Creative Writing Exercises - How To Unlock Your Writing Talent With Creative Writing Exercises

It's likely you have far more creative writing talent than you realise.

The problem is you haven't found ways to channel and explore that writing talent that have worked well and given you the confidence to try more, write more and discover more of your writing potential.

Creative writing exercises are a great way of unlocking your creative writing potential.

Many people are put off by using writing exercises, as they feel it's somehow a short cut or it's cheating. The line of thinking goes that surely if you're that good a writer you should be able to just write amazing literary works without the need for any kind of structure or exercise, right?

Well, no.

Let's take dancing as an example. You could have the potential to be an amazing salsa dancer. You have the feel for the music, you have the agility, you have the capacity to learn and adapt. But until someone teaches you a few salsa steps, you're not going be putting any of that potential to good use.

Once you learn the framework of salsa dancing - the structure of the rhythm, the basic steps, the lead and partner dynamics and so on - you can start to use that natural talent you have, by building on the basics then starting to add your own unique style, your own sequences of moves, your own subtle touches.

But you need that basic framework in place.

You can then try other kinds of dances, applying your same natural talent, but in a slightly different framework. In time you find the dances you enjoy most and are best suited to and you add your unique signature style and creative flair to each dance.

It's the same with writing. If you've only ever written romantic short stories for example, you won't know if you're also a wonderful poetry writer or novelist or article writer.

Creative writing exercises provide you with an outline to experiment with your writing in ways you probably wouldn't have thought of on your own.

However creative you are as a writer, we all use a common structure of letters, words, lines and so on. It's called our language. You can use creative writing exercises to find new ways of shaping your writing language and see what works for you. Even when you try different exercises that you find very challenging, even though you might decide that kind of writing isn't for you and not return to it, you'll still have become a richer, more experienced writer because of it.

Don't deny your creative writing ability the chance to flourish and evolve. Use creative writing exercises to explore and expand your writing, and you'll quickly realise you're a more adaptable and talented writer than you realised.

And you can get started with some creative writing exercises right away with your FREE 5 part creative writing ecourse at http://www.YouAreACreativeWriter.Com.

Creativity Myths Exploded - Why A Regular Creative Routine Won't Choke Your Creativity

There are many myths about creativity and being creative that, if we get sucked into them, can have a dramatic effect on how creative we are. And the tragedy is, so many of them are myths, they're not the reality of how things really are.

One of the big creativity myths is that if you have a regular routine or a system in place to create, that it will complete choke your creativity and imagination and you won't be able to come up with any new or interesting ideas.

The truth is, creativity habits and routines will not only NOT stifle your creativity, they'll allow you to be more freely creative than ever before.

By having a framework in place in terms of WHEN you create, HOW and WHAT you create in this times is completely freed up.

Let's look at what happens without a system or creative routine:

Because your creativity never knows when you're next going to create and make use of some of the ideas you've been having, it starts to get a little annoyed at producing these new ideas. "Why should I bother keep coming up with this great new stuff if you never do anything with it?" it strops like a petulant teenager.

By not having regular times to create, you're creativity has no regular outlet. It starts to get blocked, stale, resentful and the more inconsistently and the less frequently you create, the less effective your creativity and your imagination become.

You don't FORGET how to be creative. You're simply giving your creativity such a strong message of "You're not wanted around here, I have no use for you, I wouldn't bother keep showing up if I were you", that that's exactly what happens. It stops showing up.

When you DO have a creativity habit in place, for example you spend 30 minutes creating each and every morning, your creativity and your imagination is sent an entirely different message.

The subconscious signal you're sending now is "All creative ideas welcome here! I'm open for business at the same time each day, so even if you have an idea outside of office hours, just save it up and bring along the next day, I'll be happy to receive it and welcome you in."

Now, because your creativity knows it has a place to go that's warm, friendly and welcoming - somewhere where everybody knows its name and is always glad it came - OF COURSE it's going to show up more often and with all the ideas it can muster.

Gone is the stroppy teenager attitude, replaced by a freely creative young child still discovering the world and bursting to the seams with creative ideas, enthusiasm and energy, ready to play as soon as you say go!

All this from the simple system of creating for a minimum period each day.

So if you've been struggling to create consistently, give this technique a try. Set aside a minimum of 15 minutes each day, at the same time each day, for the next 30 days to create. Developing this habit, even within just 30 days you'll notice the difference in how freely you create and produce new ideas. And you can start today!

This is one of many ways to be more creative.

I invite you to take the next positive step to increase your creativity today by downloading your free copy of the powerful and practical "Explode Your Creativity!" Action Workbook at http://www.CoachCreative.com

How To Stop Feeling Like You're Always Out Of Creative Ideas And Running On Empty

A major barrier to being freely creative and reaching your true creative potential is a lack of ideas. Many of us create far less than we could - or even give up creating altogether - because we feel it's such a struggle to keep coming up with good new ideas each time we go to create.

This is such a tragedy, as we all are capable of having more ideas than we'll ever need in our lifetimes, we just aren't CAPTURING them.

A life of creativity is a long journey. Let's say part of it is like a roadtrip across America. This is the kind of approach most of take when embarking on a journey like this:

You'll make sure you've got fuel in the car, enough to get you going, and you might pack a few food and drink supplies, then off you race into the adventure lying ahead. After a few dozen miles, you need more fuel, but you're keen to get as far as you can on what you've got. You don't want to lose momentum by stopping now, you've hardly begun.

So you carry on, into the night, and into the back of nowhere. A little while later, the fuel light starts glowing. An anxiety sets in. You're wondering how much further you can get, and more importantly where the next gas station is! Plus your stomach is starting to growl, and those sandwiches are long gone.

The excitement and adventure of the early part of your journey has been replaced by a tense, anxious foreboding feeling that you're running on empty - you and your car - and could break down at any moment.

Not exactly the best conditions for a fun trip.

Yet this is what most of us do in our creative lives, splutter along on one good idea, hoping and praying that the momentum will last until we finish at least this part of the creative project. Like the road trip, there's no enjoyment, no sense of freedom, just anxiety, panic and tension.

