Improve Your Creative Skills With These 5 Activities

Every one of us gets stuck and runs out of ideas every now and then. The creative mind is our special tool that serves us thoughts and ideas that shape our lifestyles each day.

Most people believe that creativity is a birth talent and that if you’re not a creative type from the beginning, you can never be.

I can’t emphasize enough how false this belief is.

It is a myth that allows people to justify their lack of proactivity, direction, and work.

The creative self is just like our personality – improvable. Our creative ideas can’t be born unless the “creative engine” is fueled. How can you fill it?

Practice!

To encourage the development of your creative skills, I have put together a list of five exercises that will help bring forth your creative side.

These activities aren’t lengthy or complicated, yet they’re exceptional tools for enhancing your out-of-the-box thinking. Pay attention and make sure you implement them immediately to see improvements in your creative side.

1. Use A Dictionary And Three Words

A funny yet extremely challenging creative exercise involves a dictionary and a few words. Open Merriam Webster or use a hardcover dictionary. Pick a random word, write it on a piece of paper, and pick two more words (the ones behind and after your randomly selected word).

Take the three words and write a short story using only these words. It doesn’t have to be a “wow” story – as long as it’s making sense, you’re doing it right!

Twyla Tharp, a successful American writer is vouching for this creativity exercise in her book “The Creative Habit”. She emphasizes the importance of not giving up when challenging words come up, as the toughest combinations are also the most productive for your creative self.

2. Make Up Short Stories

Stories are awesome concepts that are fueled mainly by our creativity. Of course, there are the “real stories”, but even those are altered by people’s imagination and perception.

A great way to exercise your creative abilities is to develop stories using pre-established ground rules. For example, you can write extremely short stories (6 to 12 words long), medium-length ones (a few paragraphs), or you can create a big story (as long as you want to).

Besides exercising your creative skills, you can come up with brilliant stories that more people might enjoy. You can turn these into e-books and sell them online in a digital format!

3. Avoid A Letter While Writing Or Speaking

Have you ever tried to avoid pronouncing or writing a letter while you speak or write something? This exercise is tapping into your subconscious mind. More precisely, your conscious brain communicates a strong intention (avoiding a specific letter). Your subconscious mind receives the intention and immediately starts to “work on it”.

Your subconscious mind isn’t doing all the work. By effectively focusing on this task, your conscious brain is making it all possible because one intention isn’t enough for this exercise to be successful. Try writing 200 words while avoiding the letter “R” (or any other) and feel your brain’s hustle!

4. Write A Haiku

A Haiku is a Japanese-style, 3-lined poem that uses sensory language to illustrate an image or a feeling. The purpose of this exercise is to allow your creative self to explore new boundaries and to develop new skills.

This is how a Haiku poem looks like:

     
(Source: Wikihow.com)

This exercise brings plenty of benefits to your creative self, and not only: