Your job requires you to think creatively or do you really want to have a creative idea for a new novel? Do not worry! Creative thinking, like any other skill, can be developed by diligent practice. To start developing creative thinking skills, see step 1.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Generating Creative Solutions
Step 1. Change the mood
You need to get away from all routines in order to develop creativity. Changing the mood is one way that successful and creative thinkers use. This means you need to create a special ritual around creativity, or set aside some time to rest.
- Bath. Taking a shower creates an oddly conducive atmosphere because great ideas can come up when we're in the shower (but then we usually forget what a great idea is when we have pen and paper in hand). If your idea doesn't work, try taking a shower and getting pen and paper ready and see what comes up.
- Strolling. Like taking a bath, going for a walk can develop creativity. Whether traveling as a start to your creative project, or as part of the project itself, a walk will help bring out creative ideas. Steve Jobs used to hold meetings by walking to get ideas out. Tchaikovsky walked around his village before working on his final work.
- Create a psychological distance between your normal routine and time to do creative things. Writer Toni Morrison always watches the sun rise in the morning before he starts writing. He felt that it allowed him to draw creativity.
Step 2. Come up with ideas
Throw a variety of ideas, especially ideas that are a bit strange may be selected to be an extraordinary idea. Bringing out a variety of ideas can help open your mind so you don't get caught up in old patterns of thinking.
- The stage of issuing this idea is not looking for which ideas are feasible and which are not. Don't limit yourself when you're coming up with ideas. Right now all ideas are welcome, even if they are ridiculous or sound impractical. If you limit yourself during this stage of brain games, you won't be able to go any further.
- At this stage don't tell yourself things that silence creativity, not things that foster it. Stop yourself when you say: "This can't be," "We've never done anything like this," "We can't solve this problem," "We don't have enough time."
- For example: suppose you are stuck when writing a new story. Instead of obsessing over the next stage of the story, start thinking about coming up with ideas about what happened next, or how this story would have continued if there weren't any limits to what you could write (even if you needed to change the ending to make it possible)..
Step 3. Reconceptualize the problem
Part of finding creative solutions and ideas comes from looking at a problem or project in a new way. Looking at things in a new way allows us to see new possible solutions that we might not have thought of. Fortunately, there is some concrete help you can use to re-conceptualize.
- Turn the problem around. This can be done literally or figuratively; Flipping an image down can make it easier to draw, because your brain should see how it was made instead of what should be there. This applies to more conceptual problems.
- For example, if you're writing a book and you don't know how the protagonist got to a certain point in the story, ask yourself, "Does this character really have to be the protagonist? What would the story be if you used another character as the protagonist? Or more than one character?").
- Work from the end to the front. Sometimes you first need to focus on the solution, and build from the end starting from that solution. For example: let's say you work in the advertising section of a newspaper. This newspaper loses because it lacks advertising. Start with the best end result (get the good type of ad). Work from the end by contacting the different types of businesses and groups that can provide the best, and most cost effective, advertising.
Step 4. Daydream
Daydreaming helps you make connections, form patterns, and remember information. This is key if you want to think creatively because daydreaming can help you make connections you might not otherwise have thought of. Often the best ideas just pop up when you're daydreaming.
- Take time to daydream. Turn off computers, televisions, and phones. If you are constantly distracted, it will be difficult for your brain to rest and make connections.
- You can daydream while taking a walk, or while taking a shower (this is why time for a walk or a shower is very conducive to creative thinking). Daydream in the morning before getting out of bed, or at night before falling asleep.
Step 5. Set the parameters
Sometimes if you find it difficult to think creatively, it's time to set some basic parameters for yourself. This may seem like a bottleneck for creativity, but if you set the right parameters, you'll find that it can open up a lot for you.
- Starting from something that is too broad can put a lot of pressure on you. For example: instead of saying, "How can I increase advertising sales?", ask questions like "How can I drive advertising growth from my business in the community? What can I do to make newspaper advertising a good choice?" or "How can I target the businesses most likely to be willing to advertise in our paper?" or "What compensation can I use to encourage businesses to advertise?"
- You're still asking open-ended questions and still weighing a broad range of options, but direct your ideas to a specific question or task. This will help you come up with specific ideas.
- Another example: instead of asking yourself "How do I make the young adult novels I write different from other novels on the market?" think of a more specific part of the story: "Who is the main character? Is the main character like the other main characters (white, heterosexual, beautiful but not aware of it?)?" Or if it's a fantasy novel "How does the magic system work? Is it some vague pagan magic that appears in all parts of young adult novels?"
- Or tell yourself that you have to rewrite a scene in the story, only now that character can't do magic. Will they get out of that situation?
Step 6. Think of the worst-case scenario
Fear stifles creativity. Fear keeps you on the path you are most familiar with. If you think about the worst-case scenario, you can not only plan for it but also convince yourself that the worst-case scenario isn't bad enough that you don't have to try it.
- For advertising people for example: You might wonder what would happen if you tried to implement a new creative scheme by offering incentives to existing ad partners (such as better layout placement, discounted color ads, etc.). Perhaps the worst thing that can happen is that no one takes the offer, or you lose money on it. Make a plan in case you face that potential loss.
- For a novel writing example: the worst case scenario may be that no publisher or agency is willing to market your novel because what they really want is a novel similar to the last best-selling young adult novel.
Part 2 of 3: Maintaining Creativity in the Long Term
Step 1. Get rid of negative thoughts
The thing that keeps you from thinking creatively is negative thoughts. Constantly telling yourself that you can't think creatively or hijacking every thought because it's too "excessive" will severely limit the ideas you can think of.
- Think about what you tell yourself about these ideas. When you come up with a great book idea do you immediately think "I'll never be able to write it?" That way you will definitely never write that book.
- Every time you give a negative response to your ideas, replace that negative thought with a positive or neutral thought. For example: if you're thinking "I'll never be able to attract advertisers with this incentive" stop that thought and say "I'm going to test how this incentive can get us to get more loyal advertisers."
Step 2. Keep your creativity sharp
Like any other skill, creativity needs to be trained to stay sharp. Even when you don't have a particular problem that requires a creative solution, continue to hone your creativity. This will be helpful when you are suddenly faced with something that requires creative thinking.
- Unpack words. Take a word from a magazine or billboard, then unscramble the letters. For example: the word CAN the letters can be arranged into the word P-A-D-A-T. This exercise can improve brain function thereby encouraging you to use all the information you have (all the letters) and do something out of the ordinary with it. It trains your brain to come up with surprising connections, solutions, and see problems differently.
- Make a game using some of the items in your home to use for new purposes. This will teach you to look at objects and situations in a different way. For example: old boots made into pots, or make a table out of books.
Step 3. Change your routine
Creativity thrives when you're not stuck in the same routine. Even small changes can get you out of the routine and encourage creative thinking.
- Get out of your comfort zone. Doing new things, especially something you didn't plan on doing will help you deal with new situations more easily. It also helps open your mind and introduces you to new ideas and situations that can help you come up with new or unusual ideas.
- Spontaneous. Every now and then do things you didn't plan to do. This will encourage you to adapt on the spot and solve problems quickly. You can even plug this into an ongoing project.
- Change the little things. For example: walking home from work a different way every day. Visit a different coffee shop in the morning.
Step 4. Learn about other industries
This will help show you how people outside of your chosen field work and give you ideas that you can use in your field. The industry could be very different from the one you've been in, or there could be overlaps, but they should be different enough to give you a new perspective on yourself.
- For example: advertising people can see the field of psychology or see how the business is asking for the ad to be made.
- Novelists can read outside of their chosen genre (young adults) by reading nonfiction, mysteries, and classics for inspiration.
Step 5. Learn new things
The wider your horizons, the more connections in the brain you can build. The more information your brain has access to, the more amazing ideas it can come up with.
- Take classes outside of your field. You can take any class from a cooking class (as long as you're not a chef) to rock climbing. Novelists might be able to use what they learn in cooking classes to write about a magic system (people who can feel what they're doing and don't use instructions as opposed to those who closely follow a specific set of instructions).
- Learn a new language. Not only does this help maintain sharpness of mind and form new connections, it can also open up new ways of thinking. The ad person can use this to start a bilingual ad section that can reach a different group of people than the people he or she normally targets.
Part 3 of 3: Connect with Others Creatively
Step 1. Surround yourself with creative people
Humans are social creatures. You will be inspired if other people are also inspired. Creativity will remain high if you work or make friends with people who can inspire creativity in yourself and in your work.
- You will be greatly helped if you make friends with people who are not in the same field as you. These people can give you perspective on your work that you don't get from people who share the same ideas as you.
- This is another reason why it's so important to do something outside your comfort zone. There you can meet people who challenge and inspire you, people who think differently than you.
Step 2. Pay attention to other people's ideas
Ideas do not present themselves. Even creative thinkers like Salvador Dali (for example) started with his painting ideas that he derived from earlier sources. Paying attention to other people's ideas also helps to grow your own.
- You will see how other people think creatively. Learning other people's mindsets and ways of thinking will help you not to stagnate in your own thinking. You might even say to yourself, "How does my friend who is a creative painter see the problem with this ad?"
- You can also look at the ideas of famous innovators. Observe what their ideas work and what ideas don't. Pay attention to their practices for generating creative ideas (such as Steve Jobs, Tchaikovsky, and Toni Morrison at the beginning of this article) and try to do it.
Step 3. Learn to really listen
One way to encourage a creative mind is to stay calm and listen to what other people have to say. Why this is a good idea is because it will help you listen carefully to what the other person is saying so you don't throw off the same ideas that have already been conveyed. It also helps you to organize your thoughts before you speak.
For example: an advertising person trying to sell an ad to a business that really doesn't like newspapers. If they don't really listen to what the business cares about (eg they feel their ad is not being prioritized, and they don't like some of the content of the newspaper), they won't be able to get advertising from the business. This business then becomes part of their scheme to get other disgruntled advertisers back in their ranks
Step 4. Remember, you will be presenting ideas that may be unusual
This is something to keep in mind when you are dealing with other people, especially in business relationships. Sometimes creative ideas don't work right away.
It's also good to remember that your ideas don't always work. It does not matter! This is part of the learning process and this is why you need to consider the worst-case scenario when you have an idea
Tips
- Be prepared to explore things outside your comfort zone. It is refreshing and you can find new interests and meet new people.
- Read something that doesn't suit your genre. For example, if you hate crime fiction, how about trying to read that one genre? You may be surprised and delighted at the same time; even if not, then you have challenged your thought process