Here's the better alternative:

On your car bound adventure, you fill up on fuel and supplies before you go. As you're out on the road, you can enjoy the surroundings and the journey, knowing you've plenty left in the tank.

You stay aware of your fuel situation, and when your fuel gauge dips below half, you stop at the next gas station and top up again. While you're there you have a little stretch and refreshment yourself, and replenish your own food and water supplies.

Reenergised (in car and body) you head back out on the road, looking forward to the next part of your adventure.

In your creative life, keeping plenty of fuel in the tank equates to keeping yourself topped up with ideas. Having a good supply of ideas in a ideas journal gives you the freedom and confidence to create more freely, and to enjoy your creativity as much as possible.

When you see something, or think of something that sparks off a possible new idea, you jot it down right away in your ideas journal. You don't think "Oh I'll remember it later, I don't want to interrupt my flow", because you WON'T remember it, and before you know it, your flow is all dried up and you've got nowhere left to go, broken down and stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Start an ideas journal today, it only needs be a simple note book or sketch book. Keep it with you wherever you go and note down ideas as soon as they come to you. You'll find the more you use it, the easier even more ideas will come to you.

Then, rather than anxiously running on empty all the time, you can get on with enjoying your creative adventures topped and ready to run and run...

This is one of many ways to be more creative.

I invite you to take the next positive step to increase your creativity today by downloading your free copy of the powerful and practical "Explode Your Creativity!" Action Workbook at http://www.CoachCreative.com

No Time To Create? But Is Time The REAL Reason You're Not More Creative?

How often do you complain that if only you had more time, you'd be far more creative?

Do you blame lack of creativity exclusively on lack of time you have, and consider these two elements irrevocably intertwined?

Here's a quick test to find out.

If you had a month off from your everyday life, a whole 30 days free from the commitments, responsibilities and chores you feel prevent you from being creative, what would you do?

What would you create, where would you start, what kind of creative routine would you develop?

If you easily came up with a long list of what, how and when you would create, then that's great. As you know exactly what to do, and realise how important this creative work is in your life, you can begin to find time each day to create.

If you found by thinking of 30 days of creative freedom you actually didn't feel any different about what and how you'd create, or even that it felt overwhelming and you actually felt LESS likely to create, then time is not the real issue for you.

This is very common. We use time as a convenient "excuse" as to why we don't create more. But if you're absolutely honest with yourself, you may well realise it's not about time, or a lack of time.

Even if you have the space in your SCHEDULE to be creative, if you're still not creating, it's because you haven't made space in your MIND to be creative.

Another way of putting this is you're not giving yourself permission to be creative.

Your creativity, rather than being regularly invited out to run freely and play and experiment to its heart's content, has been grounded like a naughty schoolchild, banned from going out to play because it's done wrong, or it hasn't been good enough. And it doesn't even know why...

Until you give yourself permission to be creative, until you allow your creativity to shine and show you what you're really capable of, you're always going to say you don't have time to create.

Or you'll say you don't have the right equipment to create. Or you're not in the right mood to create.

Be honest with yourself. What's the real reason you're not more creative? If you find it's not about lack of time, it's about giving yourself permission, then that's a major step.

Once you've taken that step, you're in a far more empowered position to take the next step to be more creative, instead of holding yourself back with a veil of inaccurate "excuses".

And if you're ready to give your creativity the kick-start it needs, I invite you to download your free copy of the powerful and practical Explode Your Creativity! Action Workbook at http://www.CoachCreative.com.

How To Beat Procrastination - Are You Missing This Vital Step To Overcoming Procrastination?

Procrastination affects all of us who create.

How often do you just go and create without thinking and without employing any delaying tactics like "just" checking your email again, "just" making a snack, or "just" cleaning your cooker?!

The reason most of us struggle with procrastination so much is that we don't even admit to ourselves that we're procrastinating.

We manage to convince ourselves that these kind of trivial activities are utterly urgent and cannot possibly wait another second.

By using this "mind trick" we tell ourselves that we are doing the right thing by attending to the matters that are most demanding of our attention, being responsible and doing what anyone would do.

The problem is, unless you live in a cave in the middle of nowhere, there will ALWAYS be distractions that can stop you creating.

The problem is not these activities in themselves, it's how you manage to convince yourself they're more important and urgent than the creative work you set out to get to do.

In fact this is the first vital step to beating procrastination that so many of us miss, then wonder why we still manage to get so little creating done, and even then it's such a painful struggle.

So, take this simple step today.

Say out loud: "OK, I admit I procrastinate. I let myself get caught up in trivial tasks to avoid creating. It's not a sin, it's not an offence punishable by hanging, it's simply what's happening. By admitting this, I'm taking control again, and putting myself in an empowered and informed position. Now I'm ready to recognise my procrastination habits and start overcoming them..."

This is such a powerful step because it puts you bang in the middle of reality.

It's strips back any mind tricks or denial and just lets you see what's happening from an objective point of view. You're not casting judgement or criticising yourself, you're simply seeing where you are right now and so putting yourself in the best position to make the changes you need to make, to overcome procrastination.

Once you've done that, you can then go on to look at when you procrastinate and how you procrastinate. Identifying these will be the next powerful step in beating procrastination.

And if you're ready to beat procrastination and set your creativity free in the next 21 days, check out the powerful ecourse "7 Steps To Freedom: How To Beat Procrastination And Set Your Creativity Free" at http://www.HowToBeatProcrastination.com

The Creativity Habit - Learn The Secret To A Life Of Abundant & Enjoyable Creativity

The reason behind why most of us get stuck in our creative projects and lives is a lack of consistency. Because we don't create regularly, it feels harder to come up with ideas and find any kind of momentum and flow when we DO try to create. Which means, over time, we develop negative associations with creating that turn us away from it even more.

So as well as the difficulty we have in coming up with ideas and creating anything meaningful, we also gradually only think of creating as something that causes us a lot of struggle and pain. Hardly the right set of circumstances for enjoyable and abundant creating!

The best way to break this negative cycle is to build creativity habits that aren't just a quick fix or stop gap solution, but a system for life.

