Jay Anthony - Be Creative - A Quick Guide to Developing Brilliant Ideas & Unlocking Your Creative Potential

BURST!

~~~

A Quick Guide to Developing

BRILLIANT IDEAS

And Unlocking Your

CREATIVE POTENTIAL

Written by Jay Anthony

Copyright 2015 by Jay Anthony

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

without the express written permission of the publisher.

Creativity is a great motivator because it makes people interested in what they are doing. Creativity gives hope that there can be a worthwhile idea. Creativity gives the possibility of some sort of achievement to everyone. Creativity makes life more fun and more interesting. - Edward de Bono

Contents

Preface

So, you want to be creative? Are you striving to be an idea machine ? Do you want those bottled-up artistic juices to BURST all over your work, talents, and everyday life? If you are looking to exercise that creative muscle of yours, then youve definitely come to the right place. This book is packed full of helpful tips and strategies to make you a creative genius. No matter how logical or inside-the-box your thoughts may seem now, by the end of the week your mind will be pumping out impeccable imagination, innovation, and originality. Have fun reading, and remember- everyone has the capacity to be creative!

Pre-Gaming

No, Im not referring to alcohol consumption before a big event. Im actually referring to the changes in your day-to-day life that should be made before you even attempt to put the nib of your pen to a piece of paper. Dont worry, these changes arent extremely drastic. In fact, most of them are relatively simple and take very little time to do. Make no excuses, because no matter how busy you think your life is, you definitely have time to implement at least one of these things into your daily routine.

The Human Element. I cannot stress the importance of friends and colleagues enough. Before taking your first breath of creativity, be sure to surround yourself with others who are innovative, artistic, and forward-thinking. Having acquaintances of this nature not only allows you to bounce ideas off of them, but it can also give you a whole new perspective on a project or thought you are trying to develop. Individual input is essentially the building blocks for creativity.

As temping as it is to stay confined in the shelter of familiar, like-minded people, try branching out to others who think differently from you. Draw from their opinions and experiences in order to perpetuate your own. When you keep to the same group, your creative drive tends to become repetitive and lacks newness. This can cause you to become stuck in a mental rut. It is dependent on other people to pull you out of that rut, and begin feeding you with ideas you have never would have thought of before.

Dont limit yourself to physical interaction. There are plenty of places online which can provide you with a plethora of creative inputs. Find community and have conversations via forums. Build relationships with individual users, and if you ever need to draw inspiration from them, just ask! Face-to-face interaction definitely supersedes chatting with someone over the internet, but it doesnt hurt to try both.

But where do I find these people? Dont worry. Creative minds can be found everywhere. If you are going to school/college, join a creative writing or art club and befriend the members. Peruse the web for local authors, musicians, and artists and request to meet them over coffee. Explore local art galleries, business start-ups, and design studios and introduce yourself to the people running the show. In my experience, most people are open and willing to converse with you, especially if you are respectful and clear with your intentions.

When you do find someone to talk to, be sure to listen intently to what they have to say. Ask them questions like, What inspires your ideas? or Explain your creative process. Treat your time with them like a casual interview. I highly suggest bringing along a small journal to take notes. Dont bring your computer for note-taking . If you are typing away while the other person is sharing their valuable information, it can imply a lack of attention or disinterest toward the conversation.

Reading. If you loath flipping through the pages of a novel, it may be time to reconsider your boredom. Reading (no matter what about) is one of the best ways to get your brain firing in a different way than it usually does. The best part about reading is the fact that you are essentially diving into the mind of another person, and soaking in all of their thoughts, ideas, and opinions.

A few years ago, a professor at the University of Toronto did a study pertaining to the correlation between creativity and reading. He found that those who read a single short story every day had much less ridged thoughts, were much more open minded, and were generally better thinkers compared to those who did not read at all. ( Full article ).

If you dont have the attention span to read a 300+ page novel, then start small. Read short stories, poetry, or literary articles instead. Just make sure its good content. You dont want to cheat yourself by reading unoriginal, poorly written work. (Looking at you, E.L. James).

All jokes aside, if you are determined to become a better creative thinker, then devote some time during your day to reading. Make it a point to read something every single day; yes, even on the weekends. Even if it bores you to death, it doesnt change the fact that you will be subconsciously exercising that creative muscle of yours.

Journaling. This is one of the easiest, and arguably most helpful things to do if you desperately wish to give birth to great ideas. See, the wonderful thing about the human mind is the fact it has the ability to come up with marvelous thoughts on a level of spontaneity. The problem is the fact that they usually last only minutes, if not seconds, and by the time our day is over we usually forget all about them. If you keep a journal in your bag and a pen in your pocket, it will give you the power to capture those spontaneous thoughts and keep them for future use.

If youve never purchased a journal before, I highly recommend the Markings journal by C.R. Gibson. It is a sleek, small, leather-bound journal which is both stylish and easy to carry. With 240 ruled pages, it should easily last you a few months. Ive seen them in a few stores, but Amazon still seems to provide a better price at 8 to 12 dollars per journal. Pick up a few of them and keep one on your desk, one in your bag, and give the other to a friend!

Dont fill the pages of your journal with cheap ink. I know it is very tempting to buy that 50 pack of knock-off brand pens for 2 dollars, but it is worth every penny to invest in some quality writing utensils. Most people swear by the Pilot G2 series, but honestly Im not a fan. I definitely prefer the Pilot Precise V5 (Extra Fine) pens with rolling ball tips. They are accurate and easy to write with. I could literally write for hours with these pens without any hand fatigue whatsoever. They do tend to bleed through pages, but not nearly as bad as most liquid ink pens. You can find a 12 pack of these on Amazon for around 17 dollars and they should last even the heaviest of writers for quite a while.

Creativity Killers. There are so many things that exist in our lives which we allow to drain our creative oceans. Before you can step foot on the path to genuine creativity, you must consider ripping these things from your life and throwing them into the trash (I promise it wont hurt too much).

Television. This is a biggie. According to a 2014 study conducted by NY Daily News, the average American watches approximately 5 hours of television per day. I used to be one of those statistics before I realized how severely T.V. dulled my creative edge. The problem with television is the fact that the content does the thinking for you. When you place yourself in front of that infamous 52 inch monitor, you allow yourself to completely turn your brain off and let loads of irrelevant information inadvertently bypass your creative fortifications. The same can be said about video games. I know we love our Netflix and invest in our sitcoms, but try limiting yourself this week. Make note of how much more clearly you begin thinking within the first couple days.