Be More Creative - How To Avoid The 7 Deadly "Shoulds" That Could Be Killing Your Creativity

One of the quickest and most effective ways to kill your creativity is to try to live up to a whole collection of “shoulds” defined by other people.

“You should do this”, “You should do that”...

What does it really mean to be creative? Follow what you’re told you “should” do? I don’t think so...

Here are 7 of the most deadly “shoulds” to avoid to help you be more creative on your own terms:

1. You should only create when you feel inspired. Yes and how often does that happen? How conveniently? Creativity is a way of living and being, it’s about seeking out new inspiration and ideas in everything you come across, not sitting, hoping and waiting for inspiration to suddenly hit you.

2. You should tell yourself you’re useless to motivate yourself. This kind of perverse reverse psychology might work for some people. But not many. A far better approach is to acknowledge and celebrate all you create, keep encouraging yourself to learn and evolve.

3. You should work on every creative project until it’s perfect. If this was true, we’d all still be on our first creative project. For the rest of our lives! Of course give each project your best effort at the time. Then let it go, learn and move on to the next.

4. You should listen to what every else says is best for you. Because everyone knows you better than you know yourself? Noooo! If you listen to yourself closely and honestly, what you enjoy, what works well for you, that’s all you’ll ever need to be creative and happy.

5. You should accept your creative work will only ever be a hobby. Only if you want it to be. This is your creative life and your choices. If it’s your ambition to make a full time living and beyond with your art then seek out the people that you can help you make that real.

6. You should finish every creative project you start. Otherwise you’re a failure. The only true meaning of failure is not learning and developing when you get results you didn’t expect. Sometimes projects don’t work out. That’s ok. Take what you can from the experience and move on to the next.

7. You should create whatever’s popular. This is a recipe for unhappiness on 2 levels: Not only would you be creating work you’re not fully comfortable with, but also you’d be chasing a moving and constantly changing target. Create what you’re passionate about, create what really MEANS something to you, and the rest will follow.

Which of these deadly “shoulds” do you relate most to?

What steps can you take to start to change the way you create in this area?

Kickstart your creativity today in the ways that are right for YOU. 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 twice monthly ezine “Create Create!” at http://www.CoachCreative.com

Be Creative And Proud Of It- 5 Reasons Why Being Creative Is Not A Dirty Secret

Do you proudly shout about your creativity from the rooftops?

Or instead do you keep it hidden away and only talk about being creative with a few carefully chosen trusted friends, as if you’re members of some secret taboo society?

If you’re more like the second description, maybe it’s time to come out of the creativity closet a little. At least open the door and have a peek around!

Here are 5 reasons why your creativity is a NOT a dirty secret and can be openly and proudly celebrated:

1. Being creative improves your health – When you regularly create, it gives you a channel to express your ideas and personality through. It allows you to flow and be more at peace with yourself.

When you don’t create, you become like a blocked pipe in a poor plumbing system – the blockage builds, gathers more debris and gunge and slowly decays. Not very healthy.

2. Being creative helps you evolve and grow – One of the best and easiest ways to learn more about yourself and what you like and don’t like is to create.

This way of learning and developing while you make something and express ideas that are important to you is unique to creativity. It’s the quickest and most thorough way of getting to the core of the real you and all your many talents and strengths.

3. Being creative allows you to give back to the world – Often, people feel that time spent on creative pursuits is selfish, even self indulgent. But this short term time on your own leads to long term gain for you and others.

Who knows what profound effect your creative work will have on the lives of others? You can’t tell how many people will be inspired by your example of following your creative passions. Who are you to deny them this opportunity?

4. Being creative makes you happier – For creative people, the choice isn’t really between “Do I create?” or “Do I not create?”. It’s more like “What do I create next?”. Creativity is a core part of who we are.

When you allow this fundamental part of yourself to be free, obviously it’s going to make you feel happier and more contented. And that in turn then has a positive impact on everyone you interact with day to day.

5. Being creative connects you to others – By being openly creative you send a clear message out to the world that this is part of who you are and what you do.

This then attracts and helps you connect to, other creative people. Whether through creative groups and communities you’re part of, or your audience, being creative gives you a way of connecting with others like you.

Any one of these 5 reasons on its own is a great motivation to be openly creative. Put them all together and you can see there really is no other way for you to be.

What can you do today to be more openly creative and stop hiding it like some shameful secret?

I invite to take the next step to increase your creativity today by getting your copy of Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin’s powerful and practical "Explode Your Creativity!" Action Workbook. It’s FREE when you sign up to the FREE twice monthly ezine “Create Create!” at http://www.CoachCreative.com

The Secret Of Creative Happiness? Do What Works, Do What Matters

So, do you know the secret to creative happiness? What will make you more creative and more happy than you’ve ever been before?

The secret is...

There is no secret!

There’s not a single “one-size-fits-all” solution to being highly creative and happy that any of us can just plug right into and be instantly full of joyous energy.

Each of us who create have our own unique set of creative talents.

Yes, unique. As in one of a kind. No-one else is exactly like you. So no-one else can show you exactly what will make you highly creative and happy.

But here’s the good news.

There are plenty of guidelines you CAN follow that will help. There are many things common to those who have found a deep level of peace and happiness in their creative work.