Now, many creative people run a mile at the sound of phrases like "habit" and "system" and believe that having anything so rigid and structured will stifle their creativity.

This is understandable on a surface level, but when we look a bit deeper it's a concern that simply doesn't stand up.

For example, say you were an athlete. To get into your best physical condition, you need to train every day, right? Does that mean you have to go to the same gym and do the same exercises day in and day out for the rest of your life? Of course not! Maybe one day you go to the gym for some weights training, maybe the next day you go for a run in the local park. The day after you might go swimming, and the next day play squash doubles with 3 friends. Dancing and Yoga classes take up the next two days, and the 7th day you cycle.

As you can see, although the system of daily exercise is in place, you can make it as fun and varied as you want. The system provides that consistent, reliable framework that then ALLOWS you to be more flexible and inventive with what you actually do to get your daily exercise.

On top of this, if you want to add an extra session here and there, it's far easier because you've built up an underlying level of fitness, you're used to being active and enjoy it. It's not the huge struggle it would be if you only tried to go running once a month for example.

A creativity habit is exactly the same. Commit to creating for a minimum of 15 minutes at the same time each day, and after a month you'll have in place a powerful habit for life.

The more regularly you create, the easier it becomes to create. And, most crucially, the more you ENJOY creating again. You dramatically reduce the pressure on yourself to create because you know if a creative project or experiment doesn't work out today, you'll learn from it and try something slightly different tomorrow.

Plus, you built up an underlying level of creativity - in effect keeping your "creativity muscles" toned and strong - that makes it easier to create freely and spontaneously in extra sessions when you want to.

You can start your creativity habit today.

Pick a time of day to create for 15 minutes that's going to work best for you and create everyday for the next 14 days at least. The difference you'll see in your attitude and enjoyment of creating will amaze you.

And to give your creativity the kick start it needs, I invite you to download your free copy of the powerful and practical Explode Your Creativity! Action Workbook at http://www.CoachCreative.com.

The Creativity Habit - What It Is And How To Get It In 30 Days Or Less

How regularly do you create right now? Do you find it easy to create everyday, your creativity flowing smoothly from the moment you get down to creating?

It's more likely that you create erratically, only when you "have time", and then when you do come to create, because it's been so long since the last time, you struggle to focus on one project and make any significant progress.

The secret to putting an end to these frustrating erratic creativity behaviours, the vicious cycle of "I don't create - then I find it harder to create because I haven't created for a while - so I don't create" is to develop creativity habits.

The main habit we're going to focus on is simply creating every day.

With this creativity habit, because you create regularly, it becomes easier and easier to create freely, and many of the associated struggles with creating, like procrastination, not being able to choose one project to work on and having low creative confidence, all become greatly reduced.

Imagine your creativity is like a flowing river.

Except when you don't create, it's like a river in barren conditions without any fresh rainfall. It slowly dries up, and because the rate it's flowing at is decreasing, more and more debris is settling on the river bed. Which slows the river down even more, until it's just a dry trench clogged up with weeds, rocks and dead branches.

With a daily creativity habit, it's like a constant fresh supply of rainfall to the river.

The river flows fast and wide and deep, carving out a smooth channel as it goes, making it even easier to flow freely and powerfully.

Here's how to get started with the daily creativity habit in your life:

1. Pick a time of day to create. We all have times of day when our creativity is naturally on more of an up. Choose one of these times that works well for you, whether it's early morning, mid afternoon or late at night.

2. Choose an amount of time to create. The minimum is 15 minutes and that's a great amount to start with. 15 minutes is just of 1% of a 24 hour day. You can easily commit that to something as important to creating.

3. Create at your chosen time of day for 15 minutes, for at least 14 days. What you create is not so important. What is most important is that you show up EVERY DAY and create for 15 minutes.

4. After 14 days, notice what's working, do more of it. Notice what isn't working, make any adjustments you need to, and do less of these things.

5. If you show up every day for 30 days you'll have formed a very strong creativity habit. Your creative rivers will be surging! But don't stop there. The key to consistent creating is creating everyday.

Once you've got the basic structure of your creativity habit in place, you can extend the amount of time you create. You can also add an extra session of you wish, many people find that 15 minutes first thing in the morning, then a longer session in the evening works well.

Experiment and notice what works FOR YOU.

There's no optimum "one-size-fits-all" set of conditions that work best for every one of us, but there are an optimum set of conditions that work best for you. Find them, stick to them.

Congratulations! You're well on the way to having a daily creativity habit that will be the foundation for abundant and consistent creating for the rest of your life...

And to get your creativity kick-started right away, I invite you to download your free copy of the powerful and practical Explode Your Creativity! Action Workbook at http://www.CoachCreative.com.

5 Ways To Give Your Creative Writing A New Lease Of Life

Does your creative writing feel a little predictable and samey lately? Do you find you always fall back to the same kind of words and phrases, the same kind of ideas?

A fantastic tool for giving your creative writing a new lease of life are creative writing prompts.

Here are 5 ways they can give your writing the boost it needs:

1. A new starting place gives a new perspective. When you write beginning from somewhere completely new, you can't help but have a different outlook to the ones you're familiar with. This fresh perspective encourages you to write with different eyes, in a way you may not have thought of before.

2. You can focus your energy on your writing, not on struggling for ideas. If you feel short of ideas then much of your creative energy seems to get sucked away desperately trying to find something interesting to write about. Creative writing prompts give you that different starting point so you can use your energy to focus on writing, not fretting about a lack of ideas.

3. You're more free to experiment. Writing on your own it's all too easy to stick to safe and trusted methods, even if it does mean you write virtually the same poem or story over and over again. Just by using writing prompts you're giving your creativity the green light, saying "I'm trying something new here, go with it and let's see what we can come up with." And you're creativity will be happy to oblige.

4. You write more, so you evolve more. You can write a short piece using a writing prompt in 5 or 10 minutes. With each new work, you've become a little more experienced, confident and flexible as a writer. This allows you to evolve more quickly meaning all of your writing benefits from a new depth of richness.

