Wednesday Writing Tips #7: Develop Your Creative Potential.

Welcome to this series of writing tips. If you would like to pen a guest post for this series, email me at ACBwrites@aol.com.
Today, guest blogger Gemma Gaten shares her ideas about how to improve creativity.

Every person is unique. We are all creative in our own simple ways but most of us haven't realised our full creative potential. Some people are trying to unlock their creativity while others give up trying to know in which field they are most creative. Being intelligent, hard-working, and having a nice attitude are not enough to become successful in your chosen career. More than these things, you must learn how to use your normal intelligence in doing creative work.

Creativity is an element that is present in all fields. Whether you are working in a business, have a job related to the arts or technology and social media, your level of creativity plays a vital role in your profession. Enhancing creativity can impact upon every aspect of your life. That is why making room for creativity in your day-to-day work is important because it can help you become an efficient and productive individual.

If you are not confident or you doubt your creative skills and want to develop them to become more effective in your work, here are some ways of breaking mental-barriers and evolving your creative thinking.

* Being creative is not being destructive

Some people think that in order for them to become different and create something different they have to change their attitude and adopt negative behaviour. This is not a good habit.  Destructive behaviour can ruin your creativity. Do not attempt to do things that aren't helpful in your writing. Like, for example, following a weird or binge writing approach to your written work. This will not make you creative, this will only destroy your dignity as a writer.

* Be imaginative and go beyond.

If you are a writer, you are expected to be reasonable as you write and publish your written work. You might have an out-of-this-world idea or concept for your story but makes sure that it still makes sense. You can write something extraordinary but ensure that your readers can get useful information or message from it because writing without a purpose is never a creative form of artwork.

* Develop a critical reading habit.

Reading, as we all know, plays a significant role in developing creative faculties. If you read a book every day you are developing not only your reading comprehension skill but exercising also the creative side of your brain. Reading is a great way of preparing yourself to become a creative and critical thinker.

* Practise counter factual thinking.

Does the term 'counter factual thinking' ring a bell? Counter factual thinking means when you are thinking or imagining different outcomes to your written work. This is like asking yourself 'what if?'  What if the ending of the story has changed? What if you add a twist to your writing? What if your characters are different? If you think this way, you are practising counter factual thinking.

* Befriend failure and mistakes.

We are all afraid to fail or commit mistakes. But if we keep on lingering on these our creativity will get paralysed. Treat failure and mistakes your friend. Do not be afraid of them. It is normal to fail and commit mistakes. It is part of the process and it will teach you how to improve your skills. 

Creative passion will naturally flow out from you once you figured out how to apply these methods to your work. Thinking creatively means getting out of the box and not limiting yourself in creating and discovering new things.

Gemma Gaten works for a best essay writing service uk. She is a part-time writer and a full time blogger. She loves to write, blog, and read books. She is very enthusiastic in travelling and taking photographs. Her dream is to become a successful travel writer.

 

Adele says: One of the limitations of "rules for writing" is that they are guidelines rather than inflexible truths.  For example, some writers may thrive on maintaining a steady, daily routine while others may not write for months then launch into a highly-focused "binge" of writing.  Each to our  own, always.  I encourage people to experiment and discover which methods work for them.

A novel needn't convey a specific message; it's perfectly ok to write or read something purely for entertainment.  If I wanted facts, I wouldn't research them through fiction.  However, fiction can be used to introduce or explore factual ideas to great effect.

The question of "What if...?" is fundamental to all speculative fiction.  Asking this question can be a fun and practical way of developing story ideas, and it's a method I often use.

Further Reading:

Wednesday Writing Tips #6: The Magic Formula.
Wednesday Writing Tips #5: The Challenge of the Blank Space.
Wednesday Writing Tips #4: Ideas.
Wednesday Writing Tips #3: Read!
Wednesday Writing Tips #2: Edit Your Writing!
Wednesday Writing Tips #1: Write!
Also see: Morgen Bailey's Essential Writing Tips!