How do you tap into your creativity?

Its comes and goes, usually if I sit in one place long enough it will come...and then go. People will ask me why something that looks like it took an hour actually took 4, I tell them if I knew what it was gonna look like when I started, I would've saved myself those three hours.

honestly, i dont do anything to get creative, possibly meditate a bit but thats it...... on my days off i just turn off all distractions...tv... radio....and laptop...YES EVEN THE LAPTOP!!!... and pick up whatever medium i choose for the day and spend usually several hours falling into it, i almost reach a state of in entransment where i can actually see myself from like third person...playin bass.. paintin a shitty pic...sketchin an amatuer drawing...but i dig it... keeps my frowns upside down.

i tend to fight ninja robots from space...and everytime i kill one i get an insperation, but it's only for a second, so i need to kill more and more to keep up. these robots happen to live in this appartment down the street from me, i've already done away with a quarter of the building. please don't inform the authorities, each day i'm closer to that inspiration, don't ruin it for me.

Desperation. Generally due to procrastination. I wrote an 'A' paper at 6 am right before I got on the train to leave for Spring Break. It's all about necessity for me.

Of course, if I'm doing it for fun, it's generally because inspiration has hit me right out of the blue.

Meditation, sleep deprivation and last-minute panic all tend to work rather nicely. I've even managed to combine the first two on occassion for some very interesting results.
And, of course, nothing can beat the high you get when you are just suddenly and randomly inspired to do something great. I remember the last thing that really truly inspired me was reading Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä. I went on a creative rampage that lasted me about three whole months and several packages of paper. It was quite a trip, but you never know what will set you off. So keep doing everything mentally stimulating that you normally do. That's my advice at any rate.

lack of sleep, coffee, alcohol, hallucinagens, music, books, interaction with interesting people, nature, meditation, exhausting physical activity, sex, dervishism

usually not all at once. unless it's Rainbow Gathering or Burning Man.

I 'look' at other things that excite me for creative impetus. Good films, trips to galleries or a good magazine (like Juxtapoz). Listen to music I love. Think about things that make me happy - or just dwell on an emotion or important message, then turn it into something more poetic. Thinking laterally about the pure and simple things. I don't go the depression route anymore... I think the best depression artwork came out of people fighting it and trying to capture happiness personally. Otherwise it has a tendency to be too damn emo and naive, although affecting. Just being obvious and affecting is a cheap trick most of the time - and comes pretty close to the definition of 'kitsch'. In a bad way. Personal opinion only.

when writing, my main block to creativity is how it'll be percieved by everyone else. i've got a little censor in my head that say's either 1) that's perverted, 2) that's insane, or 3) "simpson's did it" The first two aren't much of a problem, but i still find myself rejecting ideas because they're too crazy-dirty from time to time. the desire to be original is usually what get's me. i've found that i'll completely ignore the obvious because the idea isn't "original" enough.
In music, 80% of the time i can't stand the noise i'm making. It's the other 20% that keeps me addicted. I've noticed that when the music is particularly bad is also when i have a censor up saying the rhythm is out of beat to the chord changes or your voice is out of key. sometimes it's just anxiety tension restricting movement.
i think the trick is not to try or think but without trying not to try or thinking about not thinking. or in other words, you were right the first time until you fucked it all up by thinking to much. i do my best music when i imagine myself as a radio reciever; music is flowing thru me but doesn't come from me. In writing, i imagine that i'm listening to a narration or eavesdropping snippets together and filling in the blanks. the big idea is to remove yourself from the process and catch what bubbles up.

krippie and music

I tend to look for images in patterns, or random surfaces. These are generally seen only once, during whatever lighting-and I try to draw what I see as I see it. It works...

Taking the 38 bus in san francisco , its so full of weirdos you can come up with a years worth of inspiration in one day.

Creativity....

you have it...

or you don't

Nothing to "tap into"

Flagellation and sexual deprivation. Oh hang on, that last one doesn't count 'cause it isn't by choice.

[Edited on Apr 08, 2004 by Dr_Phibes]

I take a shit to make room.

I find going for walks and the like by myself works well for drumming up ideas, and every now and then going to a bar solo with paper and pen in hand and just writing with so much stuff going on all around

beating the crap out of a mime or two seems to do the job.

stop taking my meds.

i do things everyday to stimulate the better parts of my brain... i read, i digest various media, i'll overdo it and put a movie on with no dialog plus an old record playing just loud enough so that you can't ignore it, all while facing the other way. i go on weird sleeping binges where i'll get 3 hours a night for a week and then spend the whole next week sleeping after work, having crazy dreams about zombies and talking animal spirits and unfulfilled prophecies. the next week i'll become superhumanly inspired and busy. i watch a lot of cartoons. i'll get the stream of conciousness going after a hopeless night of drinking, just letting words hit paper while struggling to stay upright. i catalog every idea, either record it or write myself a note, and date it so i can look at it later and marvel when someone else put it into action first. i'll smoke weed while i work, i'll deprive myself in other ways until i meet my goal. i'll remember to maintain a youthful, childlike outlook on the situation at hand. i'll fall in love with the wrong person and question myself, turning rejection into something i can manage. i'll explore various media, i'll cut out pictures and file them away. i'll have coversations with friends, pow wowing each other, flinting sparks. the creativity of others is what fuels my own.

Besides what has been posted by others, for writing or brainstorming I sometimes use a combination of sleep dep, 5-HTP, and small regular doses of caffeine in the form of good espresso (with sugar). Works like a charm, but is hard as hell on your body for more than about 36 hours. Then it's time to give the brain a good 12 hours to catch up and heal. Thankfully another 5-HTP helps with that a lot, and a big dose of vitamins C (2 grams) and E (800-1200 IUs) plus a B complex (the rec'd dose x2) helps with damage control / rebuild while you rest.

For editing the sleep dep is counterproductive, so if it's a personal project (or anything I'm doing at home or a hotel room, not in an edit suite with the client buzzing around) I like some red wine, with a bit of espresso between every few glasses. And fyi: 5-HTP is a bad idea with too much alcohol, so that has to go.

sadly i agree...depression and weed are the key to releasing my inner creativity; the words just pour onto the page.

I steal...I mean...Get inpiration from other people or works.

pain or anger. cant control either one, though.