5. You put the fun back in writing. If you've been stuck in your writing lately, you'll have realised it's not much fun. Painful, more like. With writing prompts, you take off this pressure and instead begin with the attitude of enjoying your writing, experimenting and seeing where it leads. This new energy then spills over and enhances all your writing.

These are 5 great ways you can use creative writing prompts to give your writing a fresh injection of energy and start seeing more of your writing potential come to the fore.

Ready to get started with some creative writing prompts and exercises right away? Then I invite you to get your FREE 5 part creative writing ecourse at http://www.YouAreACreativeWriter.Com.

The Secret Formula To Abundant Creativity That No-One Talks About

Increasing your creativity, when it comes down to it, is a simple mathematical formula.

Now hang on, before you either run for the hills or start snoring at the mention of the phrase "mathematical formula", this isn't going to tax your mind too much at all! So give it a chance.

CO = CM - CR

Just kidding, here's what that really means in English:

Creative Output = Creative Motivation - Creative Resistance

How much you create is how much you want to create minus how much creative resistance you have.

So, to increase your creativity, to create more, you can do one of two things:

1. Increase your creative motivation

We often get so stuck in the analysis of why we're NOT creating, that we forget how much we love creating and how important creativity is in our lives. Try to imagine if you can, a life without creativity. Picture your life without a single act of creativity. How would that look, what would it be like?

If you're like most creative people, it would be a kind of living torture. Creating is deeply embedded in who we are and what we do. It's not a lifestyle choice or an optional extra. Being creative is engraved in our identities and our personalities. We don't just do creative things, we ARE creative beings.

A great way of increasing your creative motivation is to regularly spend time getting back in touch with how much you love creating, how valuable it is to you, and what an essential part of life it is. Once you do that, you'll instantly gain all the motivation you need to create.

2. Decrease your creative resistance

Even with a high level of motivation, there's no guarantee you'll create freely and abundantly. Why? Remember the formula, your creative output is your motivation minus your resistance. And we always have some form of creative resistance.

Maybe it's in the form of other people telling us our creative pursuits are a waste of time. Maybe it's our own negative thinking and inner doubts about whether we have the talent to create. Maybe it's a fear of failure. Most likely it's a potent mix of all of these.

The crucial aspect here is we ALL experience resistance to creating. And we always will. If you fight it, it only gets stronger. Your internal resistance to creating is just trying to protect you from disappointment and pain. But you're strong enough to overcome that if it happens.

Against what may be the most logical approach, the only way we can create even though we're experiencing resistance is to say "Yes, I'm aware I'm experiencing some resistance, and I know it's a way of trying to protect myself. But creating is very important to me and I'm going to carry on and create anyway."

Work on either of these two aspects and you'll be more creative. Work on both and your creativity will reach levels you might not have even dreamed of!

Would you like to get your creativity kick-started today? Then download your free copy of the powerful and practical Explode Your Creativity! Action Workbook at http://www.CoachCreative.com.

How To Beat Procrastination - You Can Take This Important First Step TODAY

Procrastination is the art of managing to find anything else to do instead of the thing you actually really want and need to get going on.

All of us suffer from having procrastination habits to different extents and it's often creative people who, due to that inherent creativity, manage to take procrastination to new inventive levels, whilst all the time convincing themselves they're not actually procrastinating at all.

This common mind trick is so clever we don't even see that it is a mind trick most of the time and instead truly believe that all the little, fairly trivial, tasks we preoccupy ourselves with are urgent and essential and nothing else can possibly be done before they're taken care of.

Here are some procrastination examples, see which resonate most with you:

"I'd love to do some creative work but I need to reorganise my paints and brushes first. I can't possibly start painting if my colours aren't in order."

"I need to just catch up with a few emails then I'll start creating. If I know I have loads of unread messages in my inbox and keep hearing more come through I just get anxious and won't be able to focus on creating."

"I want to do some new sketches but many of my pencils are broken. I need to go through and make sure they're all sharpened and ready, in case I need to use all of them. In fact I probably will need to go out and get some new spare pencils in case I run out."

"I will get down to creating right after the end of this episode of my favourite sitcom. Oh actually the next episode is one of the funniest of this season, I might just watch that too. Then I'll be in a better mood and I can start creating..."

Sound familiar?

In each of these, we convince ourselves that doing the activity in question is the magic solution that's going to help us suddenly feel creative and inspired. If that was the case, it'd be great. But it's not. Because once you've done one of the above "urgent" tasks, another will come along. And then another.

Put simply, you're procrastinating, but you won't admit it to yourself.

And this is the crucial first step to beating procrastination and reclaiming your creativity. Admit that yes, like all of us do, you too sometimes get caught up in procrastination habits that suck hours of time, time you could be spending creating those projects most important to you.

It's nothing to be ashamed of or afraid of, we ALL procrastinate.

But it's only when you admit it, when you stop and say "Yes I procrastinate, when I really just want to be able to create more", that you can start to recognise how and when you procrastinate and beat those habits that've stunted your creativity for so long.

So take that step today. It could be the most important step you ever take for your creativity.

If you're ready to beat procrastination and set your creativity free in the next 21 days, I invite you to check out the powerful ecourse "7 Steps To Freedom: How To Beat Procrastination And Set Your Creativity Free" at http://www.HowToBeatProcrastination.com

For your free 7 article series on the first steps to beating procrastination, head over to http://www.CoachCreative.com/procrastinationarticles.html

7 Ways A Creative Community Can Sky-Rocket Your Creativity

Sometimes being a creative artist can feel like the loneliest role in the world. Few of us are strong enough alone to keep our motivation high and creativity consistent. The best way to be more creative and more inspired is to get a little help from some creative friends.

So here are 7 of the top ways that being part of a creative community can sky-rocket your creativity to new levels:

1. You don't feel you're the only one in the world struggling to create. Being a part of a community you can share in the struggles and triumphs of other creative people like you, and realise there are common issues most creative people wrestle with, and can help each other overcome.

2. Opportunities for collaboration with other artists. After a short time in a creative community you find creative people who you connect with and who create in similar forms. Joining up for a joint creative project is a great way to motivate and inspire you and take your creativity in new directions.

