How do I increase my creativity.

I don't really have any tips for you, but what about going with your talents and becoming, say, a journalist or an editor?

Ideas are curious creatures. The more you use, the more that come to you. Start with the tiniest sliver of an idea. You can even start with a conceit, if you wanted. The more you write and the harder you try to develop your own ideas, the faster the creativity will flow.

Or you could try quitting writing all together. That's what I've been trying to do and have since had eight or nine different ideas in one day.

You need to relax and not force the ideas to come. You also need to "train your brain". For example, if in the middle of the night you wake up groggy but with a story idea, instead of hoping you'll remember the idea, write it down. Show that intangible part of yourself that you're willing to listen to what it says. With that said, write down every and any idea or conceit you get because, again, you're training that intangible part of yourself. Never put it down, never talk to it negatively (although don't let it get away from you, all right?)

I used to think I couldn't come up with ideas, but then I started really paying attention to things going on around me that I could use in stories. For example:
The very rich couple we house clean for that scream and fight in front of us.
The guy who brings home someone who is NOT his wife during lunch.

I also cut anything that strikes me out of the newspaper, such as obituaries of triplets, an old woman in NYC who got hit by a car and clung to a stranger saying, Please don't let me die...things like that I cut out and save.

I also write down sentences I overhear. One time I met this guy (a jerk) who was on the phone and kept saying, I'll drop you like a bad transmission. I thought, What a stupid saying and I wrote it down.

Hope this helps some.

If you're really short of ideas there are methods you can use. One is to think up ten names (of people, animals, creatures real or imaginary) then ten verbs then ten objects then ten occupations. Pick one of each at random and try to imagine the wildest set of circumstances in which they can interact. I had a deep-sea salvage diver go missing after he found Spanish gold. Nobody knew where he was working because he kept that a big secret. But then his daughter realised that some strange figures in his diary were hexadecimals. When she turned them into ordinary numbers they made the map reference of the reef on which he was diving.

I also continually think 'what if?'. Every news item, accident, funny story I hear I think, 'what if it had been different?' or 'what would they have done in the middle ages?' (I write YA historical fiction).

Anyway, keep imagining and best wishes with your writing.

exir, try writing from prompts. if you go to www.writersdigest.com they have a daily prompt to write about. you can also browse through previous prompts. Also right now, if you go the the suddenly fiction forum, there is a new prompt posted for every day in february. It might be just enough for you to click to an idea that you couldnt formulate before.

Exir, advice from a fellow philosopher: as you read, jot notes in the margins, mark sentences that you want to argue with (use a bar in the margin, not underlining, which interferes with re-reading). What this kind of approach really means is, listen to your own thoughts as you read. Read slowly. Hold paper over the page so you can't skim ahead. Slow down and just listen to your thoughts.

Do more thinking on paper, which means simply, get a journal going. 15 minutes every single morning of freewriting, even if you start with "I don't know what to write." Just write continuously no matter what comes out. Within a week, you'll start building the habits that help you listen to yourself.

That's what "imagination" is, in my book; letting our own thoughts surface. We've all got the ability, but school doesn't always train us to give it the attention it deserves -- or it trains us to forget to speak in favor of listening for what we're expected to learn from others.

For your first free-write exercise, might I suggest writing about your favorite listener(s)?

Hi Exir. Welcome to AW!

Where to get ideas from/how to generate ideas? Hmm... You want some of mine? As Riley said, once you start with them, they seem to never stop coming.

I will say this-sometimes it takes time to cultivate the little glimmers of inspiration that you can find every day. Some of my first stories came from dreams that I'd had. I woke up from the dream and thought "hmm, that was cool. maybe I could expand on it..."

Sometimes it helps to just start with your character. Picture the character in your mind and build his or her personality. I just turned this link up with google: http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976908598

The above link gives you 100 questions to answer in character. I find that as I fill out questionaires like these about my characters, I start to think about situations I can put my characters in that will test these qualities. I love to put them in situations where they are uncomfortable (my poor characters) or where their valor is tested.

