Creative Writing Secrets- 7 Ways To Be A Better Creative Writer Today

So you want to be a better creative writer?

Every one of us has the ability to improve our creative writing output, both in quantity and quality.

Here are 7 great ways you can use right away to be a better creative writer:

1. Become a sponge. Absorb all that’s around you, the tiny intricate details of the world that most people miss. A cobweb on a leaf, the rhythms of the city, the rise and fall of your partner’s chest as they sleep.

Creative writing that’s rewarding to write – and enjoyable to read - begins with noticing and appreciating the close up snapshots of everyday life.

2. Visit a variety of places and environments. Every time we visit somewhere we’ve never been before, there’s an abundance of new stimulation for our senses.

Become aware of how you feel in different places and environments and which make you feel more creative, and fill you with ideas.

3. Watch classic foreign movies. Without subtitles! By removing one powerful element of communication – speech and language – we can see more clearly how people communicate in other ways.

See how emotions are demonstrated in the subtleties of facial expressions and small gestures. Don’t mute the sound though. Listen to the changes in rhythms in the voices and see how much you can understand even without knowing the words they’re using.

4. Practice little and often. Have a daily ritual of writing creatively, even if it’s just 3 lines of poetry or a couple of paragraphs. Go to a place you can write without distraction and where you feel encouraged to write.

With these routines in place, you begin to “give yourself permission” to store up your creativity in between and let it flow freely in these special time periods.

5. Adjust your personal remote control. Imagine you have your own personal remote control handset, like a TV. Experiment with turning up the volume, increasing the brightness, or changing the colour saturation of the world around you.

Notice how when you focus on each element and increase or decrease the intensity of that element, you can have a more vivid experience of life around you.

6. Practice writing with different length sentences. Start with a medium length sentence, say 12 words, describing a scene. Then add a word at a time to make it more richly descriptive, until it’s double the original length.

Then go the other way, remove a word at a time while keeping the creative and descriptive essence of the sentence. See how few words you can use to still vividly describe the same scene.

7. Observe people’s conversations. Notice how people talk, their voices, the way their tone and volume changes, how they emphasise different words and syllables.

Notice too how people use their faces and hands to add impact to what they’re saying. By being more aware of these details, you can make your own creative writing more rich and realistic.

These are just 7 useful ideas you can put into action today to help you develop your creative writing.

Which are YOU going to put into action next?

Want to find out how more about how to unlock your creative writing potential? Get your FREE 5 part creative writing ecourse at www.YouAreACreativeWriter.Com.

Creativity Coach and keen creative writer Dan Goodwin helps people who are frustrated they're not using their creative talents as well as they could be. See more at his website: http://www.CoachCreative.com

Creativity & The Danger Of Blanket Beliefs - Which Ones Are Smothering YOUR Creativity?

What is the one single thing that will hold back your creativity, even if you have the perfect environment, studio, equipment, support network, marketing, and finances in place to freely create and share with the world whatever your heart desires?

The answer? Your belief system.

Our belief systems are the collected thoughts we have about the world and ourselves in it, those thoughts we assume to be true, and no longer question or challenge.

Many beliefs we have may come from direct experience and good judgement and are entirely healthy to hold and abide by. For example we believe if we put our hand in a fire it will get burnt. And we’d be right!

But what about other beliefs that appear to be just as irrefutable and entirely founded in truth, but actually aren’t?

These can be beliefs that in fact also limit us hugely, even if we don’t initially realise it.

There are those beliefs which may be fairly specific to your creative life and aspirations, for example:

“I can’t draw so it’s pointless me trying anything else artistic.”

“Getting a book deal these days is impossible, there’s too much competition.”

“I tried dancing ballroom years ago and was useless so I couldn’t dance salsa.”

Then there are those that are even wider reaching, such as:

“All artists suffer from depression”.

“You can’t make money from something you love.”

“You can only have a few good ideas before you run out.”

Do any of these examples sound familiar to your belief system?

We can call these beliefs, that we hold without having seriously questioned or challenged in years, and that seriously limit our creative efforts, Blanket Beliefs.

And yes, blankets can be very comforting. They can keep us warm and cosy, huddled up in the same position for hours, days or years, safe from the fear of change, protected from needing to reach out beyond ourselves and the familiarity of what we know.

But blankets can also smother us, stifle us, and entangle us, holding us back from breaking free, striding out and seeking what we truly desire in our creative lives.

The first step in breaking free from your Blanket Beliefs is to recognise them, and separate what is actually true from what you just BELIEVE to be true.

Take the time to think about some of the beliefs you hold without question about your creative life.

Write them down as a list, the thoughts you hold as unquestionably true that seriously limit your creativity and prevent you moving forward and achieving what you dream of achieving. Use the examples above if they’re relevant to you and add as many others as you think of.

Then consider what holding these unproven Blanket Beliefs costs you and your creative ambitions on a daily basis. Only then can you begin to work on replacing these beliefs with others that are more realistic, more healthy, and that will serve you far better in the long run.

So isn’t it time you began to identify and loosen some of your Blanket Beliefs?

Don’t you owe it to yourself, and to the rest of the waiting world, to stop smothering YOUR creativity?

Learn more about how to increase YOUR creativity today... Get your FREE copy of Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin’s powerful and practical "Explode Your Creativity!" Action Workbook when you sign up to the FREE “Create Create!” ezine. Visit the website now: www.CoachCreative.com

Creative Writing- The 5 Key Elements To Prolific Creative Writing

Anyone can be a more prolific and more creative writer than they currently are.

Yes, there are natural talents and abilities that come into play up to a point.

But much of what it takes to be accomplished and prolific in your creative writing can be learnt, practiced and developed.

Some writers may be able to switch their writing abilities on and off like a switch. But for most of us it takes a lot more dedication and focus.

The good news is that we can all improve our creative writing output in both quality and quantity if we pay attention to these 5 key elements:

1. Believing that you CAN be prolific. First and foremost, if you don’t deep down believe that you can write creatively, this limiting belief will severely restrict all your creative writing.

Like a wasp trapped in a jam jar, however furiously you struggle, you’ll be buzzing around in a very limited space. Have an honest assessment of your beliefs around your creative writing, and if necessary, give them a positive tune up.

2. A good supply of ideas. Every book, every article, every poem - everything that’s ever been written - began with an idea. What do you do to ensure you have a steady stream of new ideas to develop in your writing?

The most valuable element of having a good supply of ideas is to catch them as they appear and record them in enough detail so when you return to expand them the essence is strongly there. Use a notebook or voice recorder to do this as they arise.

3. Using regular routines. One of the greatest resistances writers have is to getting into regular routines and ways of working. They feel it’ll somehow stifle their creativity and stop them being spontaneous and free in creating.

The only thing that will restrict your writing is you. Develop regular writing routines and you actually give yourself permission to create more often and more freely.

4. A conducive writing environment. If you come to write at your desk and there’s papers everywhere, you can’t find where your notes are from last time, or there’s stacks of unrelated clutter all around, you’re not going to be inspired to write freely.

You want to be able to come to your writing space and flow straight into writing without any unnecessary physical distractions. Do whatever you need to create a calm space where you can write as easily possible.

