photo credit: Jonathan Shield

When Olympic athletes go out onto the field, it’s the culmination of many years of hard work, endurance, dreaming, and working to build up the appropriate muscles to win at the chosen sport.

Those who want to succeed at creative writing will need the same dedication, persistence, and hard work. Athletes always stretch and warm up the physical muscles before attempting to win the race, throw the javelin, or complete the highest jump in the world.

You too, can stretch and warm up your brain in order to encourage the creative juices to start flowing.

There are many ways you can stretch your skills as a creative writer. You can practice your craft, accept new challenges, give yourself time to dream, put in the hard yards, persist even when it is difficult, create games that stretch your creativity, create unnecessary or ‘fun’ writing, and work to perfect your trade skills. All of these activities will encourage your creativity and will help you to stretch your creative habits to become a better writer.

Here are some of my favourite ways to stretch and warm up my mental muscles, before I sit down to write:

• Complete some physical exercise. This gets the body and mind energised because of the increased blood flow and circulation to the brain.

• Find a new word in the dictionary and practice using it in three different sentences. This helps to get my mind focused on the art of writing, and gives me a quick warm up activity that also increases my vocabulary.

• Read an interesting article in a newspaper or magazine and spend a few minutes thinking about I would have written a similar article.

• Play a word game that gets me thinking about how words go together.

• Write something just for fun. For example, a writer friend and I are currently writing a short story, one paragraph at a time. She writes a paragraph and sends it to me, and then I write one. Joining a writing group and doing similar activities can be a great way to flex and warm up your mental muscles. It also makes you remember that writing is meant to be a fun, creative activity.

Besides stretching to warm up before sitting down to write, I also like to stretch my creative habits in general by:

• Being willing to accept new challenges from clients, by writing on topics I either don’t know much about or may find difficult to write about.  Accepting challenges helps to develop writing skills in different ways and stretches your ability, so that next time it is not nearly so difficult. I love to work to improve as a writer.

• Work to develop my writing skills, by constant proofreading, checking, and editing. Finding a variety of synonyms to use, so that the same words are not used every paragraph can develop my writing skills. I challenge myself to make every piece of writing interesting for the intended audience.

• Spend time practicing the art of creative writing. Although you may not quite forget how to ride a bike, you find you are able to ride further, quicker, and enjoy it more when you ride regularly. The same thing happens with creative writers, the more you write, the better you get at perfecting your craft.

There are so many ways to stretch and expand your writing abilities and your skill in tapping into the creative aspect of writing. See what ideas work best for you, and then work to stretch your creative habits. Enjoy your creative writing!

This is the last article in the CREATIVE HABITS series, as we have explored S=Stretch Yourself.  I hope you have enjoyed it and been able to use some of my tips in your infopreneurial and writing endeavours.

I’m not sure what I’ll be writing about next – I might just write randomly about my thoughts and experiences as I continue down the creativity path. A bit like a cork bobbing about in the water letting the currents take me on some exciting new adventure. Or maybe not. You’ll just have to stayed tuned….

photo credit: pfig

Creating anything is naturally a challenge, and writers face many challenges in forming writing that is enjoyable for the audience to read. Writers do not only face the technical challenge of choosing the right words to send the message, and making the writing readable, but also the challenges of persistently finding inspiration and using inventiveness. Innovative writers, who excel at the art, will continue to stretch the boundaries and to accept the challenges of creative writing.

Here are some of the ways I find I can stretch myself to accept new challenges as a creative writer:

1. Set Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs)

These are the dreams that keep you working at your writing, even when it is difficult. You may dream of writing the novel, publishing your work in a particular magazine, or writing an epic poem. Whatever your ultimate goal is, keep it in the back of your mind and let it out for an airing every so often, just to keep your focus on why you are doing this in the first place.

2. Practice Creativity Often

Within this series of Creative Habits, I’ve given heaps of suggestions, ideas, and tips on how you can practice your creativity.  Set aside about 20 minutes each working day to play one of the creative games, or to write creatively in a way that gets the creative juices flowing.  Practice the art of writing and combine it with the art of innovation to develop a unique style that is yours alone.