I think the most important thing about writing a compelling story is to have stakes for your character-they need to want something. So you start with your character, and then ask yourself-what is it that he/she wants more than anything? What will he/she do to fulfill that want?

Writing prompts are excellent as well. They really do help with jogging the creativity.

Feel free to PM me with what type of writing you want to do and I could probably come up with a few prompts/ideas to get you started too.

Exir said:

However, the problem is, I can't come up with original ideas.

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Consider rephrasing that to loosen it up a bit: You haven't come up with original ideas yet.

One thing that helps is to keep a notebook with you. Write down things that you notice. If you're noticing them, that means there's some energy in those things for you. And if there's energy, there's a potential for a story idea.

I sometimes have to remind myself to deliberately scan for things to notice. The next time you go to lunch, notice five things and write them down. Don't worry about whether they're important. It's enough that you notice them.

Every now and then, ask yourself, "What am I not noticing?" Then notice something that you wouldn't normally notice.

For each thing you notice, write a sentence (or a paragraph or two) in your notebook.

Find out interesting things about people you meet, and about the jobs they do. For example, ask your next waiter, "Tell me something most people don't know about being a waiter."

As you accumulate enough "noticings," you may start to notice patterns or connections. Or you could randomly pull pairs of noticings from your notebook (or from a hat) and see if the juxtaposition gives you any ideas.

The next time you read a story, stop after a few pages and ask yourself, "How would I continue this story?" Then continue reading. If your story is different, then you have a story idea that you can write.

I recently made up an exercise about variables -- "What could I change about this?"
http://dalewriting.dhemery.com/2008/02/variables/

Dale

Hi Exir,

Do you ever listen to music or watch movies? I find that doing these things gives me massive inspiration.
I had the idea of writing my whole novel, now at 406 pages, all from watching the first few minutes of Transporter II. My story is nothing whatsoever like this film, but as I said, it did give me inspiration and took me away from a previous novel I was writing at the time.
Then when the novel was nearly finished, I got two more chapters from inspiration I was getting to listening to music as I wrote... Pat Benatar's, 'We belong,' gave me a brilliant scene for my girl playing along with one of her own old songs on the radio, she's an ex rock star. This scene then evolved into an argument between my main two characters.
The other piece of music was, 'Hey, little one,' by Glen Campbell, it gave me inspiration for my male character and how he honestly thought about the female. Okay, you have probably never heard of these songs and their singers, but you get what I mean

Keep your mind open and you can derive inspiration from absolutely anything... Good luck!


Elodie

Try keeping a notebook and pen with you at all times and jot things down as they occur to you. Like someone above said, I get a lot of my ideas from my dreams - I have pretty wacked dreams.

If you currently use a computer to write, try using pen and paper. Or crayons or pencil crayons. Mix it up a bit - if something isn't working, try something else.

You could also try reading The Artist's Way by Julie Cameron and follow her suggestions for increasing creativity.

Exir said:

However, the problem is, I can't come up with original ideas. If someone gives me something to write about, I can write very well, but if nobody gives me something to write about, then I can't come up with any kind of original ideas.

I like philosophizing a lot, and I can verbalize a lot of my thoughts quite well, but when I try to present my thoughts creatively, in the form of a fictional story, I often fail quite miserably.

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A hearty welcome to AW, Exir!

I detect a bit of a mixed signal from your post. To me, it sounds like you get inspired and truly have the spark, but are feeling some pressure to take what's in your head and what you can verbally describe and capture that into prose worthy of a bestseller. If that's the case, then training, time, and patience on writing fundamentals, like a lot of posters are suggesting, is certainly the way to go. Writing is more than a knack; it's a skill to be acquired and refined. Give yourself the time and the chance to learn it and do it well, without the specter of Success looming over your shoulder.