5. Learn from feedback. The only way to get better in anything is to do the best you can at this point, then listen to feedback about what was good and what could be improved and act upon that feedback.

Build a support team around you who you trust to give an honest appraisal of your creative writing, while remaining positive and encouraging.

These are the 5 key elements to being a prolific and developing in your creative writing.

Which of them do you have strongly in place already?

And which would it benefit you to spend a little more time and focus on improving?

Discover more about how you can develop YOUR creative writing right away. Get your FREE 5 part creative writing ecourse at http://www.YouAreACreativeWriter.Com

Creativity Coach and keen creative writer Dan Goodwin helps people who are frustrated they're not making the best of their unique creative abilities. See more at his website: http://www.CoachCreative.com

Be More Creative-How Mapping Tiny Landmarks In Your Creative Journey Can Help You Be More Creative

However creative or prolific we are, one thing that many creative people find difficult is to acknowledge and appreciate the great progress we make in our creative work.

When it comes to watching other creative people, we actually find it quite easy to keep track of what they’re doing, and how much they’re progressing.

We can remember that only 6 months ago, our friend Catherine had never even heard Salsa music. Now she’s out every Friday night living it up in the Salsa clubs, and wowing the crowds with her natural style and smooth moves.

We can recall how our Design colleague Ben was at an all time low creatively just a few weeks ago, and now after a personal creative breakthrough, is producing some of the freshest most exciting designs since his days at design school 10 years ago.

So why DO we find it so hard to recognise - and more crucially to VALUE – our own creative progress?

The obvious reason is that we have less objectivity.

Because we’re with ourselves 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it’s more difficult to stand back and get that perspective we get when we’re away from other people for periods of time.

Another reason is we tend to be less kind with ourselves about our achievements.

When we do create something amazing, we brush it off with casual comments like: “Yeh it’s pretty good I suppose, but anyone could’ve done it, it’s nothing special.”

So how CAN we get better at recognising our progress, giving ourselves more encouragement and being more creative?

A great technique to use is to have a Tiny Landmarks chart.

This is a chart that can be as simple as a sheet of A3 paper pinned up on our wall, where we note our “Tiny Landmarks” – the small but significant achievements in our creative lives, and the day we achieve them.

But calling it Tiny Landmarks, doesn’t that belittle our achievements, you might ask?

No, quite the opposite. As we talked about before, often we dismiss our creative achievements as not being important or significant. So we get in the habit of not acknowledging ANY of them, even though we're striding forward.

By allowing ourselves to record “tiny” landmarks, as well as major ones, we can see how we gradually and steadily build on our efforts, step by step, day by day.

Here are some example of some Tiny Landmarks you might record:

- 1st finished poem

- 5th published article

- 1st review in an art journal

- 3rd painting completed this year

- 1st blog entry to get a comment

- 1st commissioned portrait

- 10th piece of jewellery sold

- 1st A3 collage completed

- 1st 1000 words of new book written

- 3rd consecutive day of creating for an hour in the morning

- 1st song completed on new album

- 1st public performance of a poem

There are thousands of possible others. They can be as small as you wish, remember each step is a significant one.

At the end of each month, look back at your landmarks chart and see how much you’ve progressed.

By seeing the areas you’ve progressed with, this technique can also help you plan for how you want to develop your creativity in the future.

You can see which areas you’re naturally strong in, and which areas you might want to dedicate more time, energy and learning to.

Using a Tiny Landmarks chart is a brilliant way of tracking your creative progress, and as a result helping you be more creative.

Start yours today and see how effectively it increases your creativity.

Want to learn more about how to be more creative? Then sign up to "Create Create!" - Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin's free twice monthly ezine - today, and get your FREE copy of the “Explode Your Creativity!” Action Workbook. Head on over now to www.CoachCreative.com

Creative Writing- 5 Powerful Tips To Increase Your Self-Confidence In Creative Writing

Creative Writing is something that everyone is capable of. And we can all improve our creative writing – and our enjoyment of it - in a great number of ways.

One of the key factors to writing creatively and freely is confidence.

It doesn’t matter how talented you are as a writer, if you lack the confidence to write and to explore your writing potential you simply won’t create as well or as often as you’re capable of creating.

So here are 5 powerful tips to help you increase YOUR self-confidence as a creative writer –

1. Believe you’re creative. If you didn’t believe you were capable of writing creatively at all, you wouldn’t even be trying, so you’re off to a great start. Now you can build on this core belief.

One way of doing this is to spend some time visualizing how your life would be if you were wildly successful as a creative writer, whatever “wildly successful” means to you.

Put yourself into this future visualization of yourself as strongly as possible. Ask yourself what beliefs you hold about yourself that have enabled you to be this creative, this successful. Then start bringing them into your life today.

2. Use your senses. So much of the time we walk round virtually oblivious to the highly sensory world around us. We may as well stick cotton wool in our ears, a sock in our mouth and bag over our heads!

It’s through our senses we connect with and experience the world. Take some time to go somewhere new and practice using your senses. Concentrate on each of your senses one at a time, what you’re really seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and feeling.

Do this regularly and you’ll have an abundance of rich experiences to draw upon in your writing, which in turn will increase your confidence to write.

3. Set small achievable goals. If you haven’t written for a while - months or even years maybe - then to set yourself the task of writing a new novel this weekend is ambitious at best. At worst it’s simply setting yourself up for major disappointment and blow to your confidence.

Instead, set smaller achievable steps. For example, “Today I’m going to write 250 words about the past life of my book’s new character Jake.”

Start small to build your confidence, then add more challenging tasks for yourself as you go.

4. Write aimlessly. By this I mean don’t set out to write a perfect wartime romance, or a wonderful poem about the cherry trees in your back yard.

It’s great to have writing ideas and aims like this but the problems come when we get too attached to them. Then, when our creative writing takes us elsewhere, instead of exploring what could be a wonderful new direction, we just feel we’ve failed in writing the piece we set out to write.

Pick an inspiring starting point, then just let your imagination – and creative writing – flow wherever it wants to.

5. Join a supportive group. Being able to share with other writers is a very rewarding experience. It can be very supportive and healthy for our confidence on two levels.

Firstly, with other creative writers we get to share our creative writing, the work we produce, and get their feedback, tips and ideas, as each of us look to develop ourselves.

Secondly, we’re able to share the experience of being a creative writer. The joys, the frustrations, the rewards and the disappointments. Knowing that others feel similarly to us can be very reassuring. The help and encouragement of others can help boost our confidence no end.

Increasing your confidence as a creative writer is sometimes the only route to helping you unlock your creative writing potential.

These are just 5 of the best ways you can do this.

To discover even more ways to unlock your creative writing potential, get your FREE 5 part creative writing ecourse at www.YouAreACreativeWriter.Com.

Creativity Coach and keen creative writer Dan Goodwin helps people who are frustrated they're not using their creative talents as well as they could be. See more at his website: http://www.CoachCreative.com

Creative Writing- 3 Key Reasons Why You're Not Reaching Your Creative Writing Potential

A great number of us have creative writing talents far greater than we realise.

But despite this, most of us simply aren’t writing creatively anywhere near as well, as much, or as often as we could be.

Why is this? Surely if we truly want to write creatively it’ll just naturally flow?

There are many reasons why we don’t reach our potential. Here are 3 of the most common, and some top tips on how to overcome them:

1. You haven’t found your best writing format. Everyone has their favourite methods of writing, the ones in which we’re comfortable and competent in. Maybe yours is short stories, or poems, or novels.

But often we continue to write in this format because we feel it’s all we know how to do, it just comes automatically. Though we feel we’ve got much more potential to be discovered, we can’t seem to unlock it through this form of writing we’re used to.

Top Tips to try: Try different types of writing, those you’d never even consider, those you’ve never tried before, those you haven’t even discovered yet. You might find a new form that lets you unleash that creative potential like never before.

At the very least, you’ll return to your main writing medium a richer, more experienced creative writer.

2. You don’t write often enough. What not-so-secret method helps a creative writer improve more than anything else? Writing!

If you’re only writing once in a while and have serious ambitions to develop your creative writing potential, you’ll simply have to write more widely, more deeply and more often. There’s no avoiding it!

Top Tips to try: Regularity is the key. Commit to writing for a small period of time every day for 14 days. You could start with just 10 minutes, but make sure you stick to it every day.

Write a few paragraphs on a new piece of work each day or just whatever’s in your thoughts at the time. The crucial part is to write consistently every day, then you can build up the amount gradually.

3. You don’t believe in your creative ability. On the surface you appear to be writing at a good standard and at a healthy steady rate of output.

But inside you long to burst out of the familiar straightjacket and let your creative writing talent run wild. What stops you? On a deep level you simply don’t believe you’ve got it in you.

Top Tips to try: Think about what you truly believe about your creative writing ability. Write down all your beliefs around your creative writing ability. If you find you actually don’t believe you’re capable of taking your writing to a new level, you’ll never progress.

Start to adopt the beliefs that are consistent with someone who reaches a little closer to their creative potential every day. Think about what someone who’s confident and creative believes about themselves and take on those beliefs yourself.

These are just 3 of the most common reasons why we don’t reach our potential for writing creatively.

Pick one that you identify with and try the tips suggested to help you become a better creative writer TODAY.

Want to find out more about how to unlock your creative writing potential? Get your FREE 5 part creative writing ecourse now at www.YouAreACreativeWriter.Com.

Creativity Coach and keen creative writer Dan Goodwin helps people who are frustrated they're not using their creative talents as well as they could be. See more at his website: http://www.CoachCreative.com

Creative Writing - Are You Born A Creative Writer Or Can It Be Learnt?

Is creative writing something we can learn and develop?

Or are we simply stuck with a fixed amount of creative writing talent we’re born with?

Why do some people seem to find it easy to write pages and pages of wonderful flowing creative writing?

While others gaze on eternally frustrated that they will never be able to reach such heights of creativity and productivity?

For many of us, even if we DO manage to overcome our creative blocks in terms of the AMOUNT we write, we feel constantly disappointed with the quality of our creative writing output.

We feel we could write forever at this average-anyone-off-the-street-coulda-written-this kind of standard.

But really we long for that next elusive level.

We’re desperate for that creative writing breakthrough - that poem, that story, that single sentence – that blows us away and makes us feel we’re a powerful creative force to be reckoned with after all.

So how do we get there? How do we experience this creative epiphany?

Well, we can’t summon it up magically just like that. But there’s plenty we CAN do to make it easier for our creative writing talent to evolve to new levels.

Here are two simple ways:

1. Work on your beliefs about your creative writing ability.

If you don’t believe deep down you’re capable of writing creatively then you simply never will achieve the wonderful levels of creative writing you’re actually capable of.

Have a check in with your beliefs about your creativity.

Ask yourself honestly: How creative do I really believe I am?

If the answer is less than an emphatic - “there are no limits to my creativity, I’m as creative as I want to be!” - then it’s time to take a look at some of the ways you can increase your creative self-belief.

Start by simply listing all the things you think someone with strong self-belief thinks about themselves. The same things you’d need to think if you were to be highly creative.

Then read them out loud to yourself, as if you believe them yourself.

2. Gather evidence of your creative ability.

The second simple way to make it easier for your creativity to flourish is to gather together all the evidence of how very creative you are.

Get together all the creative writing you’ve done in the past. Everything: letters, notes, diaries, journals, as well as what you might consider your “proper” creative writing. There’s bound to be more than you think.

Another little exercise to do is take a random object from around where you’re sitting. Maybe it’s a pen or a book or a cushion.

Now pick an emotion. It could be sad, excited, overjoyed, frustrated, or any other emotion.

Imagine you’re someone for whom this object summons up that emotion very strongly. Write a couple of sentences why this is so, the history behind it.

Now you have further evidence of your creative writing ability. From just one object and one emotion you were able to create a story, and the background to a character.

Our creative writing ability is something we can ALL develop.

Start building up yours today by using these two simple techniques.

Want to find out how more about how to unlock the creative writer in you? Get your FREE 5 part creative writing ecourse at http://www.YouAreACreativeWriter.Com

Creativity Coach and keen creative writer Dan Goodwin helps people who are frustrated they're not using their creative talents as well as they could be. See more at his website: http://www.CoachCreative.com

How To Be Creative & Be Happy – Letting Your Creativity Naturally Evolve

We each have deep within us the knowledge and the resources to build a life of happiness and creativity.

We’ve tasted enough of being both creative and happy to know what we love and what we want more of, and what we don’t like and need less of.

The difficulty comes in filtering out the surface noise so we can truly listen to this deeper source of knowledge.

Every one of us is unique in our creativity, so every one of us has a unique recipe for a creative and happy life.

But there are some basic ingredients that are needed for everyone’s recipe.

Today we’re going to focus on one of the most important.

Letting your creativity naturally evolve is essential for a life of creativity and happiness.

What do we mean then by “letting your creativity naturally evolve”?

Many of us are capable of being prolific in our creativity and churning out project after project more efficiently than a factory conveyor belt.

But we’re creative artists aren’t we, not production line automated robots?

If we’re producing the same end product each time, how creative is that, really?

We’ve all heard and witnessed many times over the story of the “One Hit Wonder” in the pop music charts.

They write and release a catchy infectious tune, everyone loves it and it sells in the hundreds of thousands. Fantastic, everyone’s happy.

Then they release their follow up.

Hang on though, this sounds almost EXACTLY like their first song...

By the third single they’ve virtually disappeared off the pop radar, never to be seen or heard again.

So how do we avoid being a One Hit Wonder? Or even worse, a NO Hit Wonder!?

We let our creativity naturally evolve.

Letting our creativity evolve is about experimenting, taking risks, being brave, colouring outside the edges.

It’s also about listening to ourselves and finding what helps us be more confident and bold in our creative experimentation.

Of course we don’t try to reinvent the wheel completely each time in the way we create. Much in the same way we don’t relearn our alphabet from scratch each time we go to write or speak.

Finding consistent methods and techniques that work well for our creativity is brilliant, and to be highly encouraged.

But following the same techniques down to the very last detail, without shaking things up at all, can only lead to producing the same product over and over and again.

