Creativity in acting is one of the most important elements of the craft, serving as a wellspring of artistic inspiration. Unfortunately, this side of things can often feel mysterious and inaccessible.
Many of us struggle with feeling inadequate and less creative than our peers. That’s why we need to learn some simple tools to help us tap into our creative imagination and enhance our creativity in acting.
Luckily, creativity in acting, or any other artform, is not reserved for a select few. It is meant for every human to enjoy. We simply need to learn how to access it.
In this post, I will discuss a few simple ways to learn how to be more creative and apply more creativity in acting, alongside anything else you choose to do in life.
These techniques will help you develop your artistic intuition and boost your creative expression.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link. Please see my disclosure for more details.
Undertake The Artist’s Way
“The Artist’s Way” is a self-help book written by Julia Cameron, originally published in 1992. It aims to help individuals tap into their creativity and overcome blocks that may be hindering their artistic expression.
This book is particularly useful for those interested in method acting and character development, as it provides tools for deepening one’s emotional connection to their craft.
The book is structured as a twelve-week program designed to guide readers through various exercises and activities to unlock their creative potential.
Throughout the book, Cameron explores various tools and techniques to help readers break through creative blocks, silence their inner critic, and reconnect with their innate creativity.
She emphasizes the importance of self-care, trust, and perseverance in the creative journey.
“The Artist’s Way” has gained widespread acclaim and has been used by individuals from various creative disciplines, including writers, artists, musicians, and actors, to overcome creative barriers and foster a deeper connection with their artistic pursuits.
Many readers find the book to be a transformative and empowering guide on their creative journey, helping them improve their stage presence and overall theatrical performance.
After I undertook The Artist’s Way, I found my creativity blossoming, and so have many other creatives. This is a way to reconnect with your truth, help your ideas flow, and learn how to improve creativity skills.
It can definitely be helpful for those looking to improve creativity in acting and enhance their artistic authenticity.
There is also a companion workbook to the Artist’s Way, which is handy for filling out all the exercises.
Read Books On Creativity
Besides The Artist’s Way, there are plenty of other books that can help inspire us and teach us how to be more creative. These are not necessarily to do with just creativity in acting, but creativity as a whole concept.
Many of these books touch on philosophies that teach us how to improve our creative skills, as well as practical tips for making good art.
They often explore techniques for creative visualization and developing artistic intuition.
Here are some of my favourite books on creativity:
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
This book from the author of Eat, Pray, Love teaches us to let go of fear and jump into our creative dreams. There are some great and inspiring ideas in here.
One of my favourite is the idea that creative ideas will visit someone and, if that person doesn’t act on them, then the idea will visit someone else who will!
That concept has definitely made me act on my creative ideas sooner rather than later. For something that will light a fire under you and boost your creative storytelling abilities, this one is a favourite.
Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon
Do you ever feel like you’re lacking in inspiration? Steal Like An Artist teaches us to think like artists that find inspiration everywhere.
By taking inspiration from absolutely everything in the world around you, the well of inspiration is sure to never run dry.
It encourages us to follow our interests wherever they take us in order to make inspiring work. This book can be particularly helpful for those looking to enhance their dramatic interpretation skills.
The Creative Act: A Way Of Being by Rick Rubin
Rick Rubin is a record producer who is well known for working with various artists and helping them reach their highest creative potential.
In this book, he passes the wisdom on to us readers. He shares a lifetime of experience and insight into how to be more creative. It also extends beyond learning how to improve creativity skills, into making creativity a way to approach life as a whole.
This book can be especially useful for those interested in expressive arts therapy and using creativity for personal growth.
Creativity: Seven Keys To Unlock Your Creative Self by David Gauntlett
Creative people are often thought of as a special breed who are more inspired than the rest of us.
Gauntlett makes the case that we are all equally as creative as each other; we simply need tools to unlock it. If you ever feel behind or less creative and less inspired than some of your peers, then this is the book for you.
With philosophy and advice on how to improve creativity skills, this is a comforting and motivational read that can help boost your self-confidence in your artistic abilities.
Awaken Your Genius by Ozan Varol
We often think of geniuses as special people who are struck with inspiration in order to come up with new ideas.
In fact, the ability to come up with new ideas simply comes from having the courage to break the mold, think for yourself, and act with genuine independence.
This book will allow you to cultivate your own genius and make inspired and unique art by teaching you to break free of conformity.
