{"id":13,"date":"2015-08-31T15:08:14","date_gmt":"2015-08-31T23:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.annhuang.com\/blog\/?p=13"},"modified":"2017-12-11T12:43:28","modified_gmt":"2017-12-11T20:43:28","slug":"how-to-inspire-the-creative-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.annhuangpoetry.com\/blog\/2015\/08\/31\/how-to-inspire-the-creative-process\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Inspire the Creative Process"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"colorful<\/a><\/p>\n

Creativity is the driving force behind every writer. It\u2019s what motivates you, gets you excited and gives you the nerve to bare your soul. Without creativity inspiration, your work goes flat, like an open can of soda that sat on the counter for too long. Inspiring the creative process is about finding insightful ways to spark your imagination. It\u2019s about allowing yourself to think differently and taking a break from your usual process to make room for the new and unexpected.<\/p>\n

Creativity Inspiration: Invite the Process<\/h3>\n

Be Curious<\/h4>\n

If there is a subject that interests you, no matter what it is, learn more about it. Explore it even if it doesn\u2019t seem relevant to your current project or life. Exploring your interests, new and old, exercises the mind, gives you a new way to look at the world, and allows you to build a new vocabulary.<\/p>\n

Leonardo da Vinci\u2019s famous notebooks were filled with to-do lists about items that interested him and people who could provide the information that he sought. Tasks on his list included drawing Milan after calculating its measurements, finding a book about Milan\u2019s churches, examining crossbows, talking to a hydraulics master about lock repairs, asking a professor about the sun\u2019s measurements, and more.<\/p>\n

Build Your Bank of Ideas and Facts<\/h4>\n

Never stop learning and asking questions. Allow your mind to find patterns in the information that you learn so you can have those breakthrough moments where an analogy sings from the tip of your pen (or from your fingertips on a keyboard). Keep in mind that these breakthroughs can happen when you least expect, so never pooh-pooh those seemingly useless facts that your brain acquires.<\/p>\n

Work on the Mystery, Not Just the Puzzle<\/h4>\n

Once you solve a problem, you\u2019re done. Mysteries have longer shelf lives. Television shows, for example, solve puzzles in 45-minute packages. You watch the show, get a thrill and feel a sense of resolution at the end. The woman who inspired the Mona Lisa<\/em>, on the other hand, is a mystery. Centuries later, people continue to ponder the story behind the curious smirk.<\/p>\n

Take a Break<\/h4>\n

Every writer experiences this: suddenly getting a brilliant idea while falling asleep or in the shower. Depart from your usual routine to give your brain a chance to process, and keep your writing tools nearby. Don\u2019t take a break with the intention of getting a genius idea. Do it to stimulate your mind. Ideas to try include:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Meditation
\n\u2022 Trying new foods
\n\u2022 Working on puzzle book
\n\u2022 Going on a walk (If you regularly walk, take a new route or reverse your current one.)
\n\u2022 Listening to new, complex music<\/p>\n

Exercise<\/h4>\n

Exercising allows your brains to develop new neurons in the hippocampus, which allows you to form new thought patterns. Exercising your body exercises the brain, which exercises your creativity.<\/p>\n

Practice Mindfulness<\/h4>\n

Give yourself a chance to notice everything around you: how you feel and why, how your back feels as you sit in the chair, your breathing pattern, the sensation of blinking, the color of the leaves outside, the smell in the room, the sounds you hear through the walls, and so on. Give yourself a moment of awareness to unlock creativity inspiration.<\/p>\n

While it may seem fleeting, creativity is an ongoing process. Pursue it, exercise it and welcome it. Give it a kick-start as needed. The important thing is to never let it go.<\/p>\n

[Photo from Dean Hochman<\/a> via CC License 2.0<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Creativity is the driving force behind every writer. It\u2019s what motivates you, gets you excited and gives you the nerve to bare your soul. Without creativity inspiration, your work goes flat, like an open can of soda that sat on the counter for too long. Inspiring the creative process is about finding insightful ways to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,49,28,22,12,18],"tags":[31,2,3,4,6,23,43,13,14,19],"class_list":["post-13","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-experimental-poetry","category-film","category-poetry-film","category-poetry-language","category-surrealist-poetry","category-transcendentalism","tag-ann-huang","tag-creative-process","tag-essential-poetry","tag-famous-poets","tag-poetry-structure","tag-poetry-translation","tag-short-film","tag-surrealism","tag-surrealist-poetry","tag-transcendentalism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.annhuangpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.annhuangpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.annhuangpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.annhuangpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.annhuangpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.annhuangpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":231,"href":"https:\/\/www.annhuangpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13\/revisions\/231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.annhuangpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.annhuangpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.annhuangpoetry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}