Creativity is recklessness. I mean that in the most lofty use of the term. As in the way Henry Brooks Adams uses it here: “The spring is here, young and beautiful as ever, and absolutely shocking in its display of reckless maternity.”
Here are ten quick ways guaranteed (or your money back!) to stimulate creative deconstruction.
1. Find an old book and grab a felt marker and doodle over the top of:
⸋ The Cover
⸋ The Title Page
⸋ The Copyright Page
⸋ Find random beautiful words or phrases, circle them and turn down the corners of those pages
2. Find an old piece of notebook paper, tear it into strips and make a paper chain.
3. Make artistic prints using an ink pad and cut vegetables. (i.e. cut a bell pepper in half and dip the edges in the ink pad for a beautiful pattern)
4. Infuse a random piece of paper with a smell of your choosing.
5. Find a piece of paper and trace your hand.
6. Gather all your pocket lint, grab some glue and create a masterpiece.
7. Draw with glue.
8. Glue a photo of yourself you dislike in a random place and deface.
9. Write or draw with your left hand—or right if you are a lefty. (see graphic)
10. What deconstructively creative and delightful idea can YOU brainstorm as #10?
*These 9 ways are “creatively” adapted from a delightful book by Keri Smith called Wreck This Journal.
34 responses to “Here’s A Quick Way To Stimulate Creativity”
With 3 of these requiring glue, I’d be pretty, um, “creative” after whiffing those fumes.
Ha!!!!! I’m sure you would!!
I love that journal! And I love your lefty drawing!
Great tips, Randy. Thanks for spurring us on.
@Jeff Goins, Ha!!! Thanks! Maybe, I’ve started a new art form…then again.
Number 10. Break Rules!
I once invented a whole new and better job by doing this. I was a sales rep in our company (and hating it!), so when we began carrying a new product line, I learned it better than anyone else. Soon, other sales reps were calling me to see if I could “sneak” into their territory to demonstrate it for their customers too! I did so, until my manager found out, slapped me on the hand… and then asked if I’d like to leave sales and do this full time! : ) We had never had a product specialist before and we ended up creating a whole new department which I got to lead, and for 2 years, we were the number one reseller of that product in the nation. THAT was fun!
I’ve recently done it again, by spending too much time with video cameras, and have since created an online TV Channel for our company. The company is now building me a studio! Ha!
Nothing really gets started without pushing the envelope as it were : )
@Leo Gallant, I LOVE it!!! Leo, thanks!!
I will often head over to quizlet.com and use a set of flashcards to stimulate or unstick my brain. Sometimes a choose a set from an appropriate category, sometimes I choose randomly. The point is to move away from my set patterns into other ways of thinking.
I took the idea from the Methodology app on my I-phone, before I went back to Blackberry.
@Bill Todd, Nice, Bill. That is a really great new resource to me and I’m sure many others of us! Great idea!! Thanks!
i find it interesting that most of these are things that small children would not have a problem doing with glee… i think that says something about needing an inner child.
personally sometime i take random objects from my “found” box and work on a piece of jewelry or doodad.
this post also reminds me of a young college student taking “art for elementary school teachers” who was distraut because her instructor required that the class pour out their brand new crayons, throw away the box, break EVERY ONE, and take the paper off a certain number of the parts…. the teacher wanted to give them freedom from the tyranny of the perfect.
you just make me think “wow,” randy…..
@Lauree, You just made me think “wow” too, Lauree!! Thanks for joining the conversation.
I do SO agree my brotha!
@Ramy-Man, Yeah, baby!!
Wine, cooking, espresso, stogie, amazing song… In that order:-)
@Ramy-Man, Ah, Ramy. We are soul-mates!!!
Randy,
I like to get out of the house or office, that in and of itself can make a big difference. At the office we schedule time out several times a week to get ice cream play with RC cars, etc. I find that those times can be very freeing creatively! I will also have office “surprises” from time to time. They are a big hit. In our business, I need and our clients want the creative juices flowing.
@Joel W. Smith, Thanks, Joel. Great idea!!!
Man, this couldn’t have come at a better time. Currently having a mental block with a pitch letter that I’m trying to write . . . going to try the first one – maybe I’ll randomly circle a word that will unlock the clutter that is my brain this Monday!
Actually – making a phone call usually can unblock me from torpor. Not returning a call, but initiating one. It seems to trigger forward momentum for me – something about being active rather than passive. Not sure if that’s an issue for others . . . but it sure is for me.
Hmm – I used the word “torpor” above. Nice word. Maybe the unblocking has begun . . .
JEM
@Judy McD, Awesome, Judy. Can’t wait to hear an update on how it goes…. Here’s to creative doodling and new ideas…
Juggle. It gives your body something to do and engages a portion of the brain for the hand/eye coordination but the rest of the brain is free to work and wander and connect the disconnections.
@Russ, Nice, Russ. Thanks!
I’ve never juggled. I must try it..What is the best thing to juggle?
@Randy Elrod, I suggest starting with Juggling Balls. You can find them on Amazon pretty easily. There is a book called “The Instant Juggling Book” that can give you the basics in 10-15min…but I would purchase some juggling balls separate from the juggling cubes that come with the book.
@Russ, Nice!!! I should have know there was a book! That is how I learn best!
@Randy Elrod, In my opinion, start with those plastic grocery bags. They “float” and train your brain to throw correctly. TargetWalmart bags work too!
@Keith Jennings, Plastic grocery bags!! Whoa!! That is very cool….Hey, Keith, can you reply and explain what you mean by onomatopoeia-like sounds? That is such a great word!!
Sit somewhere alone outdoors (in a city park, or garden, or your backyard, etc.). Take plain non-ruled paper and write the sounds you hear WITHOUT using real words. Only write in onomatopoeia-like sounds.
Then, build a small altar and burn your notes, allowing the sounds to return to the primal warblings from which they came.
@Keith Jennings, I LOVE this Keith! But…
Onom—what kind of sounds?????
@Randy Elrod, An onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the sound it describes. Like “meow” for a cat. Or “Splat.” Or “Grrr.” Or “Whoosh.”
I’m listening to white noise right now, which sounds like, “Hhhhuuuu.” Someone is typing beside me and it sounds like, “kik kik kik kik”. It’s like painting sound with letters.
By the way, I LOVE the phrase “destructively creative” on so many levels! Great post (as always).
@Keith Jennings, Thanks, Keith. Niccccccccceeeeeeee!!!
if i tried writing with my left hand, it would look like a whole other made up language!
@Spence Smith, Sort of like your infamous typos? :) Is it things or thongs?? Ha!!
Are you kidding me?? typos are my second… wait.. sometimes first language. a little mysterious how the iPhone auto corrects to thongs:) i’ll never think of things.. or thongs.. the same way!
@Spence Smith, Ha!! i think that should be our brainstorming idea for #10. Text on our iPhone and see how many typos we can have in one text!!
Love it! (btw, your left handed writing is way better than mine. )
@Jimmy Williams, Ha!!!!!!! I can’t wait to see art by “lefty” Jimmy.