3. It makes your creative work "real" and valid. Much of the time when we create alone, it's easy to fall into the "tree falling in the forest" syndrome and begin to wonder if no-one else ever sees what you create, does it really even exist? Sharing your work in a safe supportive group gives your work validity and makes it real.

4. It gives you a playground to experiment in. A huge part of being creative is experimenting and trying new stuff. Having a captive, supportive audience in a creative community gives you the encouragement to do this, and allows you to stumble across those wonderful happy accidents you can never have if you create in exactly the same way day in day out.

5. You tap into an endless stream of ideas. Discussing creativity with other creative people sparks off dozens of new ideas and possible directions you won't discover sitting there alone talking to yourself. The stimulation of communicating with like minded creatives then taking these ideas and this energy back to your creative projects is a large part of the creative process.

6. You meet real, living breathing artists, with lives like yours. There's a myth that to be creative in an authentic way you have to be a world famous novelist, film maker or rock star. Being a part of a community helps you realise that ALL of us create in ways that are just as important and valid, and this inspires you to create more.

7. You can give and receive genuine support and feedback. A supportive creative community encourages each member to share their work and gives them encouragement and feedback in a safe environment. You also get to be a part of supporting other artists and seeing how valuable a contribution you can have to the creative evolution of others.

These are 7 of the top ways being part of a creative community can sky-rocket your own creativity to new levels.

And with that in mind, I'd like to invite you to CoachCreativeSpace, a thriving interactive creative community space for you to learn how to be as creative as you've always known you can be.

You'll find Creative Forums, Groups, Artwork and Blogs to share in and contribute to, and supportive like minded creative people who are experiencing some of the same challenges and triumphs you are. Check it out now, at:

http://www.CoachCreativeSpace.com

How To Beat Procrastination - Why Analysis Only Leads To Creative Paralysis

Procrastination is a deadly assassin, infiltrating your creative habits when you're not looking, creeping up and claiming huge chunks of time you could be using to create.

One of the reasons procrastination is so powerful and such an enemy to creativity, is because it's so stealthy and subtle. Before you've realised what's happening, another day has disappeared with most of it spent on small, fairly meaningless tasks and very little creating.

So once we admit that procrastination is an issue that all of us face as creative people, what's the best way to overcome it?

IS there a way to overcome it, or should we resign ourselves to a life of fleeting moments of creativity in between oceans of unproductive time?

The seemingly obvious answer is to find out WHY you procrastinate. Surely once you know why you procrastinate, you'll be able to stop procrastinating. Right?

Well, unfortunately that just doesn't work. Here's the kind of logical reasoning that usually follows:

"OK, so I finally admit it, procrastination is an issue, I spent a lot of time on trivial stuff like checking my email every 10 minutes, and doing unnecessary "research" on how to create, rather than just getting down to creating.

To beat these procrastination habits, I've got to find out why I procrastinate. So... Maybe it's because I'm working on a creative project I'm not really passionate about, something I feel I SHOULD be doing rather than something I really enjoy?

Maybe I'm scared of getting too far with the project then getting stuck and having to abandon it, adding to my growing collection of unfinished projects?

Maybe I'm procrastinating because deep down I feel guilty about creating, and don't feel I deserve to have time to create just for me. So I end up doing other things to avoid making this creative time feel so self indulgent?"

And I'm sure you could go on and come up with a few pages of possible reasons WHY you procrastinate to avoid creating...

All you then end up with is a list of perfectly feasible reasons why you procrastinate. Every one of them probably has some truth, and has some influence on why you don't create more.

But all you've done is give yourself more ammunition for procrastinating!

"No wonder I've been procrastinating so much recently, look at all these reasons stacked up against me! It's amazing I even pick up a pen or a paintbrush at all!"

Result? You create EVEN LESS than before.

Endless analysis leads only to creative paralysis.

So what's the alternative?

Focus on the reality of your procrastinating habits, and look at the HOW and the WHEN. Once you begin - objectively and without judgement - to find the times and situations when you're most likely to procrastinate, and the ways you're most likely to procrastinate, you're in an informed and empowered position.

Forget about the WHY and endless analysis. Start observing the WHEN and the HOW of your procrastinating.

Only then can you take the next steps to finally beating procrastination and freeing your creativity from its stranglehold.

And if you're ready to beat procrastination and set your creativity free in the next 21 days, check out the powerful ecourse "7 Steps To Freedom: How To Beat Procrastination And Set Your Creativity Free" at http://www.HowToBeatProcrastination.com

For your free 7 article series on the first steps to beating procrastination, head over to http://www.CoachCreative.com/procrastinationarticles.html

The Art Of Procrastination - How To Waste Time And Get Absolutely Nothing Done

Calling all creatives! Are you ready to learn 5 top techniques in the art of procrastination? Follow even one or two of these and you'll successfully get absolutely nothing creative done, day after day, week after week, year after year!

1. Make sure you get everything else done before you start creating. This includes taking every item off every shelf in your house and thoroughly cleaning it, making certain that every item in everyone's wardrobe is crisply ironed and ready to wear, and that you've planned and prepared for every meal of the day for the next 7 weeks at least.

2. Don't create anything unless the conditions are absolutely perfect. You must have every last detail in place, all your supplies and equipment ready, a clear 5 hour time slot set aside, the room at the right temperature to the nearest hundredth of a degree and be wearing the right clothes. Oh, and be in the right mood to create of course. Only then can you start creating!

3. Keep your email and phone alerts on at all times when you go to create. This will ensure that each time you get an urgent email about little blue pills or foolproof stock market opportunities you can attend to it right away. You can also make sure you take all those essential calls from people wanting to sell you stuff you'll never want or need...

4. Don't even think about creating with equipment and materials that are incomplete or close to running out. If even one tube in your set of 128 paints is less than half full you must go out and replace it right away. There's no way you can create with fewer paints than you have. This applies to whatever creative form you work in, have your supplies 100% topped up at all times. In fact, even better, add more new stuff than you'll ever need, just in case.

