🧪 How do I feel more creative?

Just ~10 minutes a day for 5 days is all it takes

I wrote earlier this week about a movement experiment that I ran earlier this year and it got me thinking — what else have I experimented with this year? 🤔

Sometimes experiments are structured and multiple weeks long, others are just a week or even a few days. Sure, taking a 12 week art class is great, but if you’re just trying to scratch the creative itch, sometimes the simpler, the better.

These three experiments are activities I’ve used in workshops and in my own life to just get the creative juices flowing. They are simple with clear parameters. With creativity, sometimes the challenge is that there is so much possibility, we get crippled with the question of Where do I even begin? These experiments make it straightforward: Start here! Don’t overthink it!

If you are craving a bit more creativity in your days, here are three ideas to get your started. I challenge you to do one of these for 5 days in a row. Set a calendar invite to hold you accountable and then see what flows! Send me a message at the end of the five days and tell me about what you created. I can’t wait to hear! 🤗

3 experiments to a more creative you

1. Draw without erasing

   Choose your favorite art utensils, I prefer using my iPad and Procreate because there are so many options, but colored pencils, or just a pen works great. Set a timer for 10 minutes and just draw! You can draw whatever you want, or just doodle, but the key here is not erasing or thinking too hard about what you’re drawing or going to draw next.

   This exercise helps you enjoy the process instead of focusing on the outcome and getting caught in perfectionism.

2. Random word stories

   Start off by generating 3 random words. You can use your imagination or a random word generator. Then set a timer for 5 minutes and write a story. It can be any story! About anything!

   This exercise is extra fun if you do it with a partner because you’ll come up with totally different stories! This is a great one if you have long subscribed to the belief of “I am not a writer.” It it lets your imagination hook onto those three words and see what flows. For many, this exercise brings up personal experiences and what they end up with is a vivid story that they had no idea was inside of them.

3. The emotion poem

   Most days, you wake up feeling a certain type of way. Take note of that feeling (use the Feelings Wheel if you need to) and write a poem from the perspective of that emotion. “I’m sad and I’m a big blob of blue goo.” Writing this way helps personalize the emotion and make it less about you being sad and more about the emotion itself.

   This exercise is especially helping if you’re feeling one emotion in particular quite heavily. It can almost feel like taking off the cloak of that emotion, even if only for a few minutes.

A bonus experiment!

• Artist Dates

  This is arguably the most fun one, so I won’t be surprised if you pick this.

  Julia Cameron writes about Artist Dates in The Artist’s Way, which is a great way to (re)discover your own creativity if you have yet to read it.

  Essentially, you take yourself on a date each week that speaks to your inner artist. Collect shells on the beach, buy stickers and plaster them all over your notebook, go to a movie alone. You can do anything. The point is to get over restricting yourself from the things that bring you joy, love, and creativity and make a date out of it.

  My question to you — what if you went on an Artist Date every day?

1. 🍽️ Hosting a dinner party? Sean made this bo ssam recipe from the NYT/David Chang last week and it was DELISH. Highly recommend for both taste and ease.

2. 🌲 Need a book rec? I recently read The God of the Woods and quite enjoyed it. As a young camp goer, it transported me right back to my bunk (minus the weird stuff).

3. 🧪 Ready to experiment? I’ve opened up doors to my new program The Creative Experiment. Take a look and if you’re interested, please do apply.

   

I can’t help but get into a Hermanos trance, as of late. It’s the perfect writing music.

And the playlist for ya.

Get creative for me,

Zoë

👋 Thanks for making it this far! If you're still interested in joining Let's Write!: A weekly writing club, you can use the code FIVEOFF for $5 off.