And that’s not one of the ingredients of a happy and creative life.

So what are you going to do, from TODAY onwards, to help your creativity naturally evolve?

Start right now by going and creating something different, something brave, something edgy.

Vow to do this every few weeks or so, just to give your creative work some freshness and the chance to develop and evolve in new directions.

By doing this regularly, and letting your creativity naturally evolve, you’ll be giving yourself one of the essential ingredients for a creative and happy life.

Learn more about how to be happy and be more creative. Sign up to "Create Create!" - Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin's free twice monthly ezine - today, and get your FREE copy of the “Explode Your Creativity!” Action Workbook. Head on over now to http://www.CoachCreative.com

How To Be Creative & Be Happy – The Importance Of Connecting With Others

Although we sometimes feel far from happy or creative, we actually all have within us the resources we need to lead a life of creativity and happiness.

We’ve experienced and glimpsed enough of both being creative and being happy to know what we love and want more of, and what we don’t love and need less of.

The difficult is in cutting through all the surface static and listening to the source of that deeper knowledge.

Each of us are unique creative people, so we each have a different recipe for a creative and happy life.

However, there are some basic ingredients common to everyone’s recipe.

Today we’re going to focus on one of the most important.

Connecting with others is essential for a life of creativity and happiness.

So what do we mean by “connecting with others”?

Living a solitary, isolated life works for some people.

But for the majority of us, however creative we may be in this isolated existence, we won’t be very happy for long.

As human beings we naturally crave interaction and connection. And as CREATIVE human beings, this takes on another level.

The fundamental purpose of creating anything at all, for most of us, is to reach out and connect with others in some way.

It’s our language, our way to express ourselves and to communicate with the world.

Our art, the work we create, is our unique and highly precious medium for connecting and communicating.

The other way we connect to the world as creative people is when we’re communicating ABOUT our love of creating.

So, as creative people, we have two main channels for connecting with others:

Our creative experiences and love of creating, and our creative work itself.

With each of these, we can communicate directly or indirectly with the world. Here’s how:

Connecting directly:

With our art we can read our poetry at open mic events, have public open days for our beautiful gardens, play our music at bars and clubs. All of these are ways of directly sharing our creative work with others.

To share our creative experiences and our love of creativity, we can join clubs, groups and societies and participate in online forums and collectives. Again, direct ways of communicating and connecting with others.

Connecting indirectly:

We create our art and put it out there, whether it’s getting our CD in a music store, our garments in a clothes shop or our short stories in a magazine. Hopefully people enjoy and appreciate our art and if we’re fortunate we’ll hear back in some way about this.

To share our love of creativity indirectly we may read an article or book on creativity, listen to a CD of a favourite artist or visit a gallery. Or we might write our own books or articles on creativity.

Connecting with others is such a fundamental part of our lives as creative people

Without it, without getting our creative voice heard, without communicating passionately through our creative work, our lives feel hollow, empty, sad and incomplete.

So what are you going to do TODAY to connect with others?

Start right now and list all the ways you currently connect with others in your creative life.

Then make another list of all the new ways you can try, and pick 3 that you’ll commit to doing in the next 7 days...

By connecting with others - through your creative work, and about your love of creating - you’ll be providing yourself with one of the essential ingredients for a creative and happy life.

Learn more about how to be happy and be more creative. Sign up to "Create Create!" - Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin's free twice monthly ezine - today and get your FREE copy of the “Explode Your Creativity!” Action Workbook. Head on over now to http://www.CoachCreative.com

How To Be Creative & Be Happy - Finding Creative Routines That Work

It may not feel like it sometimes, but deep within us we all know how to build a life of creativity and happiness.

We’ve seen and tasted enough in the past to know what works for us and what helps us be creative and happy, and what doesn’t work and we need to reduce or eliminate.

The difficulty sometimes is getting through the surface chaos and listening to our inner, knowledgeable selves.

Every one of us is unique in our creativity, so we each have a slightly different recipe for a creative happy life.

However there are some basic ingredients that we all need for our recipe.

Today we’re going to look in more depth at one of the most important.

Finding routines that work is essential for a life of creative and happiness.

So what do we mean by “routines that work”?

Many of us who are creative recoil in horror at the idea of set routines or patterns of working in our creative life.

There are many traditional romantic images of the artist being struck suddenly by inspiration and being compelled to create feverishly until their new work is complete, their idea fully realised.

But what happens then during the times we’re not creating?

Do we just hang around hopefully and wait for inspiration to magically appear?

Boredom is one of the lethal enemies of the creative mind. Just waiting around for something to happen is at best a bit of a drag, and at worst excruciatingly painful and frustrating.

It’s not a formula for a very happy or a very creative life.

So what’s the alternative?

The solution – the best way to lead a life that’s consistently creative and fulfilling – is to find routines and systems that work for us.

Creating a little each day is one of the crucial cornerstones.

Setting aside a time when we just go to our creative work space, or somewhere we’ll be undisturbed, and just creating, even if it’s just for 15 minutes each day is essential.

It’s the basis we can build everything else in our life of creativity and happiness upon.

Other parts of our routines we can alter and adjust are:

When we work – experimenting and finding the times of day we’re most creative.

Our creative environment – the surroundings most conducive to us creating easily and freely.

Reviewing and editing – the systems we use to review what we’ve created and make any necessary changes.

There are many other parts of our creative lives where having a system in place – a system unique to us that we’ve tried and tested – can help us be as creative as possible.

How can we find routines that work?

Be willing to test and experiment. Read and absorb as much as you can from other creative people and creativity experts, try their methods and systems and take the parts that work for you.

Over time, tweak, fine tune and evolve your creative routines so they continue to allow your creativity to flourish as freely as possible.

What are you going to do TODAY to start to find routines that work?

Start right now, look at the routines you currently have that work and the ones that aren’t working that you can drop.

Research and gather new routines and systems and start to find your unique and most effective ways of working.

By finding the creative routines that work for you, you’ll be giving yourself one of the essential ingredients for a creative and happy life.

Want to learn more about how to be more happy and be more creative? Then sign up to "Create Create!" - Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin's free twice monthly ezine - today, and get your FREE copy of the “Explode Your Creativity!” Action Workbook. Head on over now to http://www.CoachCreative.com

How To Be Creative & Be Happy – Getting The Support You Need

We all have inside us all the resources and knowledge we’ll ever need to lead a creative and happy life.

We’ve seen and experienced creativity and happiness often enough to know what they are. We know what’s good for us and what we’d like more of. And we know what isn’t good for us and what we need to reduce.

The difficulty lies in getting through all the surface static and tapping into this knowledge.

As we’re each unique creative people, we each have a unique recipe for a creative and happy life.

But there are some basic ingredients that are needed for everyone’s recipe.

Today we’re going to focus on one of the most important.

Getting the support you need is essential for a life of creativity and happiness.

So what does “getting the support you need” actually mean?

All of us who lead creative lives naturally have peaks and lulls.

When we’re on a creative high, we can easily create to our heart’s content and need little or no outside encouragement or input.

During the more difficult times though, very few of us can create in complete isolation and rely totally on our own reservoirs of motivation to get us through.