5. Don't ever admit you procrastinate. That would be a foolish sign of weakness, and if you did that you might realise there are ways you can overcome it! Stay deeply entrenched in denial and tell yourself that writing one poem or painting one picture a year is a prolific output and you never waste time and avoid creating.

Follow these 5 fabulous techniques for procrastinating and you'll be able to rejoice in the fact that you never get anything done, despite telling yourself it's everyone else's fault and you have absolutely no control over when, where, and how much you create!

Congratulations, you've mastered the art of procrastination!

(But don't admit it to yourself, that'd ruin tip no 5!)

If, in fact, you ARE ready to beat procrastination and set your creativity free in the next 21 days, I'd like to invite you to check out the powerful ecourse "7 Steps To Freedom: How To Beat Procrastination And Set Your Creativity Free" at http://www.HowToBeatProcrastination.com

How To Beat Procrastination - Why Procrastination Is More Addictive Than Chocolate

Out doing the grocery shopping while hungry (always a fatal mistake), you couldn't resist picking up a huge bar of your favourite chocolate.

"I deserve it" you think to yourself, "I'll just have a couple of chunks each night as a treat, it'll last me weeks..."

So, later that evening, after you're home and unpacked, and everyone's eaten and gone off to do their own thing, you remember that bar of chocolate. In fact, more than just remember it, you swear it's whispering your name seductively from the top shelf of that cupboard you think no-one else goes to.

"Ok, just a couple of chunks..."

So you take the bar of chocolate down from the top shelf (needing to balance precariously on one leg on a chair to do so), open the wrapping and break off two perfectly formed chunks.

Still as delicious as the first time you ever tasted it...

Those first two chunks disappear quicker than an ice cube on a sweltering summer's day.

"I'll just have another couple of chunks" you say to yourself, already feeling a little guilty and double checking to make sure no-one is around.

Half an hour, half the bar, and a whole load of "just one more"s later, you're not feeling so good.

Not only do you feel a little unwell from all that chocolate, more painful are the feelings it's brought up again. Guilty feelings, and you know you shouldn't but it's become such a habit you can't stop yourself kind of feelings. That whole "OK the diet starts as soon as this bar is finished" conversation you've had with yourself a thousand times.

Sounding familiar?

Exactly the same process occurs when we procrastinate. Except procrastination can be even more addictive - and bring up even worse feelings within you - than eating chocolate.

You set out to create with the best of intentions. You're almost ready, in fact after you "just check your email", you can start creating.

5 minutes later, email checked and dealt with. After you've "just" sorted these materials into colour order, you'll be ready to begin creating!

15 minutes later, materials sorted. Now, you'll "just" go and make a drink, then it's on with creating!

5 minutes later, drink made. It did look a bit messy in the kitchen though. You're not sure you can work knowing there's all that clutter out there. You better "just" go and tidy up then you'll have a clear head to get down to creating.

15 minutes later, your kitchen is tidied and the worktops so sparklingly clean you could eat your dinner right off them. Let's create! Right after you "just" check your email to make sure nothing important has come in since you last checked.

5 minutes later, email checked. And then you realise that three quarters of an hour has passed, seemingly even more quickly that that half bar of chocolate passed between your lips... And you've created nothing on the project you sat down to start.

Enter all those oh so familiar feelings of frustration, guilt and oh-no-I've-done-it-again-why-do-I-even-bother-trying-to-create...

Procrastination you see is even more addictive than chocolate.

But there's a way to beat procrastination. The crucial first step is to admit and recognise that you do procrastinate. You can't do anything to overcome it, until you admit it's an issue you're struggling with, and one you're ready to start beating.

The next step is not to analyse WHY you procrastinate - that simply gives you a stack of excuses to procrastinate even more. Instead look at WHEN you procrastinate and HOW you procrastinate. Armed with this knowledge, this snapshot of the true reality of where you're at, you're then in a strong and empowered position to start overcoming those addictive procrastinating habits that have stifled you creativity for so long...

And if you're ready to beat procrastination and set your creativity free in the next 21 days, check out the powerful ecourse "7 Steps To Freedom: How To Beat Procrastination And Set Your Creativity Free" at http://www.HowToBeatProcrastination.com

For your free 7 article series on the first steps to beating procrastination, head over to http://www.CoachCreative.com/procrastinationarticles.html

How To Beat Procrastination - Why "Why?" Is Not The Answer To Overcoming Procrastination

We all struggle from the effects of procrastination to some degree, whoever we are and however creative we are.

Even if we take the brave and honest step of admitting that we do procrastinate, and declare we're determined to overcome it's debilitating grip on our creativity, we nearly always fall at the next hurdle.

The most logical thought process is:

"OK, I admit, yes I do procrastinate.

Procrastinating drastically limits how much I create and the quality of what I create.

So I need a way to beat procrastination and free up my creativity more.

The best way to do this is look at WHY I procrastinate. Once I get the answer to that, my problems are solved, no more procrastination!"

Sounds like a good plan, doesn't it?

Except it doesn't work. Here's what tends to happen next:

"So maybe I procrastinate because I lack confidence in creating? Or maybe it's because I'm not really sure this is the right creative project to be working on right now? Or maybe I don't want to mess up so I avoid getting too involved with the project. Or could it be I feel I don't deserve to have the time and opportunity to create when there are others far more deserving and talented? So I sabotage my time by procrastinating."

For most of us, ALL of these are perfectly valid questions and have some truth and relevance to us. And, given a little time, I'm sure your creative mind could come up with many more reasons.

So, having the knowledge that yes there are probably about 35+ equally likely reasons WHY we procrastinate gives us the answer we need to beat procrastination! Right?

Er, no, unfortunately.

All that happens is we procrastinate MORE. We start to think: "Look at all these reasons stacked up against me! No WONDER I procrastinate! It's amazing I've ever created anything in my life!"

Here's the alternative approach that works:

Instead of endlessly analysing WHY you procrastinate, find out WHEN and HOW you're most likely to procrastinate.