It also seems to me that you get the fact that there are very few, 100% original ideas yet to be had. And you can take notions and concepts others have presented and run with them to new places or points of view. I think you are absolutely on the right track here. It's not so much that you need a fresh idea as you need to further open up on those fresh takes and perspectives that you see on existing stuff. That's what it's really about. Don't hold back or be judgmental of those perspectives you have, and, I agree with the others here, capture them in a notepad or journal as you go. There's your raw material to work with as your writing grows.

From the way you now see it and your aspirations, I certainly feel encouraged you're going to have a fun, exciting, and ultimately successful time as a writer if you stick to it. We'll be rooting for you!

Maya Angelou said, "You never run out of creativity. The more you use the more you have." An inspiring comment that I think of often.

I used to be just like you: I could do well with an assignment but couldn't come up with things on my own. I didn't have much creativity until a few years ago--and I'm MUCH older than you. For instance, if I didn't have a recipe in front of me, I couldn't cook anything new. What helped me break out of being uncreative was I took art classes. Students would receive assignments that contained criteria/guidelines but was it still up to us to come up with the design. I didn't take art classes to learn how to be creative, it was just a new interest for me. After a few years I noticed a huge difference in myself. A few years after that (a couple years ago), I took writing classes.

Over time (yes, you'll need time and practice), not only can I see things that inspire me to head in a certain direction, but I can also expand those ideas into even different directions. Incidentally, I can make up new dishes in the kitchen!

Don't try to force ideas, but allow yourself the time and take opportunities that encourage you to BE creative. Good luck!

Boosting My Creativity

Exir said:

I am a 14 year old who likes writing and reading a lot. However, I do not have a lot of creative ideas. If someone gives me an idea to write about, I can write a lot about it, and I personally consider what I write to be quite good for a 14 year old. When I read (mediocre) novels I often think "oh, this paragraph can be improved" or, "why didn't the author write it that way"?

However, the problem is, I can't come up with original ideas. If someone gives me something to write about, I can write very well, but if nobody gives me something to write about, then I can't come up with any kind of original ideas.

I like philosophizing a lot, and I can verbalize a lot of my thoughts quite well, but when I try to present my thoughts creatively, in the form of a fictional story, I often fail quite miserably.

Any tips?

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I'm big on "what ifs" Take an ordinary situation and ask yourself:'What if this happened?', the more off the wall the better I find. Prompts also work well for me, like the one in the Absolute Write newsletter I just got. A picture, something you see (or hear) when out and about, even a line or sentence from something you read like a newspaper can help you get ideas. Keep working at it, you'll get there!

Not much to add to what's been said, except to suggest a book: The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp, the great choreographer. Otherwise, I echo those who say that creativity is a spark that comes and goes when it wants to. You can nudge ideas into circulating inside your head, and sometimes the sheer discipline of writing and thinking can get you into gear, but creativity isn't a thing you can map out. I've always thought of it as being more spontaneous.

Hi exir!
Did anyone above mention listening to other people's conversations? Really--it's a great way to jump-start the imagination.

Is it that you don't have any ideas? Or that you don't have any *good* ideas? Because if it's the latter, don't worry about it. The crippling fear of writing a story that isn't worthy of being told is just that -- crippling. If you don't want to write that story about dragons and knights set in quasi-medieval Europe because it's been done before and you don't want to repeat what's gone before... Don't sweat it. You're 14 years old -- nobody expects originality, that comes with time and experience.

I guess that what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't let the pressure to be a genius kill your creativity -- we're taught to be terrified of making mistakes, and the thing is that the only way to learn anything is to make mistakes. If the only ideas you get are ways in which other authors could have written their stories better, or the vague sense that maybe you might like to write a book about a kid stranded in the wilderness -- that's all you need at this point. Run with it.

(Also, if this really isn't your problem, my advice is much simpler: read more, write more.)