3. Set Daily or Mini Goals

BHAGs are all good, but sometimes to remain motivated you need to break up the BHAG into smaller, more manageable chunks. This is where the habit of setting daily or mini goals comes into play. Set a daily goal to write so many articles, and stretch yourself to meet your daily challenge.

4. Say “YES” to Ideas

Sometimes a client will suggest a writing assignment that literally has me squirming in my seat with fear that I won’t be able to achieve it. However, usually I find that I can achieve it, if I am willing to stretch to accept the challenge.  Being willing to say YES and give new ideas a try can certainly help you to stretch and develop your skills as a creative writer.

5. Keep an Open Mind

It is actually amazing how elastic your mind can be. Be open to accepting new ideas, new thoughts, and learning from other people. The more you can stretch your mind into accepting new ideas, the easier creative writing becomes. Be endlessly fascinated by the world and people around you to encourage an outpouring of inspired script as your mind stretches to accommodate the new information.

Accepting challenges is all about stretching the limits of my creative writing. Don’t put your abilities in a box and say “I only write in this way,” or “I’ll only write science fiction,” but give yourself the opportunity to expand your creative horizons. You may find that writing short stories is fun, but you can use the same creative genius to write articles for clients for websites.

In fact, the more dull or technical a topic is, the more fun I have in focusing on the art or the craft of writing to make it interesting.  On subjects I personally find dreary, I usually find that I am more likely to use a thesaurus to ensure the writing is not dull to my reader. I am willing to accept the challenges of writing, even on difficult, tedious, or technical subjects, just to practice my craft.

What do you do to stretch your boundaries?

Do you think stretching yourself creatively is necessary? If so, what is so necessary about stretching and if not, what other things do you do?

There are times (well for me at least) when someone criticises my writing, I tend to get defensive straight away. “What would they know?,” I think and often will instantly dismiss whatever the criticism was.

However, I have learnt that if I had given myself the gift of time to consider the comments after the heat of the first emotion has diminished, I would have found in the comments some constructive help in improving my writing and creativity.

I’ve pondered about this and believe the reason creative infopreneurs and writers, like any creative artists, tend to get so defensive about criticism, constructive or otherwise, is that our writing is an offering of a part of ourselves.

It has been formed by tapping into our own creative energy, and is therefore a personal creation. We have a fondness for the words we have chosen to use, and belief in our craft. It’s why as a writer we will often find it very difficult to proofread our own work.

We can’t see our own errors, as easily as we can see someone else’s.

That’s why giving yourself some time to calmly consider whether there is any worth in the criticism offered will help you to become a better writer. It will also boost your creativity.

If you do need to proofread your own work, it also really helps if you give yourself some time to come back to it with a fresh mind. You need to be able to distance yourself from the creative writing process and edit your work, as if someone else actually wrote it.

The easiest way to do this is to do something else in between the writing and proofreading processes. Give yourself some time to come back to it with a clear mind that is not still involved in the creative writing process.

Because writing is a creative process, it is often linked to our moods, how we feel on the day, and responding to situations we find ourselves in as authors.

Some authors have used grief as a catalyst to write a great novel, as Anne McCaffrey did when her father died. The Ship Who Sang was her first real novel and was written in the six months after the death of her father, as she subliminated her grief into her writing.

While this may work in some cases, in others it’s better to give yourself time to distance yourself from your emotions in order to write creatively. If you receive a rejection of your work, don’t make everything else you write in that day appear to be written in anger or disappointment.

These are not the emotions that help you to tap into your creative side.

Instead, if you find yourself reacting in anger, or dwelling on something you perceive as negative that has happened, you may be better off doing something other than writing for a while.

Give yourself the gift of a half an hour to think about the problem that is haunting you, and come up with an appropriate action plan to deal directly with the issue. Then, when you have calmed down and are no longer responding to your emotions, you will find your mind is clear and able to focus on your creative writing again.

Give yourself the gift of time to think when you need it, time to recover from the heat and passion of negative emotions, and time to clear your mind to be able to focus creatively on your writing.

This is the last article for T=Time. Next time I’ll be looking at S = Stretch yourself, which is the final letter in CREATIVE HABITS. Until then.
photo credit: redstamp.com

Quite a lot as it happens! Why? Because it’s a great way to slow down, relax and let your mind wander towards that magical ‘aha’ moment.

