The ability to consistently generate new and exciting ideas is one of the most valuable skills you can possess. Here's how the Creativity Faucet changed my life.
The big news making headlines this week, is that singer-songwriter, Ed Sheeran, will be performing in Melbourne in a couple of days. Despite being one of the greatest musical artists of this generation and an all-round fantastic person; Mr Sheeran is also one of, perhaps, fifty people in the world who can consistently produce one hit after another.
This blog isn't another fan tribute. There are more than enough of those. The reason I bring this up is because it reminded me of a brilliant essay by writer, Julian Shapiro. In his essay, Mr Shapiro talks about Ed Sheeran's songwriting process; which is also a process shared with another legend who is also in the top one percent of his field, author Neil Gaiman.
The Creativity Faucet
Both Neil and Ed use an idea-generating technique called 'The Creativity Faucet' whenever they sit down to write.
Imagine your ideas as concepts which flow inside the plumbing of your creative mind. However, as with all plumbing, the less you use it, the more wastewater builds up inside the pipes, which must first be emptied before the clean water begins to flow.
All of this metaphorical plumbing is connected to one single faucet at the end. This means that the only way to clear out the built-up wastewater is to open this faucet and wait. There is no cheating and there are no shortcuts.
Whether you're a writer, painter, photographer, or any kind of creator; you can apply the Creativity Faucet technique to your field, by first allowing every idea - no matter how ridiculous - to flow out at the beginning of your creative session. Don't be judgemental of anything that you write, draw, paint, or photograph. Just let it all drain out for as long as it takes, and don't do anything other than accept it.
Once all of the bad ideas have been flushed out, the good ideas will start to flow.
Most creators - myself included - will often find themselves walking away from a project early, if they aren't struck with a brilliant idea from the moment they sit down to create. They resist their bad ideas and think that today is not the day for creativity; not allowing themselves the time required to get past the wastewater first.
If you allow yourself to see your mind as an interconnected pipeline of creativity, then the logical thing to do, is give it time to enter the creative 'flow state'. If you can get past your own ego and insecurities at the start, you are guaranteed to find clarity in the end.
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