6 ways to improve your creativity

You may remember a recent post on ideas for being more creative. Well… here’s another one, because as writers, there is no such thing as too much creativity (unless, of course, your creativity leads to a plot that is full of holes because the whole ‘logic’ thing went entirely out of the window – but mostly, for writers, it’s a good thing).

Learn something new – learn a language or start a new hobby that requires you to learn some new skills. Expanding our horizons is a great way to open ourselves up to new ideas, and new ways of being creative.
Don’t be afraid of failing – sometimes we want to try new ideas, but shy away because we’re worried they won’t work. Well. Maybe they won’t. But as long as the only thing that will be harmed if something fails is your pride (which will heal), don’t be afraid of taking the leap. You’ll still learn something, and you might get something amazing out of it.
Don’t be obvious – often, when faced with a problem in our writing or in our lives, we go for the most obvious solution, either because it’s the ‘done thing’ or because it seems to be the easiest way to go. Maybe it is, but if that’s the case, it’s unlikely to be the most creative way to go. Put some thought into more unusual solutions; you might not end up using them, but they could spark some creativity for something else further down the line.
Don’t be too chaotic – it can be tempting to think that creativity is something of a chaotic pursuit. This is sometimes true, but if your whole life is chaotic, your creativity in writing won’t have the best environment in which to flourish. Having things organised in your life will free up space in your mind – space that you can use to be creative in your writing.
Don’t think of it as work – thinking of our writing as work is often one of the fastest ways to zap all fun and creativity out of it. Remember that it’s fun. Creativity is always more present when things are fun (although there is no doubting that when faced with work, many of us will be outrageously creative in order to get out of doing it, so if that provides you with inspiration at all, go with it).
Don’t worry about it – when you’re writing, don’t worry too much about whether what you’re writing is creative enough. While there are plenty of things we can do to improve and develop our creative streaks, dwelling too much on it while in the middle of writing something might not always be the best idea. If you’re into what you’re writing, are enjoying it and want to keep going, don’t worry. The creativity is probably there already.