We are all so used to being busy. We generally live our lives at a hectic pace, moving from one project to another, one job to another, multi-tasking, rushing to get somewhere to do another task, that we rarely just stop and think.

If we do, we assume we are being lazy. Why do we think this?

The truth is that while our minds might be able to cope with doing several tasks at once, true creative thinking can’t happen while we are focusing on doing tasks.

Fishing, or at least sitting on a boat and dangling a line over the edge, is not actually a waste of time. It is simply slowing the hectic pace of everyday life enough to have time to think. You don’t even need the line!

photo credit: Paul L. Nettles

The idea is to find time to sit still, relax, and allow your mind to flow from thought to thought. People who practice creative habits know how important it is to put some time aside to just think.

Contemplation takes time and often it is in these sessions of apparently doing nothing that the mind is free to mull over half formed thoughts of the past. Often you will find that having had some time to ponder and put your thoughts together will mean that when you do sit down to write, it all just flows.

You will find that time spent thinking helps your creative writing, because it gives you the opportunity to see things from new perspectives.

This is one of the main reasons many people feel a creative job is out of their reach: they don’t actually give themselves the time to actively create by doing nothing but thinking.

All great artists know the value of creative thinking time – consider Auguste Rodin, who created a statue dedicated to beauty of thinking – The Thinker. If you want to be creative in your life and in your writing, give yourself some empty time each day just to think.

Social studies have proven that those who take time to contemplate each day are more creative, more at peace, and have a greater capacity for experiencing joy in their lives.

Sitting and dreaming, watching a fire can be quite a good substitute in winter for the fishing. Give yourself some ‘fire gazing’ time, even if you don’t have a fire. It helps you to sort out your thoughts and to relax enough to tap into your creative side.

Obviously, you may not have time to go fishing every day, but giving yourself a spare half hour a day in which you allow creative thinking to just happen, without distractions, and without feeling guilty about doing ‘nothing’, will work wonders for your creative writing.

It’s important to get over the mindset that just because you are not doing anything physical, you are not working. Take some time out to think creatively and you will find the writing is more productive when you do write.

Try some of these quick exercises to encourage delving into contemplation and thinking creatively quicker:

• Brainstorm ideas for writing about by making a list of as many titles you can think of in five minutes.

• Free writing – where you give yourself five minutes to just write (handwrite) anything that comes to mind. The pen must be moving on the paper for the full five minutes, and you don’t try to correct your writing or write perfectly. It is about idea generation and allowing your mind to connect ideas, rather than a writing exercise.

• Write a poem, a short story, a letter, or a diary entry. Create something for yourself, instead of for a particular audience. Write for the sheer enjoyment and freedom that comes with being a writer, rather than writing to only make money.

• Put together some pictures cut out from magazines and give yourself time to ponder the ideas that come from looking at these pictures, or a series of pictures that tells a story.

Try to set aside half an hour each day for thinking. In that time, turn off the phone, and don’t allow distractions.

Give yourself the joy of being able to mull over any issues without any dramas.

Give yourself the gift of contemplating time and take pleasure in your creative side.

Go on, give it a try and let me know how it works out.

Be Interested: Be Creative

Are you sick of sitting in front of a blank computer screen, waiting for inspiration to hit? Want some fresh ideas, and to tap into a greater level of creativity than you’ve reached before? Want to get those creative juices flowing?

If the answer is a resounding yes to all these questions, read on!

One of the best things you can do when looking for artistic inspiration in your writing is to delve into the depths of your personal experience and write about what you know. However, no one author can have the time to personally experience everything in the world. That’s why good writers will seek to broaden their horizons by developing interest in many different things and people.

No two individuals have exactly the same experiences, thoughts, feelings and ideas, which means that the study of people is endlessly fascinating. Whenever you engage in conservation with another human being, you are opening your mind to receiving new ideas and sharing in their experiences. This means you have a greater depth of knowledge available to you when you need to write.

Develop relationships with as many different people as you can to open your mind to new ideas leading to increased inspiration. You can even use online chat groups and writers’ forums to get to know other writers overseas, and gain international perspectives on the creative process that drives authors to write creatively.

