Is it possible to force a creative state?
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How many 'creative types' are here on the forum? Do many of you create what you'd call art or stuff that pleases you in a similar way?
In the enclosed world I live in, it seems that creative efforts are hard to come by. I often have flutters of creative ideas come into my head sometimes but I am never able to put anything I briefly think of into a sort of realistic adaptation.
I was hoping to hear anecdotal reports from the people here of experiences they've had with being able to slip themselves into that creative but also productive mindset. For you creative types, what do you typically do to get yourself into the mood of creating?
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@Milk-Destroyer Consume copious amount of wine and nicotine
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@Milk-Destroyer said in Is it possible to force a creative state?:
creative but also productive mindset
The holy grail of cognitive space to me.
In a nutshell I'm (still) not sure. But step one (for me) is to beware of the noise. I either have to separate myself from it or compartmentalise it inside. Neither of them feel psychologically healthy. Maybe there's more. Maybe I'll come back.
Plus one for metabolism. Plus one for faith.
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@onliest said in Is it possible to force a creative state?:
@Milk-Destroyer Consume copious amount of wine and nicotine
Valid.
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When I had a copper deficiency my creativity plummeted. It was also more difficult to visualise. Once the deficiency was corrected I went back to normal. If I have some writing to do I find that plenty of coffee and cigarettes does the trick.
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@Milk-Destroyer Aspirin - as it raises dopamine and lowers all the bad stuff... + plus intense music sometimes...
Generally, some kind of pressure/constraints and a perspective shift are good for entering a creative state...
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@Milk-Destroyer Long walks also underrated. I have my best ideas while walking
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@onliest Yeah me too.
@Milk-Destroyer Avoid distractions like social media, videos, music etc. (read Sci-Fi)
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@Milk-Destroyer I would call myself a somewhat creative person. @Kilgore is right: social media is a leech to your energy levels in general & you won't be able to get away with scrolling & then making. It's just not gonna work.
My best advise is to be happy & clear-minded, and THEN try to make things happen. This is why going on nature walks works wonders.
Drugs are a meme. An addiction to wine &/or smoking will fuck up your life & make you miserable.
Some other ideas: If you can, start in the morning, but not necessarily immediately: maybe awhile after breakfast. This is, in my opinion, the part of the day I am the most energetic: so I dunno if it'll work for you.
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@Milk-Destroyer As well, the limits of how creative one can be depend on how much artistic taste you have. Basically, if you see a lot of art & absorb a lot, you will find it easier to just generate content in general without outside prompt. If you read the same things all the time, you will be mentally exhausted.
Look to all of history: not just 'famous neoclassical european #1110495, but literally everywhere: America, Africa, Asia, India, etc etc etc. Look at clothing, & plays, & movies, & books, & at nature around you. Literally look EVERYWHERE: even at art by people you might politically or ethically disagree with.
The way you will absorb things will grow the more you absorb & the smarter you get. Take other peoples techniques or ideas with a grain of salt: even the ones you respect. I cannot emphasize this enough: you may personally have some flavor of right-wing (which I don't mind), and a lot of right-winger's have a LOT to say about art. Fuck them. They are not the arbiters of truth OR taste. Look at a lot.
Below, I have linked the Metropolitan Museum's online gallery. You don't have to look at everything, but scrolling through is a great way to absorb amazing art without having it curated by a engagement-hungry art page on X.
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@Lovesickhs18 i disagree, you are talking essentially about becoming a human version of AI that churns a bunch of input into a derivative work. Doubly bad because most of what is created is 4/10 slop, garbage in garbage out.
the best creative works are based on personal/universal human experience and archetypal knowledge
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@Ray-Van-Winkle I'm being realistic. You can't teach someone how to write something like that, anyways. That can only come from study of great art: which is basically what I'm telling him to do; expand your horizons & have fun while learning.
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@Milk-Destroyer i think its a natural default outcome of being in play / in right energetic state of health
(not always obviously great shit has come from people in bad places , but already with momentum in an outlet which can feed back and often temporarily drug induced right https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ur3l2GKWzk)
(so when out of conservative protective recovery mode -> exploration creation mode) , i guess when brain processing isnt being taken up by rapid overload stuff , and have an intention, maybe brief walks when have an intention brought back to mind for some space so connects can come through, or proactive sit downs to see if u get an opening
my energy is off so i dont make much but once in a while i get something going, for a method - creativity builds on itself / branches out into more connections into more connections until complete ,
so we need an early connect to make more withe.g medium -> I want to try ____ to write great fiction or a screenplay (or specific type because of an inspiration i took in) ,
i just sat down & started making up a bunch of random titles first,
then adding fitting connects as bullet points what it could be about for each until one stood out
e.g 1 didnt fully hit but an example when getting to one that did
title: the watchers ->
. 7 old watchmakers in a room surrounded by watches & clocks
. spend their days staring at them eyeballs moving all around.
. weird mumbling language
. 1 stops ticking
then u get connects to make from there an open. [first shot, face of a crazed old man eyeballs rotating rapidly all over the place] [cut to cluttered claustrophobic workshop, nothing but clocks everywhere, overwhelming combination of ticking sounds, 7 old men long white hair & beards in slav squat posture] [cut around the different clocks] [zoom on clock hand as one stops, all the watchmakers suddenly shift their heads to it simultaneously]for the one i went with the title and bullet connects was enough for a vibe / setting / character and opening moment. then i thought of a related cool idea for an environmental novelty and an idea in that environment for a parallel story in the same vibe / time and got the second one. started listing some archetypes i like, things would be cool to explore in that setting. then my brain started working with the cluster of ideas i guess subconsciously and in bed I saw a map of how the land should look with a few different locations and an interesting element i accidentally (?) added when i got up and drew it roughly. which gave me a sick idea for the main dramatic part. and a couple characters. so the initial title and bullets launched a series of connects and became more
maybe for music that would be a song name and genre -> exploring for some fitting sounds samples (idk might be a better approach for music?) , For drawing painting maybe a character name or location from something -> looking at clothes equipment clouded skies faces, listing what specific features stand out youd like to add , adding your observations, at least initially. music can help stimulate imagery if its the right feel
,
But yeh fixing baseline energetic state / brain mode i think it would come more naturally more often if have the stimulus without being entirely consumed / overly busy. -
@Milk-Destroyer said in Is it possible to force a creative state?:
How many 'creative types' are here on the forum? Do many of you create what you'd call art or stuff that pleases you in a similar way?
Creativity is a right brain thing.
In the enclosed world I live in, it seems that creative efforts are hard to come by. I often have flutters of creative ideas come into my head sometimes but I am never able to put anything I briefly think of into a sort of realistic adaptation.
Flutters of creative ideas are pretty much a left brain thing. The right side becomes engaged in the doing.
I was hoping to hear anecdotal reports from the people here of experiences they've had with being able to slip themselves into that creative but also productive mindset. For you creative types, what do you typically do to get yourself into the mood of creating?
Dragging myself away from this stupid computer is #1.
My brain was damaged in 1993 via organophosphate insecticide poisoning. I was able to recover (rewired my brain) via spending 2 years teaching myself to hand marble fabric. I got good at it too. My husband would venture into the studio, stare aghast at the multicolored spatters of paint that had gotten inadvertently slung on the walls, on top of his new paint job, and I would exclaim, "Out! OUT!! You are disturbing my muse!!" My brain recovered, my marriage survived, but I had to hang up my marbling combs because my arches fell because my cartilage had turned to mush due to hypothyroidism. It was the most fun ever! (the marbling, not the hypothyroidism).
