How Can I Tap into My Creativity?
Would you like to be able to tap into your creativity? Do you feel creativity is something that happens to other people? Were you once creative and that side of your life is gone now?
Don’t worry, this is a common problem, and it happens to the best of creatives.
The trick is to learn how to evoke your creativity, to know how to dig deep into your inner self – and create.
Why Have I Lost My Creativity?
As children we are inherently creative. We use our senses, we explore the world with fresh and inquisitive eyes, and our imaginations have no boundaries.
As life demands more from us and as we enter the workforce and concentrate upon jobs that we don’t always enjoy but have to do, we seem to lose our sense of exploration and become pigeon-holed and blinkered.
In many circumstances, we forget to nurture our creativity, putting aside our imaginations.
We lose sight of who we once were, and how we feel. Our inherent creative abilities become dormant and we forget how to create. The Memoir Writing Workbook redresses this imbalance showing you how to rekindle your creativity and write from the heart.
Creative writing exercises are a great way to help tap into creativity.
How Writing Exercises Can Help Your Creativity
Books by psychologists are probably the best way to understand the workings of our brains and how creativity works, I am therefore not purporting to have all the answers.
But I do know from direct experience that right-brain/left-brain writing exercises provide a solid key to tapping into creativity. It is as if they distract you and make you think in a different way, with little effort.
Read my Blog: Right-Brain vs Left-Brain – What’s the Difference? to learn more.
I’ve facilitated workshops in memoir and fiction writing for over 35 years, and it never ceases to amaze me the outcome in participant writings from doing simple innovative exercises.
It is as if a switch is turned, and suddenly breakthrough is achieved, almost like going through a tunnel. The process is different for everyone. The exercises stimulate each person in their own way.
All the exercises in The Memoir Writing Workbook can be used on an ongoing basis to aid creativity, imagination and creative writing.
It’s a step-by-step process, and at this stage of my teaching career using right-brain/left-brain techniques, and from feedback from hundreds and hundreds of participants, I know they work.
The exercises are also fun to do, not a chore, this also makes a big difference.
As one 20-something male student said to me, ‘I find this process helps me to evoke a creative part of the brain that usually you have to wait around for and be at its mercy, so I feel I am more in control now of my creativity.’
Memoir Writing and Creativity
One may think that writing creatively is not a part of memoir writing. It is. Each stage of developing and writing your memoir requires engagement in the creative process.
Using both sides of the brain requires right-brain / left-brain thinking. The left side asks the questions, the right side informs the answer, therefore both sides form whole brain thinking. Right-brain / left-brain thinking nourishes creativity and creative thinking.
Language also plays a huge role in writing your memoir creatively. An element of memoir writing in itself, in my 12-week online memoir writing course, and in The Memoir Writing Workbook, I concentrate a lot on the development of writing voice and language.
Evocative and figurative language deepens story in memoir writing. Figurative language is not literal language, it is language that has a deeper meaning than what it is saying on the surface. Evocative language comes from the heart, it allows for expression and connection to our experiences.
In brain research, it is noted that evocative language is characteristically right-brain language. It uses imagery, sensory details and is rich in associations. It involves our emotions.
Objective, descriptive language is characteristically left-brain language. It is accurate and clear, and has a precise meaning.
As you develop your unique writing voice and your personal style of writing, it is important to incorporate evocative language into your memoir. Writing your memoir creatively employs the use of evocative language, without overusing it.
Do read my Blog: How to Write a Memoir About Your Life to find out more.
Tap into Your Creativity – Creative Brain Exercise
This is a simple and fun brain exercise to get you going. And great to do in a group.
Note: the text reads colours – blue, orange, etc
Note: each word is highlighted in a colour, not the text colour
Call out, as fast as possible, the colour, not the word.
| Green | Black | Blue |
| Yellow | Orange | Red |
| Blue | Green | Black |
| Red | Yellow | Orange |
| Black | Blue | Green |
| Orange | Red | Yellow |
When you do it a few times, start at the bottom row and call out the colours again.
Get Your Creativity Back – 7 Ways to Help
- Use writing as a tool – do right-brain/left-brain writing exercises, use a pen, not your computer.
- Take a walk in nature – and be really conscious of your surroundings.
- Dance – dance to your kind of music – have fun.
- Draw – anything, it doesn’t have to be a masterpiece.
- Dedicate 15 minutes a day (more if you can) to you. Time for you.
- Read a book, be inspired.
- Carry a little notebook – jot down new ideas – memories – note things that inspire you.
Go easy on yourself, nothing happens for anyone overnight. But one thing is for sure, if you keep at it, change happens.
Join or Start a Memoir Writing Club
Be pro-active. Get feedback on your writing. Writing groups or clubs offer a solid support for writers. I am really encouraging writers to be a part of a memoir writing club. For more information do read my Blog: How can I get Feedback on My Memoir?
Make your memoir writing journey exciting, Start a Memoir Writing Club in your area!
See Irene’s other Blog posts to help develop further thoughts. There’s plenty more to learn and chat about!
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Want a helping hand and guide to put this into practice?
The Memoir Writing Workbook (240 pages) is based on right-brain/left-brain visual writing techniques. It has 36 multi-part step-by-step exercises and 45 writing tips and tricks to help you trigger memory and write your story, at your own pace.
Or join Irene in her 12-week Online Memoir Writing Course or on one of her Writing Retreats.
