Be distracted to be creative

[someoneyouknow]

As many threads on here have asked, how does one get creative? Other threads have asked, how do you get out of a writing rut? It seems the answer to both questions is to be distracted.

Distracted in the sense you don't work on one story but on two, and you alternate between them. This switching back and forth of your mental process is akin to eating different foods during a meal. If you only eat the same food, your tongue grows "tired" and eventually the same bit of food tastes bland and unappetizing.

In this article, the BBC uses the term multitasking to represent distraction.

To find out whether multitasking could help us to break out of that rut, Jackson Lu and a team at Columbia Business School used a common laboratory test of creativity. Participants had to think of as many uses as possible of a common object, like a kitchen bowl, within a fixed amount of time. (One valid answer might be that you wear the bowl as a hat to protect your hair from the rain, for instance.)

The participants had to complete the task twice, finding alternative uses for a brick and a toothpick. The only difference was that some were asked to do so in blocks, listing all the uses for the brick first before turning their full attention to the toothpick, while others were told to alternate between the two tasks.

According to [Alexander Graham] Bell’s view that immersed concentration is the key to creativity, you might expect the first group to perform better – but this wasn’t what the team found. “While they might have felt that they were on a roll, the reality was that without the breaks afforded by the continual task switching, their actual progress was limited.”

From the sheer number of ideas they produced to the perceived novelty of the ideas (as assessed by independent judges), the multitaskers performed better.​

Read the article for a bit more insight into how alternating what you do may lead you to better creativity. It certainly can't hurt.

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20180605-why-being-easily-distracted-can-be-a-very-good-thing

 

[KindofHere]

..............

 

[weftandwarp]

As many threads on here have asked, how does one get creative? Other threads have asked, how do you get out of a writing rut? It seems the answer to both questions is to be distracted.

Distracted in the sense you don't work on one story but on two, and you alternate between them. This switching back and forth of your mental process is akin to eating different foods during a meal. If you only eat the same food, your tongue grows "tired" and eventually the same bit of food tastes bland and unappetizing.

In this article, the BBC uses the term multitasking to represent distraction.

To find out whether multitasking could help us to break out of that rut, Jackson Lu and a team at Columbia Business School used a common laboratory test of creativity. Participants had to think of as many uses as possible of a common object, like a kitchen bowl, within a fixed amount of time. (One valid answer might be that you wear the bowl as a hat to protect your hair from the rain, for instance.)

The participants had to complete the task twice, finding alternative uses for a brick and a toothpick. The only difference was that some were asked to do so in blocks, listing all the uses for the brick first before turning their full attention to the toothpick, while others were told to alternate between the two tasks.

According to [Alexander Graham] Bell’s view that immersed concentration is the key to creativity, you might expect the first group to perform better – but this wasn’t what the team found. “While they might have felt that they were on a roll, the reality was that without the breaks afforded by the continual task switching, their actual progress was limited.”

From the sheer number of ideas they produced to the perceived novelty of the ideas (as assessed by independent judges), the multitaskers performed better.​

Read the article for a bit more insight into how alternating what you do may lead you to better creativity. It certainly can't hurt.

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20180605-why-being-easily-distracted-can-be-a-very-good-thing

ÒOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I don't think it is about having two stories on the go at once. I think it's about having two, three or four different projects at once that aren't so related. I often write a few paragraphs. Then I sew. I make bags and wallets. My last project with sewing has been to make my aged little dog a coat because she gets very cold. . Two nights ago she shivered so much when she went for a wee she shook herself off her feet. Poor thing, I think she then had a fit, she wasn't breathing. I picked her up, shook her, she started breathing again and I pulled her blanket over her as I cuddled her. I have foxes here and they would kill her, given a chance. I then started making her coat. It was all a distraction and I think the writing interludes have been much more productive. It's how I always do things, not only writing.

 

[Kantarii]

I devote all my time and energy into one writing project before I move to the next. My life is already complicated enough flipping my script between dressing like a woman and a guy on occasions. When I reach a rut in writing, I take a break and start drawing or etching glass until the cogs start turning again for me to work on my writing project. Kant

 

[Hypoxia]

Inspiration inspires. Distraction interrupts. Perspiration creates. Get back to work.

I've often mentioned points of inspiration. They're everywhere. Trick: Look at an image as if it's both the opening and closing shot of a visual story. Figure out how to get there. Another trick: Start with "Once upon a time in..." and end with "...fairly happily ever after," then fill in the blanks. Another trick: Turn anything into a fetish.

 

[rae121452]

i can believe that this works, i usually have more than one story that i'm writing and alternating. my big problem is outside distraction. i experienced a robbery of my storage unit on memorial day and then twice since so i've been dealing with that and had it constantly on my mind. it distracts me from what i'd rather be doing and makes it hard to concentrate. the stress is easing and i started writing yesterday and have done some work today and will probably continue.
meanwhile, everything else is suffering, too, so it's not an easy fix.

 

[LexxRuthless]

I've had some problems crop up due to working on more than one story simultaneously, like using the wrong name for a character when I switch over. I find that when I get stuck writing my way to the next scene I have in mind, it helps to literally walk away. I go outside, walk around or have a cigarette, and that often inspires an entirely new thought or direction to take the story.