Here are the two essential parts to put in place to get you closer to those kind of feelings in your creative life:

1. Do What Works. The key to abundant creativity is experimenting and finding the best routines, mediums, techniques and tools that work for you.

Whatever stage of creativity you’re at in your life, there will have been times in the past where you’ve created and it’s flowed beautifully, you’ve enjoyed the creative process and also been pleased with the outcome.

Take a close look at these times and find the elements that were in place that led to such creativity. Then use them more!

Then there will also have been periods where creating was much more difficult and a struggle rather than something you enjoyed. Again, look at these times and the factors that caused the difficulties. Then take steps to eliminate them as much as possible.

2. Do What Matters. However creative you might be, if you’re churning out creative projects that mean very little to you, where’s the purpose and enjoyment in that?

Is it not better to create one project in the next month that you absolutely love creating, than 20 in which you’re just going through the motions without any real passion or feeling?

Think about what it is you REALLY want to create. Then, put aside whatever anyone else might say about it, and answer again – What do you REALLY want to create?

Unless you create what matters to you, it’s likely to always be a pleasant distraction at best, and at worst a soulless production line type affair. Be honest with yourself, and create only what truly matters. You owe it to yourself and the world.

Take the next step to the creative, happy life you deserve today. Get your free Explode Your Creativity Action Workbook when you sign up to the FREE twice monthly ezine “Create Create!” at http://www.CoachCreative.com

Creative Writing Prompts- Why Creative Writing Prompts Help You Become A Better Creative Writer

How often do you find yourself at a black screen or sheet of paper, wondering what on earth to write?

You know you can write, you don’t doubt your creative writing ability, and most of the time you’re able to write freely and richly. But, there are still those moments where you feel in the grip of some kind of paralysis of ideas, inspiration and direction.

What do you do, where do you turn to?

This is exactly the kind of occasion when creative writing prompts can be so effective.

A creative writing prompt is simply a few words, a descriptive phrase or a short idea that gives you a starting point to write from. A launch pad from which to create and head off in your unique way of writing.

Why do writing prompts help you become a better creative writer? Here are 5 of the biggest reasons:

1. They prove your commitment to creative writing. They show (to you, most importantly) that you’re committed to writing in different ways, to trying a variety of techniques to get your creativity flowing.

2. They gradually train you to not need them so much. The more often you use creative writing prompts, the more your creative mind automatically learns to find ideas without needing the prompt.

3. They help you evolve as a writer. They allow you to write about things you may not have otherwise approached. Any good writer likes to be challenged to grow and adapt by writing in different styles and on different topics.

4. They build your confidence to write easily. Isn’t it better to be able to write instantly with just a little prompt than to sit struggling for hours without creating a single sentence?

5. They let you find your best ways of writing. By using a variety of creative writing prompts, you soon start to find the types and ways of writing you enjoy. So you can then write more of this kind of writing!

These are 5 of the top reasons why creative writing prompts can help you become a better creative writer.

To get started with some creative writing prompts right away, get your FREE 5 part creative writing ecourse over 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

Creatively Stuck? 3 Ways To Instantly Get Unstuck And Be More Creative

Getting stuck is something that happens to all of us who create.

That feeling that a creative project is slipping away from us and creating goes from feeling like walking on water without a care in the world, to trying to dance in slowly setting toffee. With your shoelaces tied together!

So what can you do when you start to feel stuck?

How can you get unstuck and creative again before you come to a complete standstill?

Here are 3 different ways you can use:

1. Change mediums. If you’re writing on a keyboard and start to feel those shoes getting a little heavier, try switching to a different medium. Often when I’m developing new articles and courses, I feel myself slowing down and getting confused, losing focus on the way through. So I close my laptop, go back to basics and get out a large piece of blank paper and a pot of coloured pens.

There’s nothing quite like the feel of putting pen to paper, and using colours and sketching and writing ideas in a non-linear way is a great way to help you unlock new ideas and find a different way to organise the project you were working on. When you’ve got your new ideas and direction, return back to typing.

You can make this kind of change to a different creative medium whatever your main creative form is. Just that simple change in medium can be very powerful in unlocking your creativity and enabling you to see things in a different light.

2. Change your physiology. Sometimes it’s being in the same position physically for a long time that can lead to your creative ideas and flow drying up. By changing your physiology and surroundings, you also change your perspective.

This can be as simple as standing and having a few stretches if you’ve been sitting for a while. Or maybe you need to take a walk around the block. Or have a quick dance. Whatever it is, make it something that changes your physical position, as this always then leads to a change in your creative thinking.

3. Visualise possible futures. This works especially well if you’re in the midst of a larger creative project and feel you’re losing sight of the end, or the outcome. Often it’s the creative process that is more important - and more enjoyable – than the end result, I’m not saying you should have a fixed outcome in mind every time.

But by visualising how the project might evolve, you can “try on different outfits for size” and see how they fit your project.

Stop, sit somewhere comfortable, close your eyes and just visualise how you think the project might evolve. Don’t try to force it, just let the pictures, sounds and feelings appear. Then, when you return to your project you’ll have a fresh perspective and be more clear about which direction to take your project in next.

These are all useful ways to get yourself creatively unstuck when you feels your steps are getting heavy.

Which can start to apply today in a creative project you’re stuck with?