"You can't fill a cup unless you first empty out the contents."
ancient Zen proverb

Ask yourself 'what if' and 'why' every chance you get.

Birol said:

Ask yourself 'what if' and 'why' every chance you get.

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Yes! The "What ifs" are great at jump-starting creativity.

since you like reading, take advantage of the opportunity it affords you to reverse engineer the works you read. figure out what the author is trying to say in terms of theme, symbolism, cultural context, etc. and then analyze why they chose a particular character or plot on which to hang those ideas.

you'll come to realize that an idea is far more than the surface appearance of the story that drives it.

William Haskins said:

since you like reading, take advantage of the opportunity it affords you to reverse engineer the works you read. figure out what the author is trying to say in terms of theme, symbolism, cultural context, etc. and then analyze why they chose a particular character or plot on which to hang those ideas.

you'll come to realize that an idea is far more than the surface appearance of the story that drives it.

Click to expand...

Good points, Mr. Haskins.

writin52 says, in part:

"When I read (mediocre) novels I often think "oh, this paragraph can be improved" or, "why didn't the author write it that way"?'

Click to expand...

You should consider becoming a book editor for a publishing house...

Hi mate

Great idea is to read a lot . And I would go for pure facts from the history.
Remember the history like to repeats itself.

Do you have to show your thoughts in fictional framework?
I have more than a 100 pages in Word of thoughts I have on religion and the universe and the meaning of Life. They're not stuff I write for stories.
But you can pretty well be sure I'll use it some day!

Write more. It doesn't have to be stories. Write what you feel like writing. Not what you think you should be writing.
Why do you think you should be writing a story?
the fact that you're asking for creative ideas, shows that you want to be responsible for creating something new. Do you feel the urgant need to be in the middle of J.K.Rowling and Tolkien? If so, I know how you feel.
I was exactly like that when I was 14.

I thought of a story at 13, and I'm still working on it! And it's in no way near finishing!

Perhaps thinking of the stuff you've always wanted to see in a story. that's how I got my idea.

Haven't you ever thought to yourself "Why isn't there a story out there with this, and this, and this, all together one big adventure of some kind?"
Join those things you like, and you might have a story that isn't out there yet, and that you think should be on the shelves of bookstores.

If you feel like expressing your annoyance at something, like school, like I do, just write it down.
I have many seperate paragraphs where I start with "Why is it that...".

Also, get used to writing crap. Get used to letting go of what you've written for a while, and then coming back to it.

One thing you have to understand is that everyone writes crap when they begin.
You're 14, EXPECT that. You're not unique, you're not different from what everybody goes through. I thought I would never go through this phase in writing, like writer's block, and I thought that my writing was great (and yet my teachers ddin't get my expressions) or some psychological phase in my teenage years, and then bang! I often realised I was doing what I said I would never do. It's not something you choose. It just happens.
So expect crap. It happens. Live with it.


Well...I guess you need to have a writer's mind. Take stuff you see on the streets, or television...and try to transform it, so it can fit a story you already have, or even create a new one, if it doesn't fit a story you already have.

A story of mine began just by watching this girl holding hands with what was surely her younger sister. And right next to the sidewalk, there was this place with lots of trees.
I just imagined them running through the forest. Their looks changed, and so did their clothes.
The story just grew from there and now I have an epic in my hands.
Lol and don't think this epic just showed up in my head. There's so much stuff I still don't know about it. I just have little scenes just scribbled somewhere. Stuff that I think would be cool to have in a story like this one. It's a process.
What's also involved in these stories of mine, is stuff that I wrote in the past, like my annoyances about school, and my thoughts about the universe and the meaning of all of existence. I can now go back, read something, and it inspires me to put them in some sort of dialogue, or some witty saying said by some character or a cool scene.
It's a process, creativity.
J.K.Rowling didn't have the whole world of Harry Potter in one train trip.
And Tolkien began writing the Lord of the Rings, not knowing where he was going and he took 10 years, or something close to this, to publish it.

It takes time to make a difference, to do something new. To get out of the routine and see things in a new way.
I know that! I learnt that when I was about 17! I've set upon myself to never write stuff that I've seen over and over again out there, like elves and dwarves for fantasy, and wands for magic, or epic stories with evil villains and weird names. I'm tired of that! I want something different. And trust me. It's HARD to go this way. It's a thorny forest you have to go through to get to the castle. The're so much work! And there's a lot of excrement coming out of your mind, until you find a diamond. Bad imagery, but I'm sure you get it.

The stuff I do, like looking at the girls and growing an epic around them, is
something that I started doing.....well, just because I had a wild imagination to begin with. the only thing that became different was that I realised that I could put it on paper.
How did I have a wild imagination? Perhaps because of the movies, and my love for the extreme and nonsensical from an early age. It's just the way I thought of things.

I think I do have creative ideas. I dunno how I do it, I just twist and turn and modify and grab a piece of that, and a piece of this, and join it together, and then change that and just go eccentric. I do end up with stuff that I haven't seen anywhere and I'm quite proud of those, to the point of not telling many people about it.

Also, you should realise that you're 14!!!!!!! And in no way should you put yourself above others. That's something I did when I was your age, and I'm 18 now, so it's still fresh in my memory.
You can very well be above people your age in terms of writing and philosophizing. But if you were to compare that writing of yours with an older person you'd be below in terms of.....well.... at least experience. Right now, you're below of your older self!
I started reading quotes from famous people out of fun one day with a friend of mine, and then I began thinking...to see if I could come up with quotes myself about stuff I saw in the world. Now I have loads of them. and I still do it. But my first ones were crap! Trust me!
Same for writing fiction.

You need Experience, which you get as you age, it's something that is given to you, only by the passage of time, and your will to learn new things. And preseverance.

And with "Experience" I don't mean coolness, or being better or "being older" (which you might think is cool being your age, with the whole thing "above average" and all).

It's just stuff you go through. Make yourself go through things, through experiences. In your case watch films and read as you are reading. There's no harm in that. Until it comes to you. Don't force it.
Don't put yourself above others, and trust me, I did that, and.....the fall is just harder to endure when you realise that you're not much different from other people around the world (This site is the proof of it. And you're not the only teenager here). All of us are humans beings. Our brains aren't that different from each other. We go through the same processes when we do this or that.
when I read people talking about their writing processes in the past, I never knew what they meants and they mentioned things "they couldn't really explian to non-writers.
Now I get many of them and I'm so impressed that people actually do go through the same things and I'm constantly thinking "lol yeah, that happens to me too."

To be honest, if you start thinking of "oh, I'm above average yadda yadda yadda." just drop it. I know it's good for the ego and all of that but...you shouldn't raise you chin so high up, you might loose balance, miss a step and fall down a ladder you yourself built in your mind.
Most prodigies are left alone when they grow older....because they just join the group of older people, and they level with them.


You're going to be criticised when you ask for it. You either feel insulted because you've convinced yourself that you should get people kissing your boots, or you could learn with their advise and keep your chin up at all times (But not too high).
Be humble about your work. Try to stay neutral.

Don't force creativity upon yourself. Don't convince yourself that you're somehow above others and that now all you need is cool ideas to laugh at the bowing heads of others and show your superiority to the world.

It doesn't go like that. It's so much bigger than that...it's so much more than having "creative ideas" and just applying your superior skill to it to have people say "oh that's cool. you rock!".

It's why you do it.
If you have any question send me a private message. I identify with you curiously enough.

PS: I think this whole message is crap. I could have written it a lot better. I don't know how to organise it in tidy paragraphs. And it's 5 A.M. here!
and I know half of it is not abot what you wrote, but I felt that you should hear it together with the creativity talk.