What this gives you is an honest appraisal of the reality of your procrastinating habits. Maybe you procrastinate most when you actually have a spare few hours to create, and end up doing less than when you have short but energetic bursts of creating? Maybe you're favourite procrastination habits are checking your email, surfing the internet and watching repeats of TV shows you never really liked in the first place?

Gather the information without judgement. Forget about the "WHY?". Find out WHEN and HOW you procrastinate most.

It's only then that you really begin to take control and put yourself in the empowered position of being ready to overcome those procrastinating habits at last...

And if you're ready to beat procrastination and set your creativity free in the next 21 days, check out the powerful ecourse "7 Steps To Freedom: How To Beat Procrastination And Set Your Creativity Free" at http://www.HowToBeatProcrastination.com

For your free 7 article series on the first steps to beating procrastination, head over to http://www.CoachCreative.com/procrastinationarticles.html

How To Beat Procrastination - Recognising The Little "Justs" That Waste Years Of Your Life

How often do you find yourself fully intending to settle down and create something new, but only after you've "just" checked your email, or "just" made a snack, or "just" reorganised your pens, paints or materials?

This collection of little "justs" adds up to a lot of minor activity and very little creativity.

These kind of procrastination techniques are common to us all, and most of the time their greatest strength in stopping us creating is convincing us that all these little "justs" are insignificant, and aren't really stopping us from creating.

So what if you do take a few minutes to check your email every now and then? Does it really make much of a difference? What if you do spend 10 minutes rearranging your supplies before you go to create, does it have much of an impact on creating?

Let's look first at the raw facts, the time involved.

Say it takes you only 3 minutes to check your email. And you do this every half an hour. In a typical working day of 8 hours, that's 48 minutes checking email. 48 minutes out of a day of 24 hours is a little over 3%.

If you lived to 70, spending 3% of your life checking emails (or an equivalent "just" habit), that's over TWO YEARS of your life!

Are you happy that you're going to spend two years of your life doing something of such little significance, especially when many of those times when you went to check there was nothing new of any significance to see anyway?

And this is just the time you can actually measure. The real damage comes from how these little habits stop you ever getting any flow or momentum going with your creative work.

The first step to beating procrastination is to actually admit that you procrastinate.

Once you take that step, step up and say - "Yes I procrastinate, I spend time on fairly insignificant activities as a way of avoiding creating what really matters" - then you're in a very strong position to take the next step to overcome it.

Admitting you procrastinate is a positive, empowering step.

You're ready to put an end to these time wasting habits, to take back control of your creative life, and to create on your terms, when you want, how you want, and without distraction from some minor insignificant task you "just" have to do first.

Take that step today, admit you procrastinate, and prepare yourself for the next step in beating procrastination.

And if you're ready to beat procrastination and set your creativity free in the next 21 days, check out the powerful ecourse "7 Steps To Freedom: How To Beat Procrastination And Set Your Creativity Free" at http://www.HowToBeatProcrastination.com

For your free 7 article series on the first steps to beating procrastination, head over to http://www.CoachCreative.com/procrastinationarticles.html

How To Beat Procrastination - The Crucial First Step You Can Take Before You Sleep Tonight

Procrastination - the act of avoiding something you want to do by doing other activities you convince yourself are more important and more urgent - is one of the biggest issues creative people wrestle with.

However much you personally struggle with getting down and just creating, without finding a hundred and one other tasks to do first, there's one crucial step you must take before can even begin to overcome procrastination.

Are you ready for this startling revelation, the secret to setting you off on the road to procrastination free creating?

The first step is simple: Admit that you procrastinate.

In fact it's so simple, that's why we tend to overlook it and plunge headlong into all sorts of analysis about why we're not creating.

How often do you find yourself asking questions like:

"Maybe this isn't quite the right project for me?"

"Maybe I'm scared of messing this project up and all that time will be wasted?"

"Maybe deep down I doubt I have the ability to create something like this?"

While these are all genuine and understandable concerns, they all overlook the basic fact that yes you do procrastinate. And that's OK, it's not a hangable offence, it's not something to be ashamed of.

Everyone who creates procrastinates, just to different degrees.

Here's your chance to regain control of that procrastination and start being more creative than you've been in probably longer than you can remember.

It starts with this first crucial step, admit that you procrastinate.

Once you've done that, you can move on to the next step, which is looking at when you're most likely to procrastinate, and how you're most likely to procrastinate.

You won't find some magic secret to why you're procrastinating, a single answer that will pop into your head and let you say "THAT'S why I procrastinate! Now that's out of the way I can get on with creating, I won't ever procrastinate again!"

But once you take this first step of admitting you procrastinate, then you can commit to looking at when and how you procrastinate.

Take this step before you go to sleep tonight.

Tomorrow you'll be more ready for the next step to beating procrastination than you've ever been before.

And if you're ready to beat procrastination and set your creativity free in the next 21 days, check out the powerful ecourse "7 Steps To Freedom: How To Beat Procrastination And Set Your Creativity Free" at http://www.HowToBeatProcrastination.com

For your free 7 article series on the first steps to beating procrastination, head over to http://www.CoachCreative.com/procrastinationarticles.html

Creative Confidence - How To Avoid Drowning Before You Remember How To Swim

If you've not created very much for a long period, or if you've only been creating relatively small projects, and long to return to more expansive and ambitious works, there are two main ways of doing this.

Unfortunately, many of us take the difficult option by embarking on a major complex project, get stuck early on, our confidence in creating takes a shattering blow, and we retreat further into a frustrated non-creative state.

But there is a better way.

To illustrate, let me share the story of high school champion swimmer Cathy.

Naturally gifted, at 16 Cathy was the strongest swimmer in her school and had little competition locally. She joined the regional team, then the national team and by the age of 19 was one of the most successful swimmers in her country.

Cathy loved swimming, but through her twenties, life kind of got in the way. Her swimming career had to be supplemented by additional income, she got an office job, and before Cathy really realised it, she woke up one day at 39 years old in a middle management position in a job she didn't really care about.

Cathy decided it was time to rediscover some of the passions of her younger days, and swimming was the big one.

