Chlosuniblog Exercise the mind
If there is anything I have learnt last semester is that there are countless methods to help you grasp creative ideas. Even though you may have your own unique way, by letting yourself try new thing and venture out from what you would usually do is so helpful if you hit a wall.
Creative cross training is basically exercises for the mind to increase your ability to notice and view things and if you think about it, it’s actually quite fascinating to think about.
The unstructured work allows new muscles to develop and ideas to grow. As long as it’s something other than writing, the activities will “unlock” , if you will, different sections of the brain and as the muscles get used more often they will work more and more often.
Drawing and photography teaches you to see
This is my favourite, purely because I love to draw anyway. By illustrating or capturing what you can see in front of you, it can make you focus more on the detailing of everyday objects. This will therefore aid you in descriptive exercises and can make a huge difference in your work.
Music teaches you to hear.
It sounds obvious but it’s true. It’s also enjoyable so why not – I usually try to illustrate what is in front of me and then shade/colour-block it when I listen to music. Pitch, tone and even lyrics may inspire some idea that you can really run with.
Building things with your hands teaches you about function, form, and design
You will know how things come together and form. The design is key for a structure to succeed and it’s the same with writing.
For example, if you don’t know your characters brain inside out then you don’t really know what you are writing about at all. To make even the simplistic things credible, you need to know how they work – even if its characters, a location setting or story line – why does it happen, how has it got to this moment in that particular point in time, what were the factors etc.
I suppose if we do lots of one thing over and over, we can sometimes loose that focus and even though we don’t like to admit it, our brains need that wake up call to focus and dig deeper into the depths of our capability and really push ourselves.
Trying something new is sometimes confusing and this may not work for you but by training your brain. People work differently and that’s just how it is, but if you can really push yourself you may find unexpected thoughts and ideas that can’t unlock your 10% gold.
(If you don’t know what Im talking about by 10% gold, read my blog “Thoughts on writers block”https://chlosuniversityblog.video.blog/2018/11/19/thoughts-on-writers-block/)
Footnote – Also , I know this post is late, my laptop died so my scheduled post didn’t upload, just how it is sometimes!
