A Guest Post by Nicholas Rubright

Nicholas Rubright is a communications specialist at Writer. In his free time, Nicholas enjoys playing guitar, writing music, and building cool things on the internet.

 

Social Media: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-rubright-29225047/

 

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“No man is an island,” and when it comes to creativity, this John Donne adage rings true.

Creativity isn’t about starting from scratch or working with a blank canvas. It’s about taking what’s already available and integrating it in novel ways. Simply put, it’s about connecting the dots, but doing it uniquely and creatively.

History’s “eureka” moments have led to a misunderstanding about creativity. Those are the moments when the solutions to problems that were impossible to work out suddenly pop into clarity. But in reality, these breakthroughs are rarely a single, fleeting event—instead they’re a climax you build up to through hard work. It’s the culmination of habits of the mind and body through the years.

Creativity is a skill, and like any other skill, it too can be developed if you follow habits that boost those creative cells. To keep your writing from getting boring or reliant on cliches, try three habits to boost creativity while writing. 

1. Keep an Idea Journal

Myth: If something is important, you will remember it for a long time.

We’ve all been there. You come across something intriguing. Maybe some interesting historical fact or bit of trivia that piques your curiosity. You learn a new word that sparks your imagination. Or maybe a great simile or metaphor pops into your head while you’re gardening or driving to the store.

Most of the time, these ideas aren’t something that will be useful for your current project but may be valuable in the future. You’ll remember them when the time comes, right? Unfortunately, we tend to overestimate our memory, and even if you need it in your writing session a few hours from now, that great idea may have already vanished. You may recall the overall emotion or sensation of the idea, but the specifics are hazy at best.

This is where an idea journal shines. 

An idea journal is not the same as a diary. You don’t keep a daily chronicle of happenings in an idea journal. Instead, it’s a place where you may scribble down thoughts, inspirations, observations, and even daily objectives and accomplishments.

Whether you are currently working on a project or not, consider keeping an idea journal so you can record your thoughts and ideas as they come. If you do have a work in progress, also record your observations and criticisms of the process as a whole.

As you start to collect ideas in your journal, some (or many of them) may seem implausible, strange, or too specific to ever find a home. Whatever the case, it all belongs in your idea journal. You never know what these ideas will turn into or how they may connect to other ideas in the future. Your idea journal is a private space where you can cultivate your thoughts and watch them blossom.

When you write, keep your idea journal handy, as those notes and scribbles can boost your creativity.

2. Get Some Exercise

As writers, we spend the majority of our time tapping away on the keyboard or scribbling in a journal. Writing is a sedentary job, but physical activity is important for your physical and mental health. Exercise has been a critical element of the everyday routines of writers throughout history.

• Japanese writer Haruki Murakami runs 10 kilometers or swims 1,500 meters (or both) every single day.
• British author Charles Dickens would stroll 12 miles every day.
• Roman philosopher, orator, and writer Marcus Tullius Cicero said 2000 years ago, “It is exercise alone that supports the spirits, and keeps the mind in vigor.”

A new study backs up what prominent writers have long claimed: physical activity is necessary for writing success. Another study on the impact of exercise on creative thinking concluded that creativity was improved by physical exercise regardless of mood.

So, the habits of great writers and multiple scientific studies show that an active life is the foundation for an active imagination. Pushing yourself physically gets your mind ready for mental effort. In other words, if you want to boost your creativity, make cycling, jogging, fast walking, or going to the gym a daily ritual. You can choose whatever works best for you; just get up and move! 

3. Listen to Uplifting Music

It’s no secret that music relaxes us. All of us jam and groove to it, and we have our go-to playlists loaded up with our favorites. However, while we often associate music with uplifting our mood, we rarely associate it with creativity.

Music has long been known to help cognition, learning, and even memory. It’s only natural that music influences creative thinking. According to research, we should listen to happy music to facilitate divergent or creative thinking.

Researchers conducted divergent and convergent thinking tests with and without music, and the results showed that individuals who listened to cheerful, happy music did better than those who performed the same activities in silence. The group that listened to “happy” music came up with not only more ideas in general, but also more creative and original ones.

It is critical to note, however, that while “happy” music had an effect, other musical genres did not.

This habit will particularly boost your creativity when you are writing a story set in a different era or country and you listen to music relevant to the setting. For example, Led Zeppelin for the 1970s or traditional Irish music for a tale set in Dublin. It will help you immerse yourself in the story more fully.

Thus, taking up the habit of listening to upbeat music while writing can be a great way to stimulate your creativity.