Take the next step 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 twice monthly ezine “Create Create!” at http://www.CoachCreative.com

How To Be Creative - A Beginner's Guide

Doubt that you're creative? Don't think you have the first idea how to be more creative even if your life depended on it?

Here’s a quick 5 step guide to getting your creativity flowing freely:

1. Be creative in your outlook. Ideas and inspiration are literally all around us. By opening ourselves to this possibility we’re in a far stronger position to receive new ideas.

Pick 3 objects around you right now and ask yourself what else they could be used for, what other objects you connect them with and how they could form the start of a new creative project for you,.

2. Be creative in your beliefs. You are, potentially, as creative as anyone on this earth. We’re all born with a unique set of creative abilities.

What do you truly believe about yourself and your creativity? If you don’t believe you’re capable of being creative, it’s highly unlikely you will be. Adopt new beliefs that are aligned to someone who’s creative, confident and prolific and notice the difference in your creativity.

3. Be creative in your intentions. Tell yourself simply “Today I’m going to be more creative in everything I do.”

It sounds almost too simple to work, but try it for a couple of weeks, follow through by trying add a little creative twist to everything you do each day, and you’ll soon notice the difference to your creativity.

4. Be creative in what you absorb. If you’re in exactly the same surroundings every day, it’s difficult to remain inspired and fresh in your creativity.

Visit new places to give you different stimulation. They can be obvious creative places such as galleries or museums, but also anywhere that’s different to your usual surroundings. Absorb everything around you as fully as possible with each of your 5 senses.

5. Be creative in the company you keep. It’s said we become like the 5 people we spend most time with.

Who are these 5 people in your life? Are they people that are stimulating, creative, imaginative, supportive? If not, you might want to start seeking out others who are more like the creative person you want to be.

Any of these 5 steps on their own can help you be more creative.

Use two or more in combination and they’re even more powerful.

So, which step are you going to choose today and use to increase your creativity?

Ready to increase your creativity right away? Then pick up your copy of the powerful and practical "Explode Your Creativity!" Action Workbook from Creativity Coach Dan Goodwin. It’s FREE when you sign up to the FREE twice monthly ezine “Create Create!” at http://www.CoachCreative.com

Creative Pathways - How To Find And Follow The Creative Pathways Right For You

We all have a series of pathways running throughout our lives.

Each time we have a choice to make, whether it’s what to eat for breakfast, which house to live in or anything else, we’re in effect making a decision to take one pathway over another.

Sometimes when we’re in the midst of these kind of decision moments it’s difficult to keep everything in perspective and not get overwhelmed. OK so that’s not likely to happen so much at the breakfast table, we’re talking here about the larger decisions.

When we look back over our lives so far, we can see the pathways we’ve taken with much more clarity.

Choices we’ve made that may have surprised us at the time, turn out to lead to great opportunities we may not have come to otherwise. And choices you may have thought were easy options at the time turned out to be anything but.

So how does this relate to your creativity?

Well, the creative pathways you’ve taken have led you to where you are today as a creative person. If you’re not aware of the pathways you’ve taken, you can’t know which directions to head in from now on.

Use this simple exercise to find YOUR creative pathways.

• Take a large sheet of paper, preferably one that’s long but narrow. This is going to chart the story of your travels along your creative pathways.
• With the paper turned so it’s wider than it is high, mark a point on the far left to represent your birth, and write the date below.
• Let’s assume you’re going to live to a healthy 100+ years, so at the far right end of the paper, mark your 100th birthday. Then draw a horizontal line between these two points and mark every 5 years along the way.
• Now, mark on your creative pathway storyline the key landmarks and turning points in your creative life.

Here are some questions you might want to use to find these turning points:

When is the first time you remember creating?

When was the first time you knew you just had to create, it was an irrepressible urge within you?

When was the first time you were proud of something you’d created?

Think too about the crucial conversations and events that have opened a doorway and set you off down a completely new creative path.

Who have been the most influential people on your creative pathways, either those you’ve met or those whose work you’ve admired and been inspired by? Mark the first time you came across them on your storyline.

Take your time and return to your storyline as many times as you need to, it’s an ongoing work in progress.

What this exercise allows you to do is see the crucial turning points in your creative life, and also the themes that have run through it.

And there will probably be themes that influence your work and direction today that run way back to your early teens or younger.

We all have threads that run through our lives, these themes we keep getting drawn back to. Through doing this exercise you can find yours more clearly. As well as giving you more understanding about where you are today, it will also allow you to see the themes most important to you to carry on into the future.

Only you can determine where your creativity storyline will go next...

Want more great creativity articles, and creativity exercises? 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- How To Finish Your Creative Projects - Accept, Adapt Or Abandon?

How many creative projects have you started in the last year or two and not finished? How many are still lying around cluttering and blocking your creativity, mentally if not physically?

If you’re like most of us who create, your answer is probably: “Nearly all of them!”

Here are 3 approaches to take when you “hit the wall” and get stuck with a creative project, that’ll help you make the right decisions for each unique project:

Before we get to those, firstly the fact is, whether we like it or not, sometimes our ideas don’t turn out as good as we expect. That’s just the way it is. It doesn't mean we've failed or we're not creative or we've forgotten how to create.

When this happens, you have 3 choices.

Choice A: Accept. Carry on to with the project to a natural conclusion, accepting it’s not what you thought it’d be but making the best of it you can. You’ve already invested an amount of energy and time in this project so it makes sense to follow through and get something from it if you can.

Choice B: Adapt. Take the project in a different direction by introducing new ideas or elements. Maybe the original idea wasn’t as strong as you’d hoped, or the project went in a different way to what you expected. Keep the project alive and let it evolve as it wants, even if this means a radical change from your original expectation.

Choice C: Abandon. Choose not to invest any more time on this project as it seems to be at a dead end. Take what you can from it in terms of experience and learning, then work on something you’re more interested in and excited about right now.

Any of these are reasonable course of action to take, depending on the circumstances.

Don’t be afraid of doing any one of them – Accept, Adapt or Abandon - whichever you feel is best for that project at that time.

Not all projects will get finished, and many more will turn out very differently to you planned them. Both of these outcomes are OK!

It’s that difference between what we expect a project to be and what it actually becomes that causes us most pain and anguish. So if we can detach a little from that, it becomes easier to let each project run to its natural conclusion, whatever that may be.

The alarm bells should start to ring though if you pick “Choice C: Abandon” every time.

If you become a “Serial Abandoner” of your creative projects – much like an errant father with 17 children by 14 different mothers - you might want to look at a deeper issue.

How can you apply this to your creative life right now?

How can you take on board these 3 choices and select one to continue with a project you recently stopped working on?

Want to learn more about how to be more creative? 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 twice monthly ezine “Create Create!”. Visit the website now: http://www.CoachCreative.com

Creativity Myth No1 - What It Is And How It Destroys YOUR Creativity

There are two kinds of people in life.

Those who are creative, who seem to be able to summon up endless ideas and creative energy. And those who can’t. Right?

NO NO NO NO NO!

This is Creativity Myth No1 and probably the biggest reason why people DON’T create more. They believe that unless they are one of the “chosen few” for whom creating comes as easily as breathing, they have no chance, so why even bother trying.

There are two parts to this myth that - if we believe them to be true – can be equally damaging and destroy our creativity:

Part 1: Only a select few can create. The rest of us can only hope to fumble around like blindfolded chimps on an ice rink in a powercut.

Why this is not true: ALL of us are born with the natural ability to be creative. When we’re young babies, what do we strive to do? Walk, talk and play.

All of these are hugely creative endeavours, and all motivated by the natural creative urge and ability that’s inherently within us all.

We want to explore, discover, invent, create. We’re fascinated by the tiny details of the world around us. This is our natural state, we don’t suddenly learn it in the first few moments of life outside the womb.

As we get older the reverse happens, we somehow UN-learn how to be curious and creative with such freedom.

Part 2. Creating is easy when you’re talented: It’s easy to create when you’re incredibly talented, you don’t even have to try. For anyone else it’s such a struggle it’s not worth making the effort.

Why this is not true: How much we create, and how easy we find it to create is actually very loosely connected to how “talented” you are. There are many highly gifted people who create abundantly.

Then there are many more, equally gifted people, who are riddled with all sorts of doubts, issues and creative blocks and barely create anything from one month to the next.

Similarly, there are people who start from the point of being average in ability, but through learning, persistence and dedication reach a point of being highly revered and respected in their creative field.

Sometimes it’s the less “naturally talented” people who HAVE to work harder, so their achievements outshine others who may be in fact be more gifted to begin with.

So what’s the moral of the story?

The two key points to understand are:

1. Everyone is creative. It’s our natural state of being. We just need to remember and rediscover it sometimes.

2. Everyone can create as much as they want to create. By experimenting, developing routines that work for us, and being committed to continuous learning and development, any of us – you included - can reach our creative potential and beyond.

How has believing this Creativity Myth No1 held back your creativity up until now?

What can you do, starting today, to destroy the myth and start to live up to your natural creative potential?

I invite you to take the next step to increase your creativity today by getting your copy of my powerful and practical "Explode Your Creativity!" Action Workbook. It’s FREE when you sign up to the FREE twice monthly ezine “Create Create!” at http://www.CoachCreative.com

Creative Writing - The 5 Biggest Mistakes To Avoid That Stop You Become A Better Creative Writer

As a creative writer there are many pitfalls that can prevent you being as good a writer as you know you can be.

What start off as simple misconceptions can quickly turn into set beliefs and patterns of behaviour that actually damage your ability to write creatively and freely.

Here are 5 of the most common mistakes to avoid, so you can start to reach YOUR full creative writing potential:

1. Expecting to write perfectly every time. Creative writing is about exploring, learning and enjoying your writing.

By expecting everything you write to be perfect from the first draft, you’re setting yourself up for a great deal of disappointment.

2. The “Weekend Novel” syndrome. Most of us may struggle to READ a novel in a weekend. So why is it we expect to be able to write one in such a short space of time?

Be kind to yourself, if you’re writing a novel, break it down into manageable chunks and give yourself time for your novel to evolve at its natural pace.

3. A limited amount of ideas. Maybe you’re very cautious about how you use your creative writing ideas because you think you’ll only have a certain number of them in your lifetime?

The truth is the more ideas we have, the more ideas we have! Develop the habit of looking for ideas in everything you come across in daily life. Ideas are everywhere, if you’re prepared to open your eyes.