So, despite never having been in water any deeper than her bathtub for some 15 years, Cathy decided to go to the ocean to swim. Maybe you can guess what happened next.

Cathy underestimated the force of the tides, was overwhelmed by the water before she got up to her waist, retreating rapidly back to the safety of the shore. Worse than her struggle to actually swim was her realisation that she wasn't the fit, strong swimmer she used to be.

For the next 6 years, Cathy returned to nothing more adventurous than a bathtub, her pride bruised and her confidence having taken a severe blow.

On her 45th birthday, Cathy decided again that her urge to swim could not be ignored. But she was more terrified than ever at what might happened if she returned to the water. So she took the brave and humble step of enrolling in a swimming class at her local pool.

Within a few weeks, Cathy was gaining confidence in the water again. So much so that one of the teachers asked if she would like to help out with the babies swimming class that followed on from her lesson.

Now, a year later, Cathy teaches mothers, toddlers and children to swim in half a dozen classes a week. She also swims for herself, is in better physical shape than she's been for nearly two decades, and most importantly, loves being in the water again.

How does this relate to you and your creative life? Are you scared to "get back in the water"? Is your confidence in creating so low you barely attempt to create anything?

What are 3 things you could do this weekend to start to take the steps back to creating what you love? We're not talking about throwing yourself in the ocean, just dipping your toes in the shallow end of the pool, splashing around and having a little fun again.

List 3 things you could do this weekend, then pick one, set a time to do it, and take that action! Taking that first step will lead to another and another. Remember the story of Cathy and just imagine where you can be 3, 6 and 12 months from now...

And to kick-start your creativity today download your free copy of the powerful and practical Explode Your Creativity! Action Workbook at http://www.CoachCreative.com.

Creative Inspiration - How Are You Leaving Your Unique Creative Fingerprints On The World?

Most of us who are creative have two major motivations to create.

The first is to discover more about ourselves, figure out who we are, what's important to us and where we're heading.

Our creative art in whatever form it takes allows us to experiment, explore and step by step become more ourselves.

The second major motivation to create is to connect with others.

To somehow touch, enrich and add a little colour to the lives of other people, whether they're people around us, or until now complete strangers.

So think for a moment how this happens in your creative life.

What creative fingerprints are you leaving on the lives of others?

How does your creativity enhance and inspire other people to create more, to understand themselves better, and ultimately be more happy and at peace with themselves?

You might well be thinking: "But how can I do that, I'm not a best selling author or a renowned painter with works in galleries around the world? How can someone like me do any good with what I create?"

What you may be overlooking is that your art, the "creative product" that results at the end of a new project is only a small part of the story.

There are many ways to get your art in front of the eyes of an appreciative audience - especially since the explosion of the internet. But there are other ways, equally powerful and inspiring ways, you can leave your creative fingerprints.

As important as WHAT you create is HOW you create.

Imagine you have a day job local to where to live and walk to work every morning. You regularly pass a young man in a coffee shop, who always has a sketchbook out, scribbling away. You've never seen the result of his creativity, in fact it's not relevant to the impression he leaves on you.

Just by seeing that young man publicly creating each day, being brave enough to demonstrate through his actions that creating is something important enough to him that he has no fear or embarrassment about drawing in the midst of a crowded coffee shop, can't fail to inspire you.

Or maybe every evening you walk home past a dance studio and see a mature couple in each other's arms, gracefully gliding through the kind of steps they've danced a million times before, still with the same passion and enjoyment that they had when they were young and first met.

Again, you couldn't help but be inspired and encouraged in your own creativity.

You too can be the young guy sketching in the coffee shop, or the dancing couple. Just by stepping up and creating each day, you also can touch the lives of other creative people, lead by example and say "Creating is a core part of my life, I'm showing my commitment to that by showing up each day and simply creating."

Think of some of the ways you can do this today. Then put them into action. You have no idea just what kind of fingerprints you could leave on the creative life of another...

I invite you to take the next positive step to increase your creativity today by downloading your free copy of the powerful and practical "Explode Your Creativity!" Action Workbook at http://www.CoachCreative.com

How to Beat Procrastination - How Many Procrastinators Does It Take To Change A Light Bulb?

Q. How many procrastinators does it take to change a light bulb?

A. Five.

One to check their email, one to go and make a cup of coffee and a snack, one to empty, clean and rearrange their toolbox so they're 100% prepared and ready, one to go on the internet and read at least 10 articles on how to change a light bulb, and one to sit in the dark and complain they never have enough time to do things like change light bulbs... And, guess what, the light bulb doesn't get replaced!

Which one of those five is most like you?

I know I've used each and every one of those techniques to avoid creating. And about a hundred others.

There's one crucial step to beating procrastination that if you don't take, you'll be trapped in these seemingly never ending cycles of procrastination for the rest of your life.

How many minutes of each hour do you waste procrastinating when you could be creating? How many hours each week? How many days in this last year can you write off to various procrastination habits?

It's a scary thought isn't it?

I'm not asking you to count this time up to depress you, but to show you the first step in how to beat procrastination.

The first step is simply to ADMIT you procrastinate.

To say "Yep, this last year I've probably spent at least a week or two purely on doing things to avoid creating what's important to me..." It's not to judge or criticise you, it doesn't make you a bad or weak person. By admitting you procrastinate you instantly take a step towards being stronger, more informed, and far less likely to procrastinate as much any more.

By admitting you procrastinate you're also saying "It's time for change. From this day on I'm ready to drastically reduce the time I spend procrastinating and reclaim this time for creative pursuits that are important to me."

Congratulations, you're on the way to beating procrastination.

Once you've admitted you do procrastinate, the next stage is to look at WHEN and HOW you procrastinate. As soon as you begin to shine a light on those most common habits of procrastination, you'll be in a far more powerful position to eliminate them.

But it all hinges on that first crucial step. Are you ready to admit you procrastinate, and take the first step to overcoming it?

And to finally beat procrastination and set your creativity free in the next 21 days, I invite you to check out the powerful ecourse "7 Steps To Freedom: How To Beat Procrastination And Set Your Creativity Free" at http://www.HowToBeatProcrastination.com