When are you most creative?

[Rivière]

When it comes to photography, I love being outdoors, alone. Photography can be such an exceptionally wonderful art. An art, like any other, that takes time and patience. I dislike being around other people, even friends and family, whenever I'm out taking pictures. It just feels so... distracting. I feel like I'm being rushed unless I'm alone, then I can take as long as I want.

As for anything else, like creating threads for TeenHelp (like this one) or posts for my business page... creativity tends to come to me when I'm lying in bed trying to sleep. I have all these great ideas for posts and replies. I try and write them down on my phone if I can. This way I can remember for the future.

People don't realise, but even exercise routines require creativity. I prefer to be alone when coming up with them, but it doesn't matter what time of day it is. So long as it's quiet or I can't think.

How about you? It doesn't have to necessarily be writing such as poetry, or painting/drawing. It can be anything.

Do you need a specific environmental setting or time of day?

[Starseeker]

Nighttime has been the most creative time for me since I can remember. It's dark and quiet, no distractions from either inside or outside the house.

[Dawn.]

I'm most creative at work.

[Celyn]

I would love to get into photography!

I haven't noticed a pattern yet of when I'm most creative. For a long time, I thought I didn't have a creative bone in my body! But recently I've realised that creativity can take all forms so I think I'm more creative than what I previously thought.

I've been playing The Sims more these days, and I've discovered that I don't actually play like most people do but I tend to love building and decorating in the game. I also like taking pictures in game and then editing them slightly. When I'm not playing, I might randomly get ideas in my head of what to build next or how to set things out etc. so I've started quickly sketching these ideas so I don't lose them. That said, I do find that when I'm lying in bed at night, my mind tends to visualise what I'm building and I just seem to carry on building/decorating in my mind. It's hard to switch off!

I tend to think out loud a lot too. It's normally just what I plan on doing that day or if something is bothering me I'll just rant to thin air. I have found though that sometimes my mind makes links between ideas and I have a sudden urge to start writing these things down. For example, ages ago, I was thinking about the deeper meaning of things (things not always being as obvious as what they seem on the surface) and I randomly thought of a film that displayed this idea perfectly...so I ended up randomly writing a few pages of what could be called a film critique but was me mixing my own thoughts with examples from the film.

I've realised, I tend to be creative after having been inspired or talking to others. I can't remember how exactly, but back last year, I was having a conversation with my mum and she said something or she had had done something and I suddenly had an idea to re-arrange my room. It was difficult because I also had an essay to do as well but I felt like I had to take action because my mind was just thinking of how I could rearrange my room. I don't think it would've occurred to me had I not had that conversation with my mum.

I guess really, unless I'm working on a project, creativity is either inspired by someone/something or just seems to happen. I remember years ago, I wanted to draw and colour. I tried but I didn't know what to draw and when I started drawing, I wasn't happy with it. I didn't give up completely, I just didn't have any inspiration. Then I was inspired to draw Simba from the lion king, though I was sceptical as to how it would turn out, and yet it ended up being the best thing I have ever drawn!

That said, while I might need inspiration from somewhere, I really do need to be on my own and in peace and quiet. Even when building things on the sims, I have to mute the music because it was either distracting or I felt rushed.

Thanks for this thread- it was really interesting!

I am always in a slump during the day and my brain shuts down until the moment my head hits that pillow at night; then I am suddenly bursting with ideas, which makes it impossible to sleep.

If there was a way to boost motivation and creativity during the day, I would love to hear it. Very rarely, I do get a boost of motivation; but it's not in regards to creativity, instead it's to do with productivity.

I remember when I was younger, the creative juices were nearly constant! Now I'm in my 30s, it's practically non-existent!

[Everglow.]

Originally Posted by Celyn

I've been playing The Sims more these days, and I've discovered that I don't actually play like most people do but I tend to love building and decorating in the game.

I play The Sims in exactly the same way! Thank you for posting about this because I would have never called that creativity before, but I suppose it absolutely is. I tend to watch a lot of property tours on YouTube, so I guess my Sims creativity kick starts when I've seen a really interesting or attractive house and think I'd love to build it if I can.

Otherwise, I don't have a specific time when creativity kicks in. Usually it's with inspiration from others. If I hear a nice quote I'll think I want to write something about it. This is how I used to write poems when I was a teenager. I also get random urges to write after I've read a really good book and I think I'd love to create something like that too.

Yes, that reminds me of the apps they use on those HGTV shows! I actually tried to recreate a hypothetical do-over of my childhood home I discussed with a relative a few years back. It was tough because I don't actually have the app itself, but I managed to improvise with different features of Powerpoint.

There is no right or wrong way to be creative.