4. Fear of making mistakes. If you write with the pressure on your shoulders that you can’t ever make a mistake, your creative writing will seriously suffer.

It’s ok to rewrite, to edit, even to discard large chunks of writing because they’re not right for this particular project. It’s all part of the creative writing process.

5. “I’ll fit writing in where I can”. If creative writing is way down on your list of priorities after “rearrange my wardrobe in order of colour” and “dismantle and clean the filter on my vacuum cleaner” then it’ll never get done.

Set a fixed amount of time aside at the same time each and every day – a minimum of 15 minutes - and just sit down and write.

Which of these 5 do you recognise and relate to? How can you change your approach today to give your creative writing a better chance of thriving?

Get your creative writing kick started again right now with the FREE 5 part creative writing ecourse at http://www.YouAreACreativeWriter.Com.

Creativity Coach and keen creative writer Dan Goodwin helps people who are struggling to be as creative as they know they can be. See more at his website: http://www.CoachCreative.com

Creative Writing - 3 Key Steps To Get Started In Creative Writing Today

Many people have the desire to write and feel they have it in them to write poems, stories, even novels. But they barely write a word.

Maybe you’ve tried a little creative writing yourself, and would like to do more, but something holds you back.

Here are the 3 key steps you can take, to get you started (again) with your Creative Writing:

Step 1. Be kind to yourself, start small. Many people, having never written more than a few short pieces of creative writing before, try to go headfirst in at the deep end and write their first novel in a couple of weekends.

Yes, there are a few people this can work for, and if you’re one of them and that works for you, that’s fantastic.

But the rest of us need to build up our creative writing muscles before we go for a big writing project like a novel.

Pick a small project first, like a poem or article or short descriptive piece. Get used to writing, and familiar with the whole process from having an idea, to writing the first few words, to that proud feeling of reading back your finished piece of writing.

Step 2. Create regularly. Creative writing, like any other form of creativity, needs to become a habit for you to reach your true potential. In your list of what you do each day, creating needs to be just below Breathe, Eat and Sleep.

Pick a regular time each day to create for a minimum of 15 minutes, stick to it for 2 weeks and notice what a huge difference this makes to your creative output.

Imagine what you’ll have written in 6 to 12 months from now when you extend this daily creative session to 20 or 30 minutes a day.

Step 3. Experiment. Play. Enjoy. Creative writing is about exploring new ideas, new characters, new worlds, new ways of expressing yourself and your creativity.

It’s also about learning which ways you write most effectively, which types of writing you most enjoy and which you’d like to try next.

If you have the attitude that creative writing is an enjoyable experience, not a chore or a slog, then obviously it makes a huge difference to what you write.

If you feel at times your writing is getting tired or stuck or predictable, just switch to a different type of writing, try a new creative writing project in a format you’ve never tried before.

The more you write, and the more different ways you write, the richer your creative writing will be.

These are the 3 key steps to getting started with your creative writing today. What are you waiting for?

To give your creative writing that extra boost out of the blocks, 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 struggling to be as creative as they know they can be. See more at his website: http://www.CoachCreative.com

Creative Writing Fears - I'm Scared I'm Running Out Of Ideas For My Creative Writing. What Can I Do?

One of the fears of writers is that they’ll one day run out of ideas to use in their creative writing.

So, because you feel you have a limited stockpile of ideas, and you feel you don’t know the size of that stockpile, it causes you to hold back, and to eek out each new idea slowly in case it’s your last.

By restraining your creative writing in this way, the quality of the writing is compromised, even if you don’t mean it to be.

So how can you overcome this fear of running out of ideas?

You can approach this in one of two ways:

1. You focus on the fear. You look at ways you can reduce these fearful feelings you have about running out of ideas.

This sounds a good theory at first. “My problem seems to be I fear running out of ideas. So I need to focus on ways that I can reduce that fear, ways I can be less afraid, or ways I can deal with not having any new ideas when that day comes...”

Why this DOESN’T work: The simple reason this doesn’t work is because whatever you focus on in your life, that’s what expands and grows. Whatever you give your attention and concentration, that’s what will become more prevalent and what you’ll notice more.

No doubt you’ve noticed when you’ve gone to buy a new model of car, you suddenly start seeing them everywhere you go. Why? Not because there’s been a sudden flood of these cars imported or manufactured. It’s simply because what you’re focusing on has changed.

So if you focus on the fear, guess what? The fear grows and expands, becomes an even larger presence.

So what’s the alternative?

2. You focus on having more ideas. You look at ways you can have more new ideas, and create multiple ideas from those you have already.

Again you get what you focus on. If you have in the forefront of your mind as you go about your day to day activities: “How could this be turned into an idea for my creative writing?” then the ideas will start to pop up from all directions.

Why this DOES work: When you start looking for ideas, when you open your mind and positively welcome them in, they all come flooding in!

Try this simple exercise to prove this works: Look around the room you’re in right now and pick 3 objects at random. The first 3 things that catch your eye.

Now for each of these objects in turn, ask: “What ideas can this object give me for my creative writing? What does this object remind me of? What does it make me think of? What associations do I have with this type of object? What else could it be used for, other than it’s intended purpose?”

