What? You don't need to be a genius artist like the Koobs to be an idea person? (That's a relief, truly.) To prove it, Fast Company gathered a bunch of insight from authors and other creatives to compile a list of eight daily habits of people who tend to be more creative and seem to always have those great ideas.
- They look for inspiration in unexpected places
- They make slow decisions
- They find internal motivation
- They start from scratch
- They are willing to take risks
- They're always trying new things
- They find connections between experiences
- They're open to magic
You should really check out the Fast Co. article to get a better understanding of what each daily habit is and how it helps you be more creative, but one point was especially interesting to me, this whole thought of "starting from scratch," particularly because originality and innovation seem like the Holy Grail of creativity. How do we come up with something new? A new narrative? A new camera shot? A new way of telling stories? This seems like an insurmountable obstacle to pull an idea out of thin air, but Sooshin Choi, provost at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, explains how it can be done.
If you improve something, then you only make it better. If you want to make something different, you have to behave as if there is no such thing. Don’t ask yourself, "How could I design a smartphone?" Ask yourself, "What is communication?" If you start there, you may be able to discover new possibilities.
So, if you're having a difficult time coming up with ideas for a project, it might not be because you're not spending enough time learning from films, reading filmmaking books, and working on your script. You might want to take a hard look at the way you live your life instead.
Source: Fast Company
