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Davletmuratov Alisher
 10 EXERCISES TO SPARK YOUR CREATIVE
IMAGINATION

Hey everyone, and welcome to TopThink. Today, we'll

learn 10 exercises to spark your creative imagination.
Now, let's begin. As an artist, the blank page can be
your greatest enemy. Sitting down to write, or draw, or
paint, or sculpt, or play, or otherwise create can feel
entirely overwhelming when you're starting from zero.
Rather than trying to force the delivery of new work,
you can instead develop a process made up of
exercises to spark your creative imagination. These
habits are art for the sake of the process alone, with
no speci c end goal necessarily in mind. They can get
the creative juices owing so that when you turn to
create your next masterpiece, well, you're already
free, and open, and inspired. By experimenting with
various creative exercises, you can take the pressure
off of yourself to develop your serious work, and
instead, to rediscover the joy of art for art's sake.
Ironically, in doing so, you may inadvertently spark the
idea that leads you down a pathway to creative
achievement. So without further ado, here are 10
exercises to help you pull yourself out of a creative
rut. 1. Answer a Writing Prompt You don't need to dive
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 straight into your next article or story or novel when
you sit down to write. Instead try using a pre-
determined prompt. There are a myriad of books and
websites available to get you started. Here are a few
examples. Write about your favorite food. But don't
just say pizza and be done with it. Dig into details.
Where did you rst discover it? Who were you with
and what did it taste like? How do you prepare it? And
what does it remind you of? Or if you're looking to get
outside of yourself, describe a world where shoes
were never invented. Now you have the freedom to
invent a whole new society. You can experiment with
the literal, such as what objects or materials would
people use to keep their feet protected if not shoes.
Or instead explore the fantastical. What wild
architectural developments might come about if
people were moving through the world totally
barefoot? A writing prompt may very well lead to the
plot of your next short story, your stage play or your
novel. 2. Try Free Writing You don't always need a
speci c prompt or assignment to write. Free writing
involves producing a few daily pages of stream of
consciousness writing that are totally unstructured.
The more that your brain practices writing
consistently, no matter what, the more you'll unlock
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your creativity. Just set pen to paper and write about
the very rst thing that comes to your mind. And don't
worry about how minor or ridiculous it might seem.
Just see where your wandering thoughts take you.
Some writers suggest free writing with your non-
dominant hand. It feels awkward at rst, but some
think it may help unlock creativity by activating a
different part of your brain. It also forces you to focus
on exactly what you're writing, since each letter is a lot
harder and it requires more intention to jot down. 3.
Write a Six Word Story Ernest Hemingway made this
one famous with his devastating six word story. For
sale, baby shoes, never worn. Those six words, which
don't even make up a complete sentence, speak
volumes and indicate an entire world of hope, pain,
and loss. Hemingway was well known for his concise
sentences even in his longer works. His less-is-more
mentality can be applied to your own work and could
be a wonderful exercise for you, especially if you nd
your writing is sometimes too meandering or verbose.
There is a six word story hashtag on social media
where other people share their stories and provide
creative prompts, including images and sounds, to get
you started. Placing such limits or constructs on
yourself can make you more creative as you start to
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 go to extravagant lengths to ful ll the prompt. And the
six word story prompt in particular encourages you to
use each word to maximum effect. So, you just may
see your vocabulary start to improve. 4. Draw
inspiration from images No, it's not plagiarism to
simply draw inspiration from others. Sometimes our
best and most original ideas can be sparked by
viewing someone else's art. If you're feeling stuck,
then head to your local art gallery to see what other
artists are working on. Or search online for beautiful or
interesting images. If you're a writer, you can use an
image or a photograph as a writing prompt for your
next session. Write a story based on the image you
see, imagining the context and the characters that
might be involved. Or if you're a visual artist, you can
try experimenting in the style of another painting or
using the color scheme as a jumping off point for your
own work. 5. Invent impossible objects This exercise
in innovation works for a variety of creative mediums
and can also be used as a general brainstorming
session for any person or team, even in elds like
science and technology, to get the creative juices
owing. Just choose two objects at random, or ideally
work with a partner and you each choose one. Then
you set a timer for ve minutes and you try to gure
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out how to combine them to make a new invention. If
you're a visual artist, try drawing it. If you're a writer,
write the instruction manual or TV ad copy describing
it. The combinations are endless. Here's an example,
a record player and a mixing bowl. As the record
spins, it moves a whisk around the bowl, essentially
becoming a musical blender. This can help a baker
maximize their time by enjoying music or an
audiobook while they make their next delicious
dessert. 6. 10 ideas in 10 minutes This exercise also
uses a timer. Taking a time constraint on yourself can
provide a little urgency and incentive to think quickly
and creatively. Think of a problem real or ctional. For
example, how do we make electric vehicle ownership
more affordable? Or how do we build a society on a
planet with less gravity? Or if you can't come up with a
problem on your own, look one up online. The news is
rife with issues these days for you to choose from,
from the ridiculous and minor to the grand and dire.
Then you set a timer for 10 minutes and write out or
draw or otherwise create 10 possible solutions. The
time constraint forces you to think wildly. I mean,
there's no such thing as a bad idea in this game. This
exercise helps you to not only be creative, but also
helps you feel positive, powerful and productive. With
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this attitude, you'll be ready to tackle even the
toughest project. 7. Complete the picture You can use
a prompt book for this one or create your own. Start
with a single doodle, then add a one sentence prompt.
You could grab it from a book, a magazine, or even try
a song title or lyric picked randomly from your music
streaming service of choice. Even in 2 or 3 minutes,
complete the picture using the doodle based on the
prompt. You could be answering a question or solving
a problem or showing the next part of the story. You
might even nd a way to make it funny or ironic. Be as
weird, funny, poignant or philosophical as you'd like.
Let your emotions and your imagination guide you. 8.
Turn up the music Musicians aren't the only ones
inspired by tunes. All creative types can bene t from
listening to music. But rather than just passive
listening, this time try playing a song and then making
up a story to go along with it. Who's the cast of
characters? What are their names and how do they
relate to each other? What happened to them that
inspired this song or if you don't want to get speci c
with a story, you can simply start jotting down or even
drawing what ideas pop into your head while
experiencing this piece of music. You might just end
up creating the opening passage of your next great
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story. 9. Express your gratitude Writing a daily
gratitude list is usually seen as a form of mindfulness
or even meditation. You use it to pause and
appreciate some of the things that make your life
worth living. Some are big and some are small. Maybe
you're grateful for the opportunity to savor a steaming
cup of coffee every morning in your sunny kitchen. Or
perhaps you're thankful for the loving support of your
uncle, particularly recently when you went to him for
career advice. You'll notice both of these examples
were rather speci c. Try your best to get as detailed
as possible to help dial in to the exact emotion while
also stretching your brain to use descriptive language.
In this way, a gratitude list can also be a creative
exercise. Plus, doing it every day and never allowing
yourself to repeat an item can force you to get more
and more creative over time. An optimistic and
positive brain is more receptive to creative inspiration.
10. Dictionary or Encyclopedia Story Fresh out of
ideas? Resource books are your friend. Send to a
random page in a dictionary or encyclopedia, then
pick an entry and start writing, drawing, or creating a
piece of art that incorporates that word or item. Or go
online and use one of the many free random word
generators. For example, in the dictionary, you turn to
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the S section and you see the word snap. Now write a
story in which the rst sentence uses that verb. A
character could be snapping their ngers or snapping
a sheet while folding laundry or snapping at a
colleague in frustration. And just like that, you have
the beginning of a story.
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