Notice how many new ideas come flowing by just asking a few simple questions?

What we focus on expands and grows.

By focusing on having more ideas, instead of the fear of running out of ideas, you can soon develop a habit that will give you more ideas for your creative writing than you’ll ever need! Use this technique to have more ideas for your creative writing, starting today!

Get your creative writing kick started again right now with the FREE 5 part creative writing ecourse at http://www.YouAreACreativeWriter.Com.

Creativity Coach and keen creative writer Dan Goodwin helps people who are struggling to be as creative as they know they can be. See more at his website: http://www.CoachCreative.com

Creative Writing - 3 Fatal Mistakes That Stop You Ever Finishing Your Creative Writing Projects

Do you find that you often start new writing projects, but never get very far with them?

Do you have a hard drive and notebooks full of fragments of writing, unexplored ideas and unfinished stories?

You’re not alone.

Many creative writers struggle to finish the writing projects they start. Here are 3 of the most common mistakes, and how to overcome them:

Mistake 1. Rigid approach. You begin a story about one thing and it quickly starts turning into something else. Rather than let the writing find its own way and naturally evolve, you keep trying to haul it back along the route you started. You end up either with a bland and stilted story that doesn’t really hang together, or you abandon the project altogether.

What to do instead: Each creative project you start has its own natural speed and direction of development it needs to find. Keep writing, be open to where the writing’s going, don’t worry about where you started, just focus on enjoying the journey.

Mistake 2. Unrealistic expectation. You expect everything you write to be the most amazing life changing piece of writing anyone has ever produced. It’s great to have ambition and to strive to write the best you can all the time. But as soon you realise a project isn’t going perfectly you give up.

What to do instead: Aim to give each project all you can, your best effort and the attention and focus it needs. Then let go of your expectation, just keep writing and see where it takes you.

Mistake 3. Magpie Syndrome. Magpies are known for liking shiny bright things and taking them back to their nest. Writers often aren’t much different! Whatever you stage you’re at in a writing project, you often have a great idea for a new project and redirect your attention to that, dumping the half-finished work on the way.

What to do instead: Everything about writing can be learned and practiced, including finishing projects. The best way to do this is pick a small project, like a poem or short descriptive piece, see it through to the end, then do another, and another. You get used to the feeling and process of going from start to finish and can then build up to larger works.

These are 3 of the most fatal mistakes writers make that stop them ever finishing writing projects.

Which one most resonates with you? What action can you take today to start to turn it around?

Give your creative writing a boost today with the FREE 5 part creative writing ecourse from www.YouAreACreativeWriter.Com.

Creativity Coach and keen creative writer Dan Goodwin helps people who are struggling to be as creative as they know they can be. See more at his website:
http://www.CoachCreative.com

The Myth Of Creative Freedom - How Making Boundaries Actually Sets Your Creativity Free

"Creative Freedom" is a phrase that at first sounds like the ultimate goal to strive for.

Free to create whatever we want to create, free from restrictions and pressures and demands. Free from limitations put on us by ourselves and by others. Free from anything and everything that might restrict our creativity.

Heaven!

Except it doesn’t quite work like that...

What happens when we have this complete freedom is not that our creativity flows with the might and volume of the Amazon River.

In fact you might be lucky to even get a trickle with the force of a pinhole in a hosepipe.

So what happens, what goes wrong?

Why does the promise of so much freedom actually restrict our creativity, often to the point of complete standstill?

Quite simply, we become overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with possibilities, overwhelmed with choice.

Which medium should I create in? What materials shall I use? How big is the project going to be? What’s it going to be about? What themes will run through it? Where do I START?

Plus a hundred thousand other variables marching through your head as relentlessly as hungry ants who’ve just caught the scent of a family picnic.

Contrary to what we think - and what might be the sensible, logical conclusion – when we start to put a few boundaries in place, we actually give our creativity the go ahead to get busy.

Let me give a personal example if I may:

I used to record music using an electric guitar, a small amp, a microphone and a 4 track cassette recorder. I had big ambitions to create deep, complex, ”sonic soundscapes”.

I had to be very inventive to get the layers and sounds I wanted in the music.

This included recording then flipping the tape over and record the next layer backwards, swinging the microphone from a light fitting to get the effects of the music coming closer then farther away, and physically “manipulating” the guitar (ie banging and shaking it with varying amounts of force!) to get the different sounds I wanted.

It was great fun! And a very creative period of time.

Later on I got a multi-effects pedal and computer software that did everything but make you a cup of tea and a sandwich. (It probably did this too, I didn’t read past about chapter 5 of the 65 chapter manual).

I did go on to create more sophisticated tracks. But something was lost. And it didn’t feel as “hands on and dirty” as creating in those early days.

The point is, the fewer options we give ourselves, the more creative we HAVE to be.

Sometimes it’s about defining the boundaries we think are going to stimulate our creativity and force us to take it to another level that are most important. Not how many knobs and filters and effects our equipment has.

What project can you take on today to get back to basics and “hands on and dirty” with YOUR creativity?

Pick something that needs the minimum of equipment, approach it like you’re creating for the first time, finding your way around and learning as you go.

It’s a great exercise in getting back in touch with your core creativity.