This is where support - and a support network - become so valuable and important.

A collection of people – our own personal team of enthusiastic cheerleaders.

Those we know we can trust and rely upon to encourage us, tell us we’re doing ok, and keep us moving and creating, especially in the more challenging times.

Having a support network works on two basic levels.

Firstly, it helps continually drip feed our creative confidence and our creative self-esteem.

Regular meetings and check ins with your colleagues, friends, or creativity coach help you maintain a high level of creativity, and stick to healthy, productive habits.

It keeps our creative batteries topped up, our fuel gauge in the black.

Secondly, our support network is there to catch us when we fall.

When we have those inevitable lulls, when we feel everything we create is worthless and pathetic, there’s someone there to talk to.

Someone to reassure us, tell us it’s ok, we’re not going insane.

Someone to listen, ask the right questions and give practical advice.

What happens when we don’t have this support?

Quite simply, our levels of creativity drop significantly.

It doesn’t pay to be TOTALLY dependent on others, and we should do all we can to build our creative confidence in a number of different ways.

But if we lack support completely, pretty soon we’ll simply grind to a halt, unable to sustain the levels of creative energy and motivation and encouragement that we get when we have a support network in place.

So how can you get the support your creativity needs?

Take a good look at the support network you have in place around you.

How strong is it? How many people are genuinely committed to supporting you and have your best interests at heart?

Are there any people you need to see less of or not see at all, as they’re a constant negative drain on your creativity?

How else can you find support from like minded creative people?

What are you going to do TODAY to get the support you need for your creativity?

Start right now, assess your current support structure and look at the many ways you can make it even stronger.

By doing this, you’ll be giving yourself one of the essential ingredients for a creative and happy life.

Learn more about how to be happy and be more creative. Simply sign up to "Create Create!" - Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin's free twice monthly ezine today, and get your FREE copy of the “Explode Your Creativity!” Action Workbook. Head on over now to http://www.CoachCreative.com

How To Be Creative & Be Happy – Being Recognised & Appreciated

Inside us all, we have the knowledge and the resources for a life of creativity and happiness.

We’ve had enough of a taste and glimpse of being both creative and happy to know what we love and want more of, and what we don’t like and need less of.

The problem is getting through all the surface clutter and down to the pure source of that knowledge.

We’re each unique in our creativity, and so we each have a different recipe for a creative and happy life.

But there are some basic ingredients that are needed for everyone’s recipe.

Today we’re going to focus on one of the most important.

Being recognised and appreciated are essential for a life of creativity and happiness.

What do we mean then by “recognised and appreciated”?

As creative people, as artists, we need to feel at a deep level that our work has some purpose.

We need to know that what we create – and therefore our creative life itself - has some point and some meaning.

Part of this comes from within ourselves.

Someone with very high self esteem, huge levels of motivation and endless courage can quite happily produce creative work in complete isolation.

They can comfortably rely on themselves and their “inner rudder” to guide them to through the right decisions, the right projects, the right areas of focus for their creative energy.

But that’s not what most of us are like.

The majority of us need constant recognition, acknowledgement and affirmation from others around us, those we trust, admire and respect.

We need to hear:

“Wow, that’s amazing. For me it’s the most powerful and emotive abstract work you’ve produced yet.”

“Eighteen months after their debut, this new record is even more ambitious, more rewarding and truly stirs the human soul.”

“You’ve written a quality article every week for the last 3 months, that’s great going, well done.”

And sometimes just:

“I really admire how you’ve chosen to live a creative life and follow your talents and your calling.”

What happens when we don’t get recognised and acknowledged?

We feel we’re beating our heads against a wall. We wonder why we bother to create anything when no-one ever sees it or takes pleasure in it.

We wonder if our work is any good, or if we’re making any progress at all.

We may even create our own version of the famous riddle: “If a tree falls in a forest and there’s no-one around to hear it, does it still make it sound?”

“If I create and there’s no-one to around to appreciate it, did I actually create anything at all, or was it just a dream??”

So how can we get the acknowledgment and recognition we need?

In fact this doesn’t begin with other people. It begins right here, right now, with ourselves.

When was the last time you actually acknowledged and appreciated something you’d just created?

When did you last take a moment to actually say: “I’m proud of that creative project. I really feel I’ve progressed, it’s the best I’ve created in a long while.”?

Once we start acknowledging our own creative work – and appreciating our own creative EXISTENCE – we can start to become more open to receiving it from any number of other sources.

We can then take it out to those people who’s opinion we respect and admire, knowing we’ve done the best we can and are now open to constructive feedback from others.

What are you going to do TODAY to acknowledge your creativity?

Start right now and get into a regular habit of acknowledging and recognising how much you achieve, and you’ll be giving yourself one of the essential ingredients for a creative and happy life.

Want to learn more about how to be more happy and be more creative? It’s easy: just sign up to "Create Create!" - Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin's free twice monthly ezine - today, and get your FREE copy of the “Explode Your Creativity!” Action Workbook. Head on over now to http://www.CoachCreative.com

Creativity And Guilt - 5 Common Guilt Trips Of The Creative Soul And How To Overcome Them

There are any number of reasons why we feel we can't unleash our creativity and start to realise some of the huge potential we have to be more creative.

Many of them, once we dig a little deeper, stem back to some form of guilt or other.

Guilt is one of the most powerful human emotions.

Feelings of guilt held over time this can be incredibly destructive.

And even if it doesn’t stop us in our tracks completely, and we do manage to continue creating whilst carrying this guilt, it makes us feel absolutely terrible.

As a result we never get to enjoy the creative process anywhere near as fully as we could do.

So here are 5 of the most common "guilt trips" of the creative soul, and a way to overcome each of them:

Guilt Trip No. 1: "It's selfish creating just for me. Focusing time and energy just on me is so self-indulgent."

How to overcome it: The fact is, if you're more creative you're more happy, more alive, more fulfilled. This good feeling and positive energy inevitably spills over into the rest of your life.

So you're more relaxed, more easy going, more fun to be around. Surely this can only be a great benefit for everyone?

Guilt Trip No. 2: "I have all this wonderful creative equipment and materials, I should make use of it, I feel guilty it's just sitting there.”

How to overcome it: By having the equipment and materials there it’s a constant reminder and pressure on you. Make the decision to either sell or give it away, or put it away out of sight and commit to regularly taking out and using just a small amount at a time.

This way the visible pressure is greatly reduced and you won’t get overwhelmed by trying to create with every piece of equipment and material in one single “ultimate creative project to end all projects.”

Guilt Trip No. 3: “When I’m creating I feel there are other priorities, other chores I should be getting on with."

How to overcome it: Accept that there will always be other chores, something else that needs doing. It’s just not possible to finish them all. It IS possible though to have a creative life and still do the other everyday tasks we all need to live.

Set aside a small amount of time each day that’s just for you to create. If it helps, use it as a reward for getting other stuff done. But don’t wait until after you’ve done everything else and you’re completely exhausted!

Guilt Trip No. 4: “When I do create I often make mistakes and mess up. I feel guilty that I’m ruining materials and equipment someone else could put to better use.”

How to overcome it: Making mistakes is one of the best parts of creating. It’s often in these “mistakes” that we unlock new and stimulating paths to creating that we never would have found if we’d stuck to a rigid, safe formula.

If you really can’t get beyond making a start on an expensive canvas for example, for fear of ruining it, then start on something smaller and less expensive. Build your creative confidence – and your willingness to make “mistakes” - in small steady steps.

Guilt Trip No. 5: "I find it easy to create, and that makes me feel guilty. There are other people more deserving than me that have to work so much harder than I do to get similar results."

How to overcome it: We all have our gifts and talents, the secret is discovering what they are. If you’ve found you can create beautiful things, that’s wonderful. Focus on how you can nurture your talents. The better you become, the more others will appreciate your work.

Another way of giving back to others directly is by starting a creative class, or helping out at an existing class. Those beginners new to creating can benefit from your experience and support.

These are just 5 of the most common guilt trips of the creative soul.

Which do you most relate to and why?

Which are you going to steps to overcome, starting today, so you can begin to truly unleash your creativity?

Want to learn more about how to unleash YOUR creativity? It’s easy: just sign up to "Create Create!" - Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin's free twice monthly ezine - today, and get your FREE copy of the “Explode Your Creativity!” Action Workbook. Head on over now to http://www.CoachCreative.com

Creativity - The Truth About Your Creativity - Who DO You Create For?

Creativity has a thousand different guises and expressions. Indeed, each of us who create may have any number of different ways of creating and communicating with the world through our creative abilities and works.

But how many of these are truly the things we WANT to create?

How much of our creative energy is invested in those projects we burn with passion for and yearn to produce, the projects that when we’re in the midst of creating feel rewarding, exciting and fulfilling like nothing else?

Often we may appear to be very productive on the surface and be churning out new work apparently effortlessly and without breaking a sweat.

So this makes us highly creative. Doesn’t it?

Well, yes in one sense.

If we measure how creative someone is by the volume of their output then someone who writes 6 novels a year or records an album every 3 months, is very creative.

But consider also the quality of this output.

And not even the quality as measured by the outside world, but the quality of the experience to the artist who created it, the value and benefit that creating these works gave them.

At one end of the spectrum there may be, for example, an artist who creates one new piece of work every 4 years, yet each day of those 4 years, each moment invested in their project, was rewarding, enjoyable and entirely necessary for the creator.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, there may be an artist who creates something new every day, generating new work like a perpetual motion conveyer belt.

Regardless of the opinions of the wider world, their work may be equally as rewarding for them as the artist who produces something every 4 years. Or it may not.

Only the artists themselves know what drives them to create and who they’re really creating for.

Consider this example:

Imagine you wrote a novel that you found personally incredibly satisfying to write.

It then got picked up by a major publishing house, sold hundreds of thousands of copies, and received great acclaim.

Fantastic.

Naturally, your publishers, and the fans of your work demand more, a sequel or follow up to the first novel.

You oblige and write the second book, though it was more difficult than the first and the pressure was completely different.

5 years and 5 novels down the road, the enjoyment you’re getting from writing is virtually non-existent. You feel highly stressed and under constant pressure to deliver.

The motivating and highly personal reasons that helped you write your first book have all but evaporated.

When you began you had dozens of ideas for books, each very different to one other, and each exciting and challenging for you to write. Now, instead, you find each novel you produce is a virtually photocopy of the previous one. The challenge, the thrill, the purpose and the point of writing, have all but disappeared.

Put simply, you’re not creating for yourself anymore.

It’s easy for us to lose sight of why we create, especially in the face of any commercial or critical success. We’re torn between wanting to pursue our successes - mining the potentially rich seam we’ve found - and trying to remain original, authentic and innovative enough to satisfy our natural need to evolve and grow as artists.

How does this relate to your creative life right now?

Ask yourself, what is most important to you - creating to satisfy your deepest artistic urges, fulfilling the need that nothing else can replace, or reproducing the type of work that you know has been successful in the past?

Be truthful in your answer, there’s no definitive right or wrong that works for everyone. We’re all individual and that’s just the point.

So what is the truth about your creativity. Who DO you create for?

Want to learn more about your own unique creativity and how you can be more creative? It’s easy: just sign up to "Create Create!" - Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin's free twice monthly ezine - today, and get your FREE copy of the “Explode Your Creativity!” Action Workbook. Head on over now to http://www.CoachCreative.com

How To Be Creative & Be Happy - 5 Essential Ingredients For A Happy Creative Life

Deep down, we all know how to be happy.

We have enough self awareness to know what feels good, what feels right. We know what type of creating makes us feel excited, stimulated, powerful, alive.

The difficulty comes NOT in knowing just how delicious the recipe for our happy creative life can be.

We’ve had enough of a taste at various times in our creative life, however fleetingly, and however few and far between these occasions may have been, to know how wonderful it CAN be.

The hardest part is knowing which ingredients to use and what quantity of each we need.

So to give you a little more clarity about YOUR own unique recipe for a happy and fruitful creative life, here are 5 of the essential ingredients we ALL need:

1. Recognition and Appreciation. We all need to be recognised and appreciated as creative artists, to feel our work - and our very creative existence - has a purpose.

This begins with ourselves. How completely have you accepted that you’re a creative person, and that creativity plays a crucial part in your life? Isn’t it time you “came out of the closet” to yourself and the rest of the world?

2. Support. Though sometimes it’s of benefit to create away from outside distractions, none of us can create for a sustained period in complete isolation.

The support of others, someone to tell us we’re doing great and we’re on the right track, is invaluable to us as creative people. What kind of support network do you have in your creative life?

3. Stability and Routine. Though many of us visibly flinch at the idea that as creative people we should have routines and systems in place to be able to be creative, the fact is they work.

The only way to produce consistent, rewarding and fulfilling creative work is to create regularly. And we can only do this with routines in place, systems that work for us. What creative routines and system do you have that work for you? How can you make them even more effective?

4. Connection To Others. For many the fundamental purpose of creating ANYTHING is to connect with others, to communicate with the world. Our art, our creative work, is our unique and precious way of doing this.

If we’re creating in a vacuum though, we’re missing out on a huge and rewarding part of the creative life. In what ways is your creative work out there in the world connecting with, touching and inspiring people? And how can you directly communicate and share more with other creative people?

5. Development and Evolution. We simply can’t have a happy creative life if we produce the same piece of work over and over again. Creative development is essential to having a rewarding creative life.

The root of all personal creative development is being brave and bold enough to experiment, and willing to evolve and change. In what ways do you experiment, take risks and scribble outside the lines in your creative life? How can you do this more?

Finding a delicious recipe for a happy creative life is an ongoing process.

By having these 5 elements in place, we’re off to a excellent start.

Finding the right type and amount of each that works best for you can only be found through experimenting, being brave and being open.

Open yourself to the possibility that a life of happiness and creativity is something that’s not only achievable, but it’s something you already know how to do, if only you'd give yourself the chance and the permission.

Want to learn more about how to be more creative in your life? Just sign up to "Create Create!" - Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin's free twice monthly ezine - today, and get your FREE copy of the “Explode Your Creativity!” Action Workbook. Head on over now to http://www.CoachCreative.com

Common Creative Blocks & How To Overcome Them - "I Never Finish Creative Projects, So Why Start?"