Whenever you meet someone new show more interest in them than in talking about yourself. Strive to encourage your new acquaintance to share their ideas and experiences with yourself by asking questions and leading to dynamic conversation. Don’t just limit yourself to chatting about the weather. Allow yourself to discover the wonder of the individual in front of you and what experience defines them as a person by being interested in them.

Don’t just sit there and stress about a mental blank, start talking online or get out and about and relate to people to free your mind and start the creative juices flowing again.

If you are struggling for inspiration and are missing your creative genius, try visiting a local café and watch the people in the street passing by. Listen to conversations and allow your mind to wander as it processes ideas that are generating by being interested in what is going on around you.

I’ve watched the barista pour the coffee, and started to think about how strange it is that we have people trained just to make coffee in our specialised, industrial world and suddenly I found that inspiration had struck and my writing was back on track after my coffee.

Be observant and notice the little details in how people relate to each other and their environment around them. Sometimes just sitting on a crowded bus or train and watching others will generate new ideas and creative thoughts. Start dreaming about where they are going, who they will meet, and what they will do, and suddenly your mind is open to your creative muse.

New ideas will help your creative muse, and new ideas come from meeting, discussing, and relating with other people.

Become fascinated by the endless experience of different people and your creativity will certainly increase.

Develop your sense of curiosity and start to think about the objects around you. Thinking about who made them, why and how will encourage thoughts to start to flow again in your mind.

Be interested in people around you, people you can contact through the wonder of the world wide web, and the variety of things and man-made objects around you.

Allow your mind to tap into creativity by developing your sense of curiosity about everything and everyone you meet and your creative writing will be amazingly different.

Well as you may have noticed, I’ve been writing three posts on each topic and this has been the third one for I=Interested not interesting. I hope you have found some ideas to help you stay creative and fresh in your writing.

Next time I’ll be looking at the letter T in HABITS. T is about time and until then…

photo credit: Elsie esq.

Having an open mind about other people and allowing yourself to be interested in the people around you will actually increase your own creativity in writing.

Cultivate an endless fascination for understanding how other people live, think, create, enjoy, laugh, and cry, and you will find you can open your mind to expressing more emotions and can tap into the creative world of writing far easier than before.

Authors of all styles of writing need to tap into their creativity and write from a depth and breadth of experiences. Of course, no single person can personally experience everything in the world, but actively being interested in other people’s experiences can open up worlds of excitement, emotion, and enjoyment that you may not otherwise have known.

Here are some ideas on how to cultivate a real interest in other people and move into dynamic conversations that cover more than the weather or superficial differences between you.

1 – Actively Listen

Most people do not actually listen actively, they are too busy trying to interject their own experiences into the conversation. If you want to open your mind and tap into creativity, learn to listen actively to other people.

Active listening is about focusing your whole attention on what the other person is saying. It’s about thinking about what the person is saying, considering their body language and focusing your thoughts on what is going on in front of you, not worrying about when you get to talk.

2 – Ask Questions

One of the easiest ways of getting to know people is to ask questions.

Generally, people will respond with more in-depth answers if you ask questions that show an interest in what they are saying.

A good trick is to respond with a brief statement of your own experience (so that the other person doesn’t just think they are being interviewed or interrogated), and then follow up with a leading question for more information about the subject. Try something like, “I had a similar experience two years ago and found no-one really understood what was happening. Did you find it difficult to talk to other people about it at the time?”

Whenever you attend a party or a social event try to get into more dynamic conversations than about the weather. Ask people what they do for an occupation, and be interested in the answers.

Don’t just stop at “Oh, you’re a policeman” but continue the conversation with questions about how difficult the job is, the worst arrest they have made, or what it is like to carry a gun or have the social responsibility of the police. Ask about their favorite experience as a child, best holiday, preferred pet, cultural experiences, or how they used to celebrate Christmas, New Year, or birthdays in the past (whatever the party is about!).

3 – Do not Interrupt

You want to learn more about other people, so the less you are talking yourself, the more you will learn. Whenever there is a pause in the conversation, by all means share something about yourself then, and encourage the dynamic conversation to continue. However, interrupting a person will always prevent you getting to know them well.

4 – Keep an Open Mind

One of the most important things you can do is to keep an open mind about other people. Making quick judgments about someone on how they look, or because you think they fit into a stereotype is not conducive to creatively discovering who they really are.

