Tips to Find Creativity 6: Talk to Someone About Your Idea

When I was younger, I was always very open about everything that was on my mind. The box called "filtering" wouldn't appear until many years later, and even though that openness led to a lot of awkward and embarrassing moments to occur, it also resulted into a heightened sense of creativity. As someone who has been creative since a young age, I was no stranger to spouting out my ideas to my friends: Dreams about writing books and stories that now I look back on and die a little inside. But what came from me talking about those silly ideas, was being able to meet other people who were also creative. People who found pleasure in my ideas and loved listening to me rambling on and on. And honestly, thinking back on the memories of the friendships I made through the creativity and all the ideas we talked about, is something that still puts a smile on my face, years later.

There is a lot of value that can come with sharing your ideas with other people. For example, the first one I can think of is that it can help clarify the initial thoughts of creativity. There have been several moments in my life where I started an idea but wasn't sure how to turn it into a fully fledged project. Talking about it with someone, hearing them out on what they think would go well, or just rambling and letting new ideas come to you, is a very good strategy when in this position. This can also help when it comes to identifying gaps in your idea and how to refine them, so they aren't all over the place.

Another benefit of talking to someone about your ideas is something that can be a bit difficult to take sometimes, and that is feedback. When presented with different points of view, there is a likely chance you'll get feedback on your work, and while it's nice to have someone say something positive or to give you constructive criticisms, there's also the possibility you could get just negative feedback. And that's okay. In order to develop, I believe it's important to have feedback. Our ideas won't always be perfect, and feedback can help a lot to enhance the original concept. Just keep in mind that even when receiving feedback, just because someone says something doesn't mean you immediately have to change it. Accept that other people have the right to have their opinions, but ultimately, the idea is yours, and you should be happy too with the end result. I won't go more into details with feedback, however, as that will be for another blog post.

Above I have written a few benefits about talking to someone, which is all great, however just as there are benefits to talking to someone about your ideas, it's also important to decide who is the right person to talk to about your ideas. Finding someone creative who can help you grow is amazing, however when one tries to talk about one's ideas, one can also encounter a bad side. People who can make you feel like your ideas aren't worth it and that you should just give up (even if they don't use those words outloud). Or worse, you could end up telling someone your ideas just for them to take them and claim them as theirs. And as someone who has been through something similar and knows of other people who have gone through it, I can say it is not a pleasant feeling at all.

Some questions to ask yourself to find out if someone is right to talk to about your ideas:

-Does the person encourage creativity?

-Are they supportive of you and would have an open mind?

-Do they have any expertise in your creative field? (For example, if it's a writing project, are they a writer too?)

-Do they have a different background and interests than yours? Or are they similar? (People with different backgrounds can help give you a different point of view, however there is no harm in having someone of a similar background to help you out)

These are just a couple of questions that you can ask yourself before talking to someone about your ideas. Keep in mind, that someone doesn't need to fulfill all of the qualifications in order to be a good person to talk to, as long as one can trust the person. As for myself, I am usually quite selective with who I open up to about my ideas. In my case, I found my boyfriend to be the main person I talk to about my creative projects. Even though he and I have different interests when it comes to our creativity, it's always nice to be able to hear each other's ideas and to help provide insight and support whenever and wherever we can. And I know that he is someone I can trust and who motivates me to continuously be creative.

So, dear readers, if you find yourself stuck in an idea with no way to get out of a rut, then my suggestion for you would be find someone to talk to about your ideas (whether that be a friend, a family member, or just someone you met online that has an interest in it), and see how someone else can help your idea grow.

Stay tuned for the next creativity finding tip!

-Ruby Rose