4 Tips to Channel Your Creativity

4 Tips to Channel Your Creativity

• Mar 19, 2015

See my favorite planning tools post for more info about what's pictured here.

While there are plenty of bloggers who are way more creative than I am, I wanted to write a little bit about the four things that have helped me become more creative. Each one might not be anything that new, but I think the combination of all four is what's helped me the most. Before I share my tips, however, I wanted to start with three things I think it's important to remember when you're trying to channel your creativity.

First: If someone inspires you, ask permission and/or give credit where credit is due. This is probably the most important thing to remember! It's not creative if it's copying someone else, but some ideas are more generic than others. Either way, I always err on the side of caution. Second: It's okay to scrap something that's not working – or make changes to it until it does. I can't tell you how much it will drain your creativity if you don't allow yourself to abandon something that's not working. We've all had ideas that seem promising and then fizzle out. And that's totally okay! I'd rather try something and move on (or make changes to improve it) than remain tied to an idea that didn't pan out the way I planned.

And third: Create something for a reason. I’m not great at being creative just because. I can’t just decide that I want to write a new discussion post or create a new feature. I wish my brain worked that way, but it usually doesn’t! I typically only feel inspired when something serves a purpose. I want a post to meet a need or start a conversation – not just take up space. I like things that develop organically more than things that are forced! And sometimes that requires patience on my part. For me, that often means being okay with not having a discussion post every week or sitting on an idea until it’s just right.

Now that we've got that out of the way, here are my four tips to channel your creativity!

1. Keep a notebook (or note-taking app) nearby. 

For me, the first step is to keep a notebook nearby – whether it’s in my bag, next to my bed or on my desk at work. I like one that's blank inside, and its purpose is solely for me to jot down ideas, outline posts, and take notes on the go. I have something else for scheduling posts because I like to keep them separate. I don’t want to think about my calendar when I’m trying to be creative!

If you prefer being paperless, an app on your phone can work just as well. I just use Notes and/or Wunderlist on my iPhone when I’m on the go, but I know lots of people love Evernote or OneNote. What I love most about my phone, however, is that I can take pictures of things that inspire me. I can take photos of ads I love, fonts that catch my eye, magazine features or columns posing an interesting question… you name it!

2. Just write down everything! 

I write down way more ideas than I actually end up implementing. Part of the creative process is exploring every idea, even if you don’t end up doing anything with it. If you flipped through my notebook, you’d see lots of phrases and unfinished thoughts. I don’t wait until I have an idea completely figured out before I write it down. If I have time, I’ll start fleshing it out. If I don’t have time, at least it’s written down so I won't forget.

And the great thing about having all those ideas compiled in one notebook? Sometimes you’ll think of something that’s close but not quite there. Weeks later, you might realize exactly what’s missing for it to be a great new feature or a thoughtful discussion post. Or maybe you’ll flip back through your past ideas and realize that if you just combine this one with that one you’ve got something great!

3. Look for inspiration in unlikely places. 

I think this one of the hardest things to train your mind to do – at first. But once you start to do it, it’s like you can’t stop! I feel like my brain is constantly on alert now. You can find inspiration anyway, including places you’d never expect! Here are some of the ways I get inspiration:

• Things I’ve done before – Sometimes I get new ideas from things I’ve already done. For example, I once wrote a post about how I wanted to see more people reading classics. A lot of commenters mentioned that they didn’t know which classics were worth reading, so I started Consider This Classic for bloggers to recommend their favorite classic. The idea for that came straight from the post I’d already written!


• Things other people have done – Assuming you’re not stealing someone else’s idea (see the very beginning of this post), other blogs can be a great source of inspiration! For example, I looked at other blogs when I wanted to add ratings to my reviews. I needed to figure out what I liked in a rating system, and I used what I saw other people doing to help create my own. 


• Things I’m reading or seeing – I’ve actually thought of blog-related ideas when I’ve been reading a book or magazine. For example, I wrote a post about loving a book and still being able to recognize its flaws after I finished a beloved book that contains problematic stereotypes. Even watching TV or surfing the web can spark an idea, like when I created a book blogging printable after browsing Pinterest.


• Things I’m talking about – One of my favorite sources of inspiration is looking at and being involved in conversations on social media. I decided to write a post about whether or not BEA was worth it after discussing that question on Twitter, and I talked about getting organized on Goodreads when friends told me they didn’t know where to start. And this leads in perfectly to my next point… 

4. Get other people involved. 

Finally, I love getting other people involved in the creative process. It’s like a virtual brainstorming session, and those are the best! Whether you bring other people in at the beginning to get it started or at the very end to get their thoughts on the finished product, this can be a great way to take an idea to the next level.

Some of my favorite things I’ve done while blogging have been in partnership with other bloggers. Cassie and I kept discussing our love for adult fiction, so we decided to highlight it together in Favorite Factor. That's a feature that proves my point about re-working an idea if you're not loving it anyway - as we just revamped it last month! Alexa and I talked about our love for fantasy, so we hosted a three-week event to celebrate it. Teaming up with other people not only helps you build relationships with them, but it boosts your creativity.

One Idea – From Start to Finish

About a year or so ago, I knew I wanted to do something related to series on my blog. I’d participated in (and loved) a series challenge the summer before, and I kept trying to think of a way to turn my love for series into a recurring feature.

• Write Stuff Down – I wrote down “series feature” in my notebook… but what to do next?


• Look for Inspiration – While reading another blog, I realized that I hated how I couldn’t read a review for the second book in a series because I hadn’t started the first book yet. I wanted to be able to see what they thought of the book, but I was scared of spoilers for the first book. A few days later, I read an entire series. I was too lazy to write a review for every single book, so I sat down to write a series review. Then, I had an idea… What if I put a fun twist on that idea? I spent a while figuring out what format I wanted to use and ended up with the Series Speed Date.


• Get Others Involved – I ran the idea past one of my blogging friends, and she felt like it needed a little something else. She was the person who suggested adding a rating at the very end!

Well, there you have it – my four tips to help you channel your creativity! I've always loved blogging, but I felt like I really hit my stride this past year. It's been a challenging creative outlet, but in the best way possible.

How do YOU channel your creativity?