Keep an open mind and allow the possibility of new thoughts and experiences to seep in through your dynamic conversations with others.

Follow these four tips at your next social function, and see if you have more in depth, dynamic and fascinating conversations with people, even if you have known them for years.

Explore the unknown facets of other people and enjoy the benefits of increased creativity in your writing.

A = Acknowledge Achievements

We are now up to A in HABITS in the CREATIVE HABITS series. I hope you are continuing to find the posts give you food for thought on how to keep the spark in your creativity as a writer and infopreneur.

Acknowledgement for achievements is what everyone wants. I know an aknowledging  ‘pat on the back’ spurs me on to be more creative and to put more into my writing.

A victory won though, is nothing without someone to share it with or some kind of celebration for the victory.  Infopreneurs and writers, especially those who work from home, will not always have someone around to celebrate milestones with. That’s why we should rejoice in our own achievements as authors.

Giving yourself a simple treat, or a pat on the back, can give you even more encouragement to continue the writing.  Recognizing achievements does two things. It gives you further enjoyment to reach more goals, and it gives you a chance to celebrate and recognie how far you have come.

Especially if you are working on a large project, such as a novel, you should break the task up into smaller sections, so that you can have some celebratory milestones along the way. Reaching a milestone, such as the end of a chapter, is an achievement, and should be acknowledged. Obviously, the publisher is only going to want to celebrate when the entire book is finished, but there is no reason why you can’t go and have a piece of your favorite cake at your local café to celebrate finishing the chapter.

Acknowledging achievements, even the small ones, can give you the energy and renewed enthusiasm for the whole project. It is worthwhile setting small goals for each day, and giving yourself the treat of acknowledging what you have achieved. Personally, I love to do lists. On days when I have a lot of writing to achieve, I’ll break it up into smaller tasks, each article, group of pages, chapter, or research section goes on my to do list, usually on my whiteboard.

Then, as I achieve each item, I either cross it off or rub the task off the whiteboard. I might tell myself that at the end of two tasks, I’ll treat myself to a coffee, a piece of fruit, or a break for a short time. This not only helps keep me focused and motivated to achieve each task, but helps me to remember to celebrate my achievements.

When you finish a large project, such as a novel, make sure your achievement is acknowledged by your whole family. Take the time out to go out for a special dinner, or even a large treat like a night in a hotel or a holiday, depending on the size of the project. If the project has taken you 18 months to achieve, a little piece of cake won’t feel like a celebration.

Celebrating achievements, even throughout the working day, gives you a mental break.  Often we don’t take time to celebrate because we are so focused on the next task, the next page, the next chapter. But taking just a couple of minutes to acknowledge an achievement can help you focus better on the next task, giving you time to breath and not rush from task to task.

Be nice to yourself as an author, and acknowledge your own achievements. Celebrate your creative art, your work, and your life to be happier and content with what you are doing. Acknowledging your achievements is important, and gives you many mental benefits. So what are you waiting for? Achieve a goal today and celebrate it accordingly!

photo credit: johnny_nissan

The environment that you choose to write in will affect your writing in several ways. Because writing is a creative art, the way you personally feel when you write will affect the style of writing. If you are finding it difficult to maintain your focus and write creatively, you may be in the wrong sort of environment.

Do you more likely to feel down, or ‘blue’ on a day when the sky is covered in grey clouds? I do. Most people will find themselves more likely to be cheerful or energetic on days when the sun is shining. Natural light shapes our moods. You can achieve the same result with the set up of your writing space, and either create a space that provides natural lifts to energy and make it easier for you to tap into your creative force, or you can create a space that provides a natural downer, just like the grey day does.

Obviously, no-one wants to create a space which is a natural downer, but many writers end up with a cluttered, uncreative ambiance in their writing space without realizing it. By taking a little bit of time to change the character of your writing area, you may find it makes a big difference in your writing. Creating an environment that is conducive to writing will encourage you to write, even when the world is grey outside.

Pictures To Inspire

Putting up inspiring pictures in your writing office can help you to feel great and be inspired. Some writers have a collection of posters that they can change according to their mood. Scenery shots like purple sunsets, green bushland or white, snowy mountains can be inspiring, soothing and comforting.

