Are You Limiting Your Writing Creativity?

Creative Writing Secrets - 7 Ways You Limit Your Creative Writing Potential Without Even Knowing It
By Dan Goodwin

All of us have an ocean of creative writing potential waiting to be discovered. But having the potential to do something, and actually DOING it, are a world apart.

There are many reasons why we don't write as deeply, as freely and as consistently as we're capable of. So here are 7 of the most common ways you may be limiting YOUR creative writing potential without even knowing it, and what you can do to turn them around:

1. You don't capture your new ideas. A major complaint of creative writers is they don't have enough good ideas. Having the ideas though is not the issue. How many times have you had a great idea appear in your head at the most unlikely moment and thought: "wow, what an interesting idea, I could really develop this into something..." and then forgotten it as quickly as it appeared?

Capture your ideas as soon as they come to you, using a small notebook. Carry it with you wherever you go, and you'll soon realise not only how many ideas you've been having and just not noting them down, but you'll also see that the more ideas you do capture, the more ideas appear to fill their place.

2. You don't write everyday. Creating each and everyday is one of the fundamental building blocks of a consistent creative life. When you say you'll create "when you have time", guess what happens? Yep, you never seem to have time, and so you never write much.

Sit down and write for a minimum of 15 minutes each and every day at the same time each day. The power of this habit has so many benefits, not least of which that you give your creative mind a regular space and a place to, well, create!

3. You don't seek out inspiration. If your daily routine involves seeing exactly the same surroundings and few places, and you never go anywhere different or try any new experiences, you're writing will be similarly monotone and limited.

Keep your inspiration topped up by regularly making time for yourself to visit new places, see things you've always wanted to see, and absorb a little more culture and nature. The change in surroundings will stimulate your senses, which in turn feeds your creative mind with new ideas and inspiration.

4. You don't believe you're creative. Although on the surface you might think you have strong beliefs in your creative ability, often just below the surface a whole gaggle of limiting beliefs are conspiring to hold you back without you realising.

Honestly question what you REALLY believe about your creativity. Write out a few positive statements like "I believe I am a creative writer" and "I have an unlimited potential for new ideas" and notice your instinctive reaction to these statements. If they feel uncomfortable or untrue, it's time to work on making your underlying beliefs more positive.

5. You don't have a place to create. We all need somewhere to create, a place where we feel comfortable and can get into our writing without major distraction. Without this kind of space, we'll never get into any kind of flow with our writing.

Make a space that's just yours for writing. It might be a whole room, it might simply be a cosy chair in the corner of a room. But make it special to you, personalise it, do all you can to give yourself the best chance of writing as freely as possible when you come here to write.

6. You don't set any creative goals. Before your run away screaming at the word "goals", claiming an artist can't possibly be tied down with such limiting concepts, think about this: A goal doesn't need to be complex, rigid and suffocating. A goal is just something you'd like to do, with a date when you like to do it.

By setting goals as clear and simple as: "This Sunday, beginning at 10am I'm going to spend at least 2 hours on writing my new short story" you'll get SO MUCH MORE done than if you just say "I might try to fit in a bit of work on my short story sometime this weekend"... Try setting a few goals - it works!

7. You don't acknowledge your progress. Because you live with yourself day in, day out, it's very difficult to objectively view how much you're developing as a writer. Which means most of the time it feels like you're writing exactly the same stuff you were writing 5 years ago or that you hardly write very much at all.

By taking the time to review how you're evolving - every 3 or 6 months is a good period of time - you can gain huge confidence from realising not only that your writing style has developed, but that actually you've also written far more than you thought you had.

These are 7 of the most common reasons why you're not writing to your creative potential. Which do you most relate to?

Which one area can you choose to work on from today, to start unleashing more of that creative writing talent within you that's bursting to get out?

