Today I wanted to talk a bit about ideas. Where do you find them? What can you do to stimulate them? What do you do when you are out of ideas? Finally how does a creativity coaching contribute to the creative idea process. I’m going to split the article up over three days. Part 1 will be posted today. Part 2 will be posted on Wednesday and part 3 will be posted on Friday. Inbetween I will post reminder questions and the success and gratitude breaks posts. I hope that you will find the new format helpful and practical.

Ideas eventually lead to a finished creative product, whether it is a composition, a sculpture, a jewelry piece or a screenplay. Put a set of ideas in a creative person’s hands and something wonderful will be sure to appear. I believe that some people are ‘idea’ people and others are not. I don’t assign credit or blame to either type of creative person. It just seems that generally there will be at least one idea person in a brainstorming session and several who will begin to think of ideas, as they are stimulated by the idea person(s). I’m an idea person. I can really be helpful, usually, in brainstorming sessions. One reason I ask so many questions is to stimulate my client’s creative process. I really believe that creatives have so much to offer, but sometimes it takes a nudge or some practice to open up the creative door. Once the doors are open, my clients can take off in whatever direction they want. I don’t believe that everyone has to be an idea person to be creative. Idea people need people to inspire and vice versa. You can’t have one without the other. Idea people need make sure to keep track of their many ideas. The opposite person can really help them organize those ideas and be a great sounding board too. We would not be where we are today, in such a technologically-savvy age, if we hadn’t had both types of creatives working together in our history.

WHERE DO YOU FIND IDEAS?:
If you are an idea person, then probably you can find ideas, just about anywhere.
Some of my favorite places include:
surfing the internet
reading craft, writing or coaching materials
asking questions of crafters, writers and coaches
problem-solving with my clients
participating my personl and professional growth process
talking with friends
listening to music
listening (quietly) to others’ conversations
watching people, animals and children playing or interacting

Those are some general ideas.

Here is a list of more specific areas such as:

WRITING:
MAGAZINE:
Writer’s Digest
Writer’s Digest magazine is an excellent place to look for ideas. They have monthly writing assignments and “how-to” articles on every aspect of writing. They also offer a weekly online newsletter. Sandwiched in the middle of the newsletter is one writing prompt. Each weekly prompt is designed to help you try a new technique or skill.

ONLINE NEWSLETTER:
The Daily Topic list: written by Corbett Harrison, corbetth35@yahoo.com, is another great resource for prompts. I’ve printed out several of these over the years. They are stimulating and challenging. He also encourages authors’ to share their responses to the topic during the week. Who knows your response might just end up in the next newsletter.

ONLINE JOURNALING PROMPTS:
Journalling Exercises There are prompts, quotes and exercises to choose from.

PERSONAL TECHNIQUE: (these are low-cost or free techniques that you can begin using immediately in your pursuit of new ideas.)
CREATE A WRITING IDEA BOOK:
Find a blank book.
Give It a Title: Writing Idea Book.
Write one idea per page (front and back).
–Follow any schedule that works for you when writing ideas down
–Print out prompts from online or print newsletters
–Take note of: phrases, bumper stickers, journaling prompts, pieces of conversation, images, titles, sentences that need to be completed…the list is endless.
–Use a journal and work through your favorite book of writing exercises–you will definitely find a few good ideas from working through a favorite authors’ exercises and prompts.
–Take five minutes, focus on your writing, write one idea per page. I think that you will be surprised at how many ideas you can think of in just that short period of time.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO STIMULATE IDEAS?:
Remember the artist’s dates from Julia Cameron presented in The Artist’s Way?
Schedule yourself several dates, with or without company. Treat them as VIP days for you and your art. Remember that this is a time of renewal and play, not necessarily of productivity and completion.

Personal Technique:
Participate in another artist’s creative activity. What do I mean by this?
–Attend a concert, performance or workshop.
–Participate in a local artistic event.
–Visit a gallery.
–Purchase art materials.
–Audit a class.
–Try learning a new creative skill.
Try working on a craft from your childhood or one that your children enjoy, such as: fingerpainting, working with rubberstamps, working with clay or creating collages.
CAUTION: Don’t try to create a product. Just let yourself play. It’s imperative that you relax and let your ideas lead you wherever they want to go. This is not about competition, but about exploration.

For additional resources please refer to the list under WHERE DO YOU FIND IDEAS?…

(Part 2 will be posted on Wednesday)

 

Tags: Articles - Creativity Coaching //