All of us who are creative know what it’s like to experience creative blocks.

That feeling when however much you long to unleash your creativity, it seems about as easy as juggling hot custard.

Whatever we seem to do, we can’t get past a certain point, we’re literally blocked, can’t see a way through and quickly get discouraged and frustrated.

There are many different types of creative block, and each of them has its devious ways of trying to sabotage our creativity.

The first step in overcoming any creative block though is to recognise when we’re up against it, and see exactly what it is we’re dealing with.

Here’s one of the most common forms of creative block and some tips to overcome it:

Creative Block: “I never finish creative projects, so why start?”.

How you know when you’re experiencing it:

The main symptom of experiencing this type of creative block is having a trail of part finished creative projects in your past history.

In a dark cupboard that hasn’t been explored for months, even years, there lies a collection of unfinished projects. What were once sparkling with intention and pregnant with wonderful possibilities, now lie discarded and disowned, like forgotten and unloved orphans.

Although the projects are out of sight, they’re not necessarily out of mind. The impact each of them had at the point when you “gave up” has left its own tiny scar.

Over time, this collection of successive scars has left you feeling unable to start another new project. “Why bother starting anything new? It’ll just end up in the cupboard like all the others and I’ll feel like a failure all over again.”

Tips to overcome this type of creative block:

The most significant part of this creative block for many of us is simply the association of not finishing a project with being “a failure”, “a lightweight”, and “incompetent”.

To begin to better deal with this creative block, what’s needed is a way to reduce the impact this “failure” feeling has on our ability to begin subsequent projects.

Here’s some tips to help with this:

There’s no failure only feedback: The only way we can truly fail is to give up completely and never create again. And I know deep down that’s not what you want at all.

Any project that doesn’t go the way we thought it would gives us an opportunity to learn a little bit more about ourselves, how we create, and what’s important to us.

An increase in self-awareness: If we come to a point in a project where we really can’t see how it can benefit us to continue with it, then don’t. This shows good self-awareness.

It shows we care enough about our creativity that we’re prepared to stop “flogging a dead horse” and redirect our creative energy into something we’re more into. It’s a positive step.

Practice finishing: Maybe it’s been a long time since you finished any project and you feel you don’t even know how to. This is something you can practice.

Begin with a very small project, like making a birthday card, organising 10 of your photos, or writing and sending a letter to a friend. Once you’ve completed a few small projects and got more comfortable with seeing a project through from start to finish, it becomes easier to build up to larger projects and do the same.

Feeling “I never finish creative projects, so why start?” is just one of the most common creative blocks we experience.

Experiment with the tips above to see how you can begin to overcome this type of creative block and go on to unleash your creativity.

Learn more about how to unleash YOUR creativity today: just sign up to "Create Create!" - Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin's free twice monthly ezine - and get your FREE copy of the “Explode Your Creativity!” Action Workbook. Head on over now to http://www.CoachCreative.com

Common Creative Blocks & How To Overcome Them - "I Always Mess Up My Creative Projects"

There are many different reasons why we don’t create as much as we could.

Trying to get focused and unleash your creativity sometimes feels about as easy as tap dancing in quicksand.

The more you struggle, the deeper you seem to sink into a state of depression, frustration and non-action.

Creative blocks come in many different guises, and each has its own particular ways of defeating our creative spirit and energy.

The most valuable starting point to overcome these creative blocks is to understand what we’re up against, and recognise exactly what it is that’s holding us back.

Here’s one of the most common forms of creative block and some tips to overcome it:

Creative Block: “I always mess up my creative projects”.

How you know when you’re experiencing it:

Over a period of time – months, years, even decades – you’ve had a number of creative projects not turn out how you first planned them. You often start with big bold ideas and loads of enthusiasm, and throw yourself into a new project with great momentum.

But pretty soon, the project starts to look a little different to how you thought it would.

Instead of accepting this, and letting the project, and your creativity, flow and evolve into something special, you see it as a failure.

You consider yourself undisciplined and unfocused, and as someone who doesn’t have the strength or ability to see things through to the end.

You feel: “There’s another project I’ve made a mess of. I’ve got to be close to triple figures by now…”.

This experience repeated over a period of time has worn you down to the point where now you don’t even bother to create because you feel: “I'll only mess this up, what’s the point of starting, wasting my creative energy and materials?”

Tips to overcome this type of creative block:

“Making a mess” and “messing up”, whatever that means to you, is a natural part of creating.

Making mistakes, taking wrong turns, getting half way through a project before realising it’s evolving into something entirely different to what you envisioned it being when you started, are ALL healthy and necessary parts of our creative processes and development.

Accepting this can seem difficult and unnatural, and we believe everything we create should be perfect first time and pop out into the world like some immaculate conception.

Here’s some of the ways you can begin to happily welcome “the joy of mess” into your creative life:

Tip 1. Deliberately make a mess: Get a brand new notebook, go to somewhere in the middle, turn it upside down and start scribbling your thoughts in every direction on the page. Become familiar with creating outside of the lines, and beyond the limits of neat, ordered perfection.

Tip 2. Making a mess means… : Write this in the middle of a blank page and then write around all the reasons you can think of, however good or bad. Just brainstorm and write what making a mess means to you. This will help you unlock some of the negative associations you have, and begin to reduce their power to block your creativity.

Tip 3. Mess Is Beautiful: Write in large letters “Mess Is Beautiful” and pin it up somewhere on your wall near where you create. Each day take a few minutes to contemplate how mess can be beautiful and how it can help you evolve in your creative life.

Feeling “I always mess up my creative projects” is just one of the most common creative blocks we experience.

Use the tips above to experiment with your beliefs and associations around making a mess and messing up, and see how you can soon begin to overcome this kind of creative block and unleash your creativity.

Learn more about how to unleash YOUR creativity today. Just sign up to "Create Create!" - Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin's free twice monthly ezine - and get your FREE copy of the “Explode Your Creativity!” Action Workbook. Head on over now to http://www.CoachCreative.com

Common Creative Blocks & How To Overcome Them - "I Don't Know What To Create"

Trying to unleash your creativity is often easier said than done. There are many times when creating ANYTHING feels like an upward struggle on the steepest mountain in the fiercest elements.

The harder you try, the more stuck and blocked you feel. Soon you feel so disillusioned and demoralised, you give up creating altogether, rather than face another exhausting battle.

Creative block appears in a number of different disguises, with a variety of reasons behind it.

The most valuable first step in overcoming creative block is to recognise when you’re experiencing it, and what type of block it is.

Here’s one of the most common forms of creative block and some tips to overcome it:

Creative Block: “I don't know what to create”.

How you know when you’re experiencing it:

Coming up with ideas for creative projects is one of the last of your worries.

You find it easy to produce a steady stream of possible projects to work on, in a number of different creative mediums.

In fact this type of creative block is very deceptive as it appears that your creativity is anything but blocked, and it’s actually flowing like a raging river.