Take the next step 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 twice monthly ezine “Create Create!”. Visit the website now: http://www.CoachCreative.com

Creative Self Image - Is Your Outdated Creative Self Image Choking The Life Out Of Your Creativity?

We all have a self-image, a picture or collection of pictures in our heads about how we think we are and how we think we appear to the outside world.

Speaking personally for a moment, I’ve met a number of new people in the last couple of months, and many of them have told me how I’m confident and capable.

I’m delighted and grateful about the compliments of course, but a little voice deep inside still says:

“Confident? Me? Come on, I’m just a shy and scared little boy!”

The mostly positive self image I have of myself still has a few fragments of an old and outdated self image that occasionally reappears.

Maybe I DID used to be a shy and scared little boy. Or maybe I never was. But the reality is, to the outside world now, I’m appearing with some positive and valued attributes that people are attracted to and responding to.

It’s a bit like one of those criminal identikit pictures you see in old crime shows.

The victim goes to the police and scans through hundreds of sets of eyes, ears, noses, mouths, dodgy haircuts and other facial features until they’ve fitted together the best picture of the person they saw committing the crime.

So how does this apply to your creative life?

What does your creative identikit picture of yourself look like?

We’re not talking about physical features here. Let’s look deeper than that.

How do you present your creative self to the world? How do you exist and interact in the world as a creative person?

If you picked 5 words that described your creative identikit - how you see yourself as an artistic creative person right now – what would they be?

Adventurous? Experimental? Productive? Imaginative? Confident?

Or would they more likely be:

Fearful. Inconsistent. Stuck. Fraudulent. Inadequate.

What 5 words would you LOVE to accurately describe how you are as a creative person?

While you ponder that question, let’s have a little reality check here.

And the reality is that you’re probably actually far closer to the 5 words you’d love to accurately describe you than the first set of 5 words you came up with.

Often, we find we’re carrying around with us an old, tired, outdated self-image of ourselves that, even if it was accurate many years ago (and even then it’s likely it was negatively biased), it’s a long way from the truth of the person we are now.

What parts of your outdated creative self-image are causing you unnecessary pain, and choking your creativity?

Identifying the parts of your creative identikit picture that are inaccurate and outdated is the first step to setting yourself free from them.

The second step is replacing them with new, shiny bright positive and accurate ones.

So think about the positive attributes you have as a creative person.

What positive creative traits and strengths do people mention to you and compliment you on? Those kind of comments that you brush off with “oh that’s nothing special” and “yeh, I suppose, but anyone could have done that.”?

The evidence is there that you have plenty of positive creative strengths.

It’s time now, for the sake of your creativity, to throw away that old outdated creative identikit image and replace with one that’s more truthful, more accurate and a more positive reflection of the wonderfully capable and creative person you are today.

Take the next step to increase your creativity and build that new creative self image 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 twice monthly ezine “Create Create!”. Visit the website now: http://www.CoachCreative.com

Am I Creative? No You're Not JUST Creative - You're MULTI-Creative! And Here's Why...

We all have doubts that we’re really creative.

Maybe you’ve felt you’re not actually creative at all?

Maybe you fear one day you’ll somehow be “found out” and the “truth” about your talent will be revealed?

Yes we all feel these kind of doubts and insecurities at various times.

The truth is, that we’re not just creative. We’re more than that, we’re MULTI-creative.

We aren't just a writer, just a collage artist, just a chef or just a photographer.

Yes, you probably have one main creative outlet that the majority of your creativity is channelled through. Maybe you found this by accident, maybe you’ve spent years finding it.

But, if you have one creative outlet then you'll have many others. Maybe you haven't tried them yet, maybe you don't even know they exist yet.

As creative people we aren't one trick wonders.

We can create in many different ways, we've just got to be brave and experiment, find the ways that allow us to express what we need to express, and the ways that give us most pleasure.

Leonardo Da Vinci is widely celebrated as a Renaissance man who was talented in a huge variety of ways. Yes there's no doubt he was an exceptional talent, but this way of being multi-creative I believe is the norm rather than the exception.

If we believed we had the talent, the courage, the time, the discipline to try multiple creative pursuits we'd all find this was the natural way to be creative.

Also, each new creative medium we try enhances what we express through all the others.

Think about your creative life for a moment. What is your main creative medium?

How did you come to find this? Maybe it was something you were encouraged to do as a child, maybe it was through being inspired by the work of other artists in a similar field. Maybe you stumbled across it by accident?

What OTHER creative media have you tried? If you think carefully no doubt you’ll be surprised at how many different kinds of creative expression you have actually tried.

Which did you enjoy? Which would you like to try again?

What new creative discipline have you always longed to try but haven’t (yet) tried?

Creativity is an adventure, a journey of discovery. It’s not about finding one form of creating then becoming a factory production line, just churning out clone after clone of the same piece of art.

Before you go to bed tonight, choose one creative form you’d like to try in the next 7 days. Then write down the first 3 steps you need to take to do this. Tomorrow, take step 1.

Have fun in your new creative adventures!

Want to learn more about how to increase YOUR creativity? 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 twice monthly ezine “Create Create!”. Visit the website now: http://www.CoachCreative.com

Over The Rainbow- How To Use Colour To Increase Your Creativity

One easy way to increase your creativity is to become more aware of the colour all around you, and use it many different ways.