Declutter To Create Thinking Space

Your space is important. Clear your office so that you have plenty of clear space around you. Clutter encourages mess, and this can affect the way your mind works.  Just as any writer strives for clarity in their writing, you should also strive for a clear space around you. Your mind works better when there is no distractions.

The Sounds Of Music

Music can be both inspiring and useful in blocking out other, more distracting noises from your environment. Give your writing space a good ambiance with the use of well-selected music. Classical music playing softly in the background, without words to distract your mind, can be extremely helpful to writers when focus and concentration is required.

Office Layout

Does your desk face a window? A university sociology study demonstrated that people who use computers facing a window are more likely to be energetic and creative. The window allows natural light in, and encourages a clear mind by giving the writer a channel into the outside world. Writing is a task that, perforce, is performed alone, but a window can help reduce the feelings of isolation. Redesign your office space to take advantage of the window when you can.

Invest in a comfortable, upright chair that is ergonomically designed to cushion and support your back. The chair is important, because writers have to sit for long periods and need to be comfortable. Support for the back prevents muscle soreness and aches and pains that can distract you from your writing.

Taking care to set up a good writing environment will assist in clearing your mind and allowing you to tap into your creative energy, even when you don’t feel like writing.

This is the last post for E=Environment and we have now covered CREATIVE. It’s now down to finding out about HABITS and what they mean starting with H= Have passion in what you do.  Until then!

Continuing on with the CREATIVE HABITS – E=Environment

Did you know color can affect your mood and how creative you are feeling? The psychology of color has been studied by experts for several years and now you can learn which colors are most likely to create an environment where writing or other creative tasks will happen.

If you don’t want repaint the room you write in, you may like to consider purchasing a colorful rug, new curtains or even small pieces of fabric in the color you need to drape within eyesight of your computer to lift your creative mood.

Here’s a brief summary of six different colors and how each they can affect our moods.

GREEN

Green is the color of nature and is the most tranquil of colors. It reduces stress and encourages balance. Wear it to inspire unity and motivation. Green is both restful and can restore energy, so it’s a good color for a room where you are writing.

Some researchers have discovered that laying a transparent sheet of green plastic over reading material increases reading speed and comprehension.  Green is considered to be the color of concentration and intellect. As a color that often represents fertility, green can fertilize your imagination.

BLACK

Of course, some people argue that black is not a color, but is rather the absence of color. However, while black is best used in small amounts, rather than as a feature, it is an important color to use. It’s popular as a symbol of menace or evil (and is balanced by white, which is seen as purity and goodness).

Although western cultures see black as a color of death and mourning, Ancient Egyptians believed black represented life and rebirth. A small amount of black can give your writing rebirth, and is really helpful in your peripheral vision, especially when you are editing work. Black is also associated with sophistication, depth and style and could bring these elements to your writing.

RED

Red is a very stimulating color. It provides energy, enhances self-assurance and produces an illusion of fantasy. People who wear red will receive attention and feel powerful. It also symbolizes love and, because it is a hot and passionate color, can help you to be passionate about your writing, when used judicially in room you write in.

In Feng Shui red means luck. A room or feature wall painted red will tend to invigorate and motivate action. If you find yourself in need of stimulation to write, especially on a grey, miserable day, try wearing a red top or scarf around your neck. It could energize you to write more creatively.  However, avoid the red when you are feeling tense, as it will tend to fatigue you.

PURPLE

Purple and indigo are consoling, restful and spiritual colours. Mauve and lighter violets can create a very therapeutic and soothing atmosphere. One of the best reasons to use purple in your writing environment is that it combats fear and provides balance for the mind.

Purple stands for royalty, mystery, wisdom and enlightenment and can therefore be an extremely useful color in patches for writers who need these qualities in their writing.

BLUE

Blue is the color of peace and tranquillity and has been found to lower blood pressure. I find it especially useful to wear a light blue shirt on a deadline day, as I find I tend to be less stressed. Some color psychologists believe that blue can increase wisdom energy, which can be extremely useful in writing.