But the problem lies in actually choosing ONE project to work on, and seeing it through to its natural end. You’ve started dozens of different projects, only to find half way through it doesn’t interest you anymore and it gets abandoned for a new, more exciting and more stimulating project.

How often have you found yourself thinking: “Now THIS is the project I REALLY want to be working on right now.”

Tips to overcome this type of creative block:

The most important factor here is to pick a project, start creating and see it through to some kind of natural conclusion.

Feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of projects and possibilities open to us is where most of us get really blocked.

So here’s a simple 3 step process you can use time and time again:

1. Choose a project. Don’t take too long in this, the aim is to pick SOMETHING and get creating, rather than spend all your creative energy in deliberating. Wherever you start, it’s a great place to start.

2. Set a creative period and review date. For example commit to working for 15 mins each day on your chosen project for the next 14 days. Then on day 14 review your progress. Whenever you’re creating, you’re learning about yourself.

3. Review, adjust, create some more. When you reach your review date, look at where you are with your creative project, what’s been going well, what you’ve discovered, what you’d like to change, and so on. Then set the next review date and carry on creating.

Feeling “I don't know what to create” is just one of the most common creative blocks we experience.

Experiment with the 3 step process above in your creative life and see how it helps you overcome this type of creative block. Very soon you’ll begin to see how it can help you reduce this kind of creative block and unleash your creativity.

Learn more about how to unleash YOUR creativity by subscribing to "Create Create!" - Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin's free twice monthly ezine. Sign up today, and get your FREE copy of the “Explode Your Creativity!” Action Workbook. Go to http://www.CoachCreative.com

Common Creative Blocks & How To Overcome Them - "I Don't Know HOW To Create Anymore"

Sometimes when we wish to create, it’s not the lack of willingness that’s the issue.

However much you long to unleash your creativity, that fact is there are times it feels like the hardest thing in the world.

Invisible blocks stop you dead in your tracks and you can’t see a way to get going again.

So you end up feeling frustrated, dejected and disillusioned with creating completely.

There are a variety of types of creative block, and many reasons behind them. The most important first step is to recognise them, then you can begin to take action to overcome them.

Here’s one of the most common creative blocks and some tips on how you can overcome it:

Creative Block: “I don’t know HOW to create anymore”.

How you know when you’re experiencing it:

You used to create regularly and freely, whatever your favourite types of creative media were. Slowly, and almost imperceptibly, you began creating less and less, as other parts of your life took over.

Now, having realised how little you create – if you create at all – you want to get back to creating like you used to.

The major block however is that you doubt you CAN create like you used to. You’re afraid of trying, because the not knowing is less painful than knowing outright that you can’t create like you used to.

Trying, and then “failing”, would be too difficult to bear, so you don’t even attempt to, and this is the root of your creative block.

Tips to overcome this type of creative block:

The most effective way to overcome this kind of creative block is to start small and gradually build up your “creative muscles”.

If you were an athlete who hadn’t run a marathon for 5 years, and had barely run at all in the last year, you wouldn’t expect to go out tomorrow and run another marathon.

It’s the same approach with creating.

Here’s 3 simple steps that will help you get back in the creative flow:

Step 1. Choose a form for your daily creative output. This could be a journal entry, a small sketch in a pocket notebook, or a few lines of poetry. Something easy to get into.

Step 2. Commit to a time each day to create your daily entry. It needs only be 10 or 15 minutes to start with. Choose a time of day you’re more comfortable with and you can make a regular commitment to. It might be first thing in the morning, last thing at night, or at lunch. Do whatever’s practical for your creative life.

What’s MOST important is that you show up to create at your regular timeslot and create SOMETHING everyday. It doesn’t matter if it’s one line of writing or three lines of a sketch.

You’ve showed up, you’ve created. You’ve proved you can do it.

Step 3. Repeat, build and expand. After a week or two of creating regularly, start to build up the time you create for, and the amount you create. Like the athlete in training for the marathon builds the distance they run over time, do the same for you creativity.

In just a few weeks, if you commit to your daily creativity you’ll start to see amazing results in both your creative confidence, and in finding what you want to create again.

Feeling “I don’t know how to create anymore” is just one of the most common creative blocks we experience.

Use the tips above to experiment and begin to overcome this form of creative block. Very soon you’ll feel once more how you’ve begun to unleash your creativity.

Learn more about how to unleash YOUR creativity by signing up to "Create Create!" - Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin's free twice monthly ezine. Do it today, and get your FREE copy of the “Explode Your Creativity!” Action Workbook, at http://www.CoachCreative.com

Common Creative Blocks & How To Overcome Them - "My Work Isn't Good Enough"

All of us who create experience times when creating feels more difficult than others.

However much you want to just let go and unleash your creativity, sometimes it feels like running through treacle with lead boots on.

There are many different ways we experience creative block, and a variety of reasons behind them.

The most valuable first step is to recognise the creative block, then we can take action to begin to work through it.

Here’s one of the most common forms of creative block and some tips to overcome it:

Creative Block: “My work isn't good enough”.

How you know when you’re experiencing it:

You’re creating less and less because you fear that your work - the art and the projects you create - just isn’t good enough.

At some stage, from somewhere or other, you’ve inherited some measure of what “good enough” looks like and sounds like.

The only problem is, your version of “good enough” in fact to others looking in from the outside is more like “impossibly ambitious” and “perfect in every last detail”.

There’s nothing wrong with creative ambition – it’s highly important to all of us. Being willing to create the best you can is also honourable and admirable.

But striving to be perfect with every project, and as a result not finishing any of them, is simply not healthy and productive for our creativity.

Tips to overcome this type of creative block:

At the root of this creative block is the pursuit of perfectionism. So the natural way to overcome it and work beyond it is to reject - or at least greatly reduce – our quest to be completely perfect with every creative project.

Here’s some ways to do this:

Progression not perfection. Replace your pursuit of perfectionism with a pursuit of progressing yourself creatively. With each project aim to give the best creative expression of yourself at this time, rather than the absolute perfect creative expression possible.

Allow creative projects to evolve naturally. Maybe you start writing an article about choosing vegetables to grow in your back garden, then find most of what you’re writing is about how to prepare the ground.

So your article goes from being called “Grow Your Own Vegetables: Choosing The Right Produce For You” to “Grow Your Own Vegetables: Preparing The Soil For A Bumper Harvest”.

Let it evolve naturally, and you have a great focused new article, plus part of the original article to expand in the future. Resist letting the article evolve and you end up with a single confused, half finished article, that isn’t want you wanted anyway.

See each creative project as a learning experience. With everything you create, ask “What can I learn from this project? What do I know about myself and my creativity that I didn’t know before?”.

If a project gets just too stuck, take a break, create something else. Choose something small, fun and with no expectation. When you return to your main creative project you’ll be in a different frame of mind to continue.

Feeling “My work isn't good enough” is just one of the most common creative blocks we experience.

Use the tips above to experiment and start to overcome this form of creative block yourself. Persist and you’ll soon see how you’re beginning to unleash your creativity.

Learn more about how to unleash YOUR creativity by signing up to "Create Create!" - Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin's free twice monthly ezine. Do it today and get your FREE copy of the “Explode Your Creativity!” Action Workbook, at http://www.CoachCreative.com