And you can get your creative writing kick started again right away with the FREE 5 part creative writing ecourse at http://www.YouAreACreativeWriter.Com

From Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin

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Creative Writing: The Creative Workplace, Part 2

We’ve talked about workplace environments that distract and detract from writing creativity, but what about items you can add to enhance creativity? Here are a few:

• A flip chart.
Okay, about now, you think I’m nuts. I’m not. If space permits, place a flip chart near your desk, either on an easel or on the wall. When you have trouble sorting through an aspect of your writing—a plot tangle, an article slant, character motivation, imagery, etc.—get out some bright markers and go to town on your flip chart. Write an outline, draw a mindmap, create movie frames with stick figures, whatever works to get you through that rough spot (but no doodling!).

• Brightly colored markers (see above).

• Magazines.
No, these magazines are not for reading breaks (and don’t do this if they become a source of distraction…see “The Creative Workplace, Part 1”). Rather, magazines can become a good source of motivation. If you’re stuck on creating or describing the physical features of one of your characters, magazine pictures can inspire a “look” for your character. If you’re looking for a new topic, or a slant on a topic you already have, thumbing through magazine articles may help you find it.

• Idea files.
If you don’t already have one of these, I suggest you start one. These files should contain every writing idea you’ve ever had but haven’t used, both for fiction and nonfiction. Categorize them however you want, but use them. This serves two purposes in maintaining a creative workspace. The most obvious is that, if you’re stuck for an idea, you can rummage through these files and find something you haven’t used, or at least of which you haven’t tapped all the possibilities.

Less obvious is the need to set ideas aside during writing. I personally know that some of my best ideas come to me when I’m trying to work on an entirely different piece—call it a form of mental self-sabotage. Rather than starting on that idea “so it doesn’t get away,” write it down and stick it in your file. You’ve preserved your idea, but you’ve also kept yourself from running away on a rabbit trail.

That’s what I have for now. If you have extra techniques or ideas, I’d love for you to share them with me on this blog!

Creative Writing: The Creative Workplace, Part 1

Last time, I talked about clutter in your work space. However, I didn’t talk about another potential source of distraction—decorations and knickknacks.

If knickknacks reach the point of clutter, it’s obvious what you need to do. If you don’t want to rid yourself of your precious possessions, you need to at least move them to another place, preferably a space completely out of your sight.

At the same time, it’s impossible to make too many sweeping statements about the suitability of decorations in your workspace. It’s too individual. For one person, a fish tank in their office might create a relaxing and creativity-inducing atmosphere. For someone else, that same aquarium might provide a constant ballet that keeps them away from their keyboard. I myself have a daily “Bad Cat” calendar that I should remove from my desk. I constantly use it to distract myself. For another person, like my non-cat-loving husband, it wouldn’t even be a blip on the screen of his consciousness.

So, the best advice I can offer is this: take stock of your workplace, not just the clutter, but also the décor. If you find that one or more items consistently pull you away from your writing, remove them. It’s painful, but you have to do it. Who knows; it could mean the difference between have a great idea…and having a book for sale at Barnes & Noble.

Creative Writing: Cutting Clutter to Enhance Creativity

When you’re a full-time writer, it’s important to create a schedule and a method of time management. However, your setting is also important to your creativity. Your ideal writing space will be free of distractions…and clutter is distracting.

Different people have different levels of sensitivity to clutter. Some are immune to clutter, satisfied to have desks that look like war zones, while others will find themselves stopping to clean up if they see a paper out of place. People also face different clutter challenges. If you’re in an office environment—even, heaven forbid, in a cubicle—the immediate space on and around your desk is all you need to keep clutter-free. If you’re like me, and have a desk in your living room, it’s more of a challenge to develop a de-cluttered zone, because the larger space creates more clutter, and thus more distraction.

If you are prone to clutter-induced distraction, the best thing you can do is to set aside time to de-clutter before (I emphasize before) you sit down to write. Many writers, myself included, like to find tasks that help them avoid the act of writing. If you’re one of those, the temptation can sometimes be too strong to resist. You know how it goes: “I’m stuck on this paragraph. I think I’ll take a break and tidy up.” Three hours later, you’re out pulling weeds in the garden while your manuscript sits unwritten. By taking the time to clean your work area before you sit down to write, you eliminate that potential distraction before it has a chance to issue its siren’s call.

I’ll talk more about this next time. Right now, I have some laundry to fold!