Creativity Techniques

Of all the creativity techniques, the best one has got to be EFT - Emotional Freedom Technique. You might like to read how I used EFT to create a short story. I had promised this short story for a charity anthology, but I could think of nothing! I used EFT and the story literally came to me. You can read about it here.

Creativity and Writing

• The first technique is borrowed from NLP. It's simply this:

  When you don't know what happens next, ask yourself, "But if I did know, what would it be?"

  This can work surprisingly well, as your ever-willing subconscious will try to answer this question, and the solution may well amaze you with its originality.

  If the thought comes back that you absolutely don't know, just insist, "But if I did did know??" and repeat as necessary.

  You've got to show your subconscious who's boss - and this technique will do it!

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• Do you remember Pavlov's dogs? He trained them to associate food being served with the sound of a bell being rung; and it wasn't long before they started salivating as soon as the bell was rung - without any food being served.

  They may well have wagged tails too (history doesn't relate!) and other reactions over which they had conscious control.

  But what's special about the salivating is that it was an unconscious reaction! Their subconscious had made the link, and was reacting accordingly.

  Now, we're not so different from those dogs. If you can create an association between some routine, and writing, your subconsious will get into the habit of writing whenever you undertake the routine.

  So maybe have a special writing place, and write there always. Or wear a special item of clothing - maybe literally a Thinking Cap!

  This creativity technique will work better the more you use it, as you establish the link more and more securely.

  One word of warning: make sure your writing-association ritual is one you can keep up indefinitely and one which won't harm you. So for example, don't choose drinking or smoking drugs as your ritual of choice, or you'll find you can't write without them. Choose something harmless and innocuous.

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• Another creativity technique is to try continuous writing.

  Whether you are writing by hand, or type-writing, keep going. Type things like: "I've no idea what happens next. She's really stuck in that burning building and I've no idea how she's going to get out of it. This is ridiculous, why did I get her into such a situation without knowing how to get her out of it. I'll never figure this out ..."

  Keep writing, no matter what words come. Even if you're writing gibberish, keep writing. And it won't be long before you'll find yourself writing things like, "Well, maybe [this solution] might work. No it wouldn't work because [this reason]. Well, maybe [this variation] would work ..."

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• Don't forget to eat well, and exercise.
  
  

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• Try mind-mapping.

  Write your dilemma in the centre of a page, and circle it. Then draw lines out from the circle, writing down whatever comes to your mind. Options and ideas will soon surprise you.

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