Colour is obviously a very strong element of the visual sense we experience.

Different colours have different associations and connections and trigger off a variety of feelings and responses within us.

Think of the word "red" for example. What are the first things that come to mind?

I first think of blood, stop, strawberry jam, wine, passion, anger. It's also the colour of the second hand on my clock, the cover of my diary, the colour pen I use to represent a point of action and colour of the "hang up" button on my phone...

Try yourself, take a few different colours and create a profile for each.

Think about the dimensions of the colour, its texture, its temperature, the emotions it relates to, the objects that come to mind, the places it brings to mind. Extend this maybe to considering its close relations in the colour spectrum and its opposites.

Think also about familiar objects in different colours to their usual ones.

Think beyond the normal cliches of "red = hot" and "green = grass" for example.

What reaction would it bring if there were purple oranges, pink grass or a bright green sun?

Create a collage of one single colour, focusing just on the colour and shade and not on the pictures or materials. You could cut up magazines and paste on a large board or alternatively find images on the internet and create a collage in Photoshop.

Another way to explore your relation with colours is to use different colour light bulbs in your study, office or studio.

Try a green bulb for a few days, then a blue one, then red. Notice the different effect each has on your mood, outlook, attitude and productivity.

Maybe you'll find certain shades will help you be more creative, more relaxed, more energised and inspired. Maybe different creative projects would benefit by having different colours surrounding you?

As always, experiment freely and see what works for you and your creativity.

As creative people, our visual sense is very strong and important. Colour is one of the crucial elements of this.

Use these tips to experiment with colour and notice how it helps you to increase your creativity.

Want more great creativity articles, tips and exercises? 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

Creative Writing And Overcoming The Disease To Please - What Do You REALLY Long To Write?

How much of what you write is actually what you REALLY want to write?

What percentage would you say, of all your creative writing output, is the kind of writing that just burns inside you to get out?

The words you just have to share with the world. The words that reveal and express the real creative you?

90%? 75%? 50% Less than 10%

Many of us spend much of our time writing exactly what it is we think others want to read.

If we’re right, we may get our writing published, and it may well bring a lot of pleasure into the lives of the people who read our books.

That’s all fantastic. Up to a point. But are you writing to be a commercial success? If so, then reaching as many people as possible, and selling as many books as possible is obviously your aim. And so writing what people want to read more of makes a lot of sense.

But what if what you’re producing is not what you REALLY want to be writing? What if it’s actually as far from what your heart and creativity truly desire to express as London is from Melbourne?

Sometimes we get caught in a similar cycle even if we’re NOT finding commercial success with our writing.

We write what we think our partner wants to read, or what we think our mother wants to read.

There comes a point when we need to look out for ourselves. We need to think about what it is we really long to write. What it is we feel we’ve been put on this earth to write. Whether that’s novels, poems, How To guides or software manuals.

Write what’s in the deepest part of you.

Write in the way that is uniquely and amazingly YOU.

The style and the words that no-one else BUT you in the world can write.

Because if you don’t start to do this – even if it’s only a small proportion of what you write in total – you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. You’ll always wonder “What if?” you’d written that novel, that poetry collection, that manual.

So make a start today.

Write a list of the things you’ve always wanted to write, some you may have not even admitted openly before. Then pick one from that list, and write the first line of it. Today. You owe it to yourself.

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.

Creative Writing - The 5 Key Principles Of Abundant Creative Writing

Creative writing is not just a natural gift that we’re born with.

Yes, some people have more of a talent for writing than others. But far more of a factor to how good a creative writer you become is how much you’re willing to learn, experiment and explore. And, quite simply, how much you’re prepared to WRITE.

So whatever your talent or experience is up until now, here are 5 key principles of abundant creative writing.

Use them, starting today, to boost your creative writing to new levels:

1. Develop a routine. The only way to write more is, er, to write more. This becomes so much easier if you have a routine in place to do this, rather than snatching a few minutes here and there when you can. Set a specific time each and every day to spend writing, even it’s only for 10 or 15 minutes.

2. Praise yourself. It’s very easy to lose track of how much progress we make in a short time, and just how much we write. Keep a note of what you write and when. Once you really get into the flow, you’ll be amazed at how much you really can create each month.

3. Stay stimulated. To be able to continually write new, inventive, rewarding words we need to stimulate our senses and our imagination. Do all you can to get each of your senses engaged and aroused, then try to use these experiences in your writing. It’ll make your writing far richer and more involving, both for your readers AND for you writing it.

4. Get support. There’s no substitute for a supportive network of fellow creative people. If you don’t have creative or supportive friends, look for local groups in your area, or join an online creative community. Having someone else behind us to support and cheerlead can make a huge difference.

5. Vary your writing. If you always write in the same kind of format, you may become an expert in that format. But your writing will improve even more if you try a number of different techniques from one line poems to novels and everything in between.

Use these 5 pillars of abundant writing and notice the difference it makes to both the amount you write, and the richness of your writing.

There’ll never be a better day to get started than today, so get writing!

Discover more about how to improve your creative writing right away. Get your FREE 5 part creative writing ecourse at www.YouAreACreativeWriter.Com.

Creativity Coach and keen creative writer Dan Goodwin helps people who are struggling to be as creative as they know they can be. See more at: http://www.CoachCreative.com