else fails, you can always use that notebook as a fly swatter.

33 Ways to Stay Creative: Make Lists

Let’s Get this List Started

Appropriate to this exercise of evaluating a list of ways to stay creative is the first one on the list: Make Lists

Most people make lists all the time. Grocery lists, to-do lists, honey-do lists, top-ten lists, and the list goes on (literally). We seem to think in lists, and this can be both a good thing and a not-so-good thing (I won’t exactly call it a “bad” thing). So for the first item in this list, let’s look at what is good about lists and what is not, and I promise not to write it as a list. After all, this is supposed to be a series of explorations into the ideas on the original list.

What are some of the good things about making lists? Well, first of all, making a list gives you a place you can collect and organize things that are on your mind. Again, this might be a list of things you need to buy at the store (how often have you gotten home and thought, crap, I forgot bread/soap/whatever?), great story ideas, ways to take over the world (just pondering here), or any number of other lists. Lists are also handy for prioritizing things that you may need or want to do (chores, sites to see on vacation, etc.). In general, lists are easy to make. All you need is something to write on and with and a general idea of what you are interested in.

How can lists help you be more creative? As I mentioned, you can use lists to keep track of all those ideas that pop into your mind. You can have separate lists for different topics, and you can compare those lists to see where ideas overlap. Having things in front of you visually helps you see the connections, the directions and the missing elements. Unless you are some type of savant, more than likely you are going to forget some of the ideas or idea elements that you come up with. Writing them in a list gives you a place to return to when you can’t remember that missing piece.

[Side Note: I teach English, and one thing I always teach my students, no matter their age/level, is how to outline their writing ideas. An outline is really nothing more than an organized list with various levels of importance. I have had adult students come back later and tell me how much this helped them in their later courses.]

In my non-teaching life, I work with a partner in media. One of our standard operating procedures (SOPs) is making lists of projects, ideas, challenges, and whatever else might come up. We make lists of clients we need to do work for; we make lists of items we need for a particular project. These lists are very handy, and since they are virtual, we can revisit them whenever we have a similar project/challenge/whatever.

Now what are some of the downsides of lists? Maybe one of the biggest challenges is that lists get lost. Have you ever made a shopping list and then left it on the table when you went out? Or maybe you had that great list of ideas but forgot where you put it. Physical lists are great, but they fall victim to being misplaced all too easily. Virtual/online lists have the advantage of being easy to catalog, but the downside is that all too often we do the same thing virtually that we do physically - we make the list and then forget where we put it. Have you ever been guilty of this? I know I have more times than I want to admit.

Another downside is the question - What do I do with this list now that I have it? Or a related question - Where do I start with this list? Obviously, a shopping list has neither of these problems (other than which aisle on which to begin), but often your idea lists are not so easy to work through. This is where you need to start prioritizing the items on your list. How do you prioritize? Well, that (for better or worse) is up to you.

I could very likely go on with both the pros and cons of making lists, but this is not supposed to be an all-encompassing exercise, merely some of my random thoughts about the items on the original list. Overall, I think lists are a great way to get the creative juices flowing, or at least provide the “fertilizer” you need to get ideas to grow.

These are some of my thoughts about lists. What are yours? Feel free to comment with your take on the idea of lists (but please remember to keep things polite).

The Recovering Teacher Returns

It has been more than five long years since I wrote my first and only post on this blog. For too long have I remained idle while the world passed by. Idle while the world has changed and been rearranged. Idle while others have moved forward. That changes now...I think.

First some background. I have not been completely idle since I last posted. I became a full-time middle school teacher once again in 2014, after several years of teaching as an adjunct instructor at a now-defunct technical college. Returning to the classroom full time was a definite change, and it took up the majority of my time for a couple of years. I then returned to my side gig in media, which filled up what little time was left. I now finally feel ready to return to writing on a limited basis, with hopes of eventually being able to devote more of my energies to writing short- and long-form pieces.

With all this in mind, I went searching for a topic to focus my initial writing efforts. I have been playing around for some years with a couple of novel ideas, one mytho-historical and one fantasy, but neither one lends itself to blogging. I also have some short story ideas I have worked on, but again, they are a bit long for this format. So the search went on for something to inspire the creative juices, and finally it happened.

Some time back I read an article about “33 Ways to Stay Creative.” Actually, it was little more than a list of ideas with no real discussion as to the pros or cons of each method. What made these 33 ways useful, or were they even? Could they be useful for one person and useless for another (I’m pretty sure most people would say yes to that). My goal, then, is to take one or two ideas for a blog post, examine them, and give my own thoughts based on my decades of life experience (I won’t say how many, but it is enough for a decent view of life).

So here I stand at the beginning of a series of posts about these 33 ways. I welcome your feedback, thoughts, suggestions, etc. Forgive me if I choose not to follow any of them; this is my blog, after all. So, without further ado (or much ado about nothing - my apologies, William), I jump into an examination of the 33 Ways to Stay Creative - with my next post.