7 Days of Creative Bursts Workbook

Transcription

1 7 Days of Creative Bursts Workbook A Week s Worth of Fun 15-Minute Exercises to Get Your Creativity Flowing! Sandy Ackers Writer and Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coach Catching Your Dreams Creativity Coaching Strangling My Muse: Struggling to Live A Creative Life in a Stressful World Blog

2 Welcome to your Creative Bursts Workbook! I created these exercises so you won t need more than a pen and paper and 15 minutes to do each. I want to make it easy for everyone to find creative flow in their lives! However, feel free to pull out your crayons, paints, collage materials, etc. and also to keep going past 15 minutes if you re inspired. The Creative Bursts include writing, drawing, doodling, dancing and more. Many of them are a bit whimsical, because tapping into our childlike joy helps us go to a truer creative place. I encourage you to try exercises that are different from those you would normally do, because stretching yourself and your imagination can lead you to unexpected -- and sometimes wonderful -- places. Sending Creative Sparks, Sandy Ackers p.s. If you re not already signed up for my Creative Bursts mailing list, sign up here to get new Creative Bursts in your inbox twice a week: Copyright Sandy Ackers 2011, Page 2

3 CREATIVE BURST #1 Write a brief bio of this man. Make it serious or silly, structured or lyrical, matter-of-fact or absurd. Now write a brief bio of this dog. Copyright Sandy Ackers 2011, Page 3

4 CREATIVE BURST #2 Daydream elaborately for 15 minutes. Some ideas: Imagine you live in a different time period, and create a day of that life in your mind. Put yourself inside your favorite book, movie or cartoon and see what happens. Imagine you re five years old and discovering something new for the first time really feel the discovery with all your senses. If you feel like it, spend two minutes doodling or writing about your daydream below. Copyright Sandy Ackers 2011, Page 4

5 CREATIVE BURST #3 Dance as if you were Disappointment. Then dance as if you were Surprise. Next dance as if you were Pride. Finally, dance as if you were Joy. Copyright Sandy Ackers 2011, Page 5

6 CREATIVE BURST #4 Write about doors you have encountered and what happened when you walked through them or didn t walk through them. These can be physical doors, metaphorical doors or imaginary doors. You can write something true, something fictional, a poem, or whatever you re inspired to write about doors. Copyright Sandy Ackers 2011, Page 6

7 CREATIVE BURST #5 Remember what you loved as a child. Did you love aliens? A certain comfort food? Dinosaurs? A special book? Your mother s nickname for you? Draw a 3-panel cartoon about something you loved. You have permission to create something bad. It can be as simple as a stick figure riding a stick dinosaur. Just have fun! Copyright Sandy Ackers 2011, Page 7

8 CREATIVE BURST #6 Write about your relationship with your bed. Copyright Sandy Ackers 2011, Page 8

9 CREATIVE BURST #7 Make a map of what you did today (or yesterday if it s morning). It can be a literal map that traces your route, a metaphorical map that traces your internal journey, an imaginary map that traces your daydreams, or anything else you re inspired to map about your day. Copyright Sandy Ackers 2011, Page 9

10 BUT WAIT THERE S MORE! HERE ARE SOME EXTRA CREATIVE BURSTS OF SILLINESS FOR YOU!!* * because being silly helps you tap into your childlike joy, which is where creativity resides. (Note: Some of these require more than a pen and paper) 1. Write something silly, like a haiku about your boss s tie or the dialogue your dog would have with the cat if he could talk. (Remember that a haiku has five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line, and five syllables in the third line.) 2. Make something silly knit an envelope or create a collage out of pictures of toes. 3. Freewrite about something silly. Use this prompt: When he appears in my life, the closet monster always takes something from me, but I have to admit, he never 4. Make a snack that reflects your mood. Like smiley-face pancakes. Or a Readyto-Erupt volcano Sundae. 5. Write a list of silly things you would never do. Then do one of them. 6. Pick the most outlandish thing on your list of silly things you would never do. Write about doing it. 7. Create a story about a nonsensical image you remember from a dream. 8. Write a journal entry about your day in a Dr. Seuss-like rhythm. Or tell it as a fairy tale. 9. Create a character who s the opposite of you. Then see what this character does when you write about him/her. 10. Write a story about the two starfish in this picture: Copyright Sandy Ackers 2011, Page 10

11 ABOUT SANDY ACKERS I m a Muse Wrangler, both by profession and inclination. I help people break through or sneak past their creative demons so they can enjoy teatime or creative nirvana with their muses. As a Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coach, I shepherd people through the process of slaying their Perfectionism Dragons, herding their Inner Critics into a soundproof room, sending Procrastination Monsters whimpering back to their dark caves, and banishing many other creative blocks. I m also a professional writer and have been a lifelong creative adventurer, exploring visual journaling, jewelry making, singing in the car, paper art, absurdist fiction, and coloring my life with a variety of creative pursuits. I blog about creativity and writing at Strangling My Muse: Struggling to Live a Creative Life in a Stressful World ( I can also be found at my Catching Your Dreams Creativity Coaching site ( I wish you all the best with your creative endeavors! Sandy Ackers Copyright Sandy Ackers 2011, Page 11