Blue exudes confidence, order, stability, harmony and truth; all of which are extremely important to writers. Scientists have proven that people are more productive in a blue room and it is therefore a good color to have in your writing environment. However, mix blue with another color too, as blue can lead to depression in some people. Lighter blues are calming, while dark blues can evoke sadness and should be avoided.

YELLOW

Yellow communicates happiness and represents sunshine. Even on a dull, grey day outside, yellow in your writing environment can provide you with a lift that is energizing.  Yellow stimulates the nerves and is also the most fatiguing colour on your eyes.

Yellow can promote feelings of warmth and joy, however some studies have shown that babies will cry more in a yellow room. You should use this color with care, and more as an accent to another color, rather than paint the whole room yellow. It may be intellectually stimulating, but does not provide a restful respite. A lemon yellow, with light blue accents can be a very good combination for a writing environment, as the yellow gives a lift on dark days and the blue promotes productivity and provides the rest needed.

If you can have some fabric in the different colors, you can stimulate your senses when you need to. Otherwise, consider repainting or decorating your writing environment to match the mood you most need to stimulate when you are writing.

What’s your favorite color? Are there colors that you surround yourself with when you’re writing? Share your thoughts with us!

E=Environment

This is the second ‘E’ in CREATIVE HABITS and one I think that tends to get overlooked. Yet the environment around us has a real affect on ourselves and our creativity as a writer and infopreneur.

The environment where you write must be conducive to allowing your mind to be creative, as well as dedicated and tenacious. Many of us need an atmosphere that allows isolation to become creative rather than boring and dull. After all we will spend a lot of time in their writing environment, and it should have an ambience conducive to quality writing. What does this mean?

• The majority of writers use either a laptop or desktop computer and obviously need a good space to set up the computer. A comfortable chair with a cushioned back is a must, as we often spend a long time each day sitting in front of the computer.

• Besides designing the work area for ergonomic comfort, writers can ensure that their creative side is catered for. Clutter around the computer area is not going to promote a clear mind that allows ideas to be generated easily. The environment should ward against any sorts of distractions, such as clutter, noise and bad light.

• This means as writers, we should be organized, and have a clear space to work in. If you are using books for research, have them nearby, but limit the amount of items within your immediate ‘eye space’ near the computer. Keep your files neat and up to date to avoid excess disorder.

• Ensure the lighting, both natural from outside with windows and electric lights, is adequate to prevent your eyes from getting sore. On dull or grey days, you will need additional light within the room. Add a lamp near your desk area that you can turn on when natural light is not bright enough. Working in a darkly lit room is not only bad for your eyesight, but can be depressing, which is certainly not an emotion that is advantageous to writing.

• To promote creativity, some writers like to burn scented candles or have a small oil burner near the desk. I like a Jasmine scent on days when I seem to jump from task to task, as Jasmine helps concentration. Amber is great when I need a boost of creative genius, so I tend to use this when planning the structure of articles or when brainstorming ideas. Gardenia gives me an instant lift of cheer and is brilliant on the grey days. Find the fragrances that work for you to add impact to your writing surroundings.

• If noise is a problem, you may like to add to your creative atmosphere with soft background music. This helps to block out other, more distracting noises, such as traffic going past.  Music is also relaxing and soothing and aids concentration for some people. Avoid songs that you love to sing along with as this means your mind is focusing on the song and not your writing. Classical music works well as background music.

A writer’s environment should also allow for creativity, even away from the computer.

One of my favorite tools in my office area is a large whiteboard.  I use different colored marker pens to draw and write on the board, for many different reasons.

• Sometimes, I use the board to brainstorm the ideas surrounding the topic I am writing on. Sometimes, I simply create an outline of the article I am writing, to add structure to my work and make the writing easier for the audience to read.

• Sometimes my whiteboard holds a to do list, with the most urgent or deadline items in red, as this keeps me motivated to cross off or rub out my list. This is more common on days when I just do not feel like writing and need to meet deadlines. I give myself a couple of small tasks and rejoice as the to do list gets smaller on the whiteboard.  The different color marker pens add color to the room where I write in too.

Creating a good environment to write in I believe is essential for successful writers. Find what motivates you to write and ensure it is included within your surroundings. Make your writing space uniquely yours, well lit, clear and free of clutter.

How do you have your writing area set up? What tips do you have to help make where you work more conducive to be inspired to write?