It’s an excellent resource for those looking to enhance their problem-solving skills in the creative realm.
Connect with your instincts
One of the most important parts of developing your creativity is connecting with your instincts. Creativity does not come from common sense or the cerebral mind. It comes from instinct.
This is particularly crucial when it comes to acting techniques and exercises.
Many of us are not in touch with our instincts at all. We may even feel that we don’t have any.
This is, of course, a lie. We are all born with instincts – extremely strong ones. It’s how we survive as human beings.
The problem is that in our current society, these are beaten out of us at a very young age until we feel that they are complete strangers to us.
There are some wonderful exercises you can do to reconnect with your instinct relatively easily, which can greatly enhance your improvisation skills and overall creativity in acting.
Ideas For Getting In Touch With Your Creative Instincts
One of these is interpretive movement. Getting in touch with our bodies is a great way to improve creativity in acting.
Try putting on some music and simply moving to it however you feel like. You can dance, stamp, sway, jolt, jump, or make any movement you feel like doing. It doesn’t have to look good.
Just allow your body to lead you without planning what you’re going to do next. If it feels silly – great!
That’s you coming up and fighting against all the ways society has told you not to follow your instincts. Keep going. It will get easier.
In fact, any type of interpretive or improvisational practice is great for getting in touch with the instinct and learning how to improve creativity skills.
These exercises can be particularly beneficial for those interested in expressive arts therapy or art therapy.
Try free writing. This is where you set a timer and simply write a stream of consciousness until the timer goes off. You don’t stop, you simply must keep writing.
This can be an excellent way to tap into your creative writing abilities.
If you’re a musician, you could try improvising a song on whatever instrument you play. Allow yourself to trust whatever comes out. It doesn’t have to be perfect, you just have to keep going.
Try abstract painting. You don’t have to do anything particular, just do whatever you feel like without overthinking it until you feel like stopping.
This can be a great way to explore the visual arts and enhance your overall artistic skills.
Getting Out Of Your Head With Improv
One of the best ways for actors to get in touch with their instincts is to give improv a go. This is entirely instinctive performance, as you have to react in the moment without having time to think.
This will help you to trust your instincts, as well as helping you to recognize when you are being instinctive and when you are getting stuck in your head.
Improv is a surefire way to improve creativity in acting and enhance your overall theatrical performance.
These are all great ways to learn how to improve your creativity skills and can contribute significantly to your personal growth as an artist.
Be More Adventurous
Creativity is not able to flourish without taking inspiration from the outside world. We need a full inspirational well in order to create. That means we need to fill the well.
Our creativity flourishes most when we try new things, encounter new ideas, as well as pushing the boundaries of what’s expected of us and what we expect of ourselves.
This adventurous spirit is crucial for developing your stage presence and enhancing your dramatic interpretation skills.
So, make it a point to try new things. Once a week, plan an activity that you don’t normally do. It could be as small as going to a cafe you’ve never tried before. It could be to visit a city you’ve never visited before.
Or it could be a big thing, like going in a helicopter for the first time. Just make sure to give new things a go. You may love it, you may not, but it is the experience that counts.
Try to watch films you wouldn’t normally try to watch, read books you wouldn’t normally read, and listen to music you wouldn’t normally listen to.
I recently started listening to more blues music, and such a great influx of new ideas and ways of expressing things came my way, my creativity couldn’t help but flourish.
So, always try and explore something new in the things you consume. This can greatly enhance your ability for creative storytelling and character development.
Push your boundaries
Again it’s okay if you think you won’t like it. In fact, if you explore something and decide it’s not for you, it will strengthen your own ideas on why other things are for you. Things you like and dislike are both equally as important as each other.
It’s a great idea to explore ideas that you think are a bit “out there.” We often write things off for seeming too strange, wacky, silly, pointless, or confusing. We like things that make sense to us and don’t seem too intimidating.
For instance, Avant-Garde art has always felt a little intimidating and confusing to me. Modern jazz just seemed too weird. I gave them both a go. Avant-Garde art, I now adore – modern jazz, not so much.
However, by letting myself explore these things I found strange, I am now no longer so afraid to jump into things I don’t understand, or even to be seen as strange by others.
I would encourage you to dig into the things you find odd, confusing or wacky and spend some time exploring them.
Firstly, you may find you love them and resonate with them far more than you thought. If not, you will at least become less afraid to push your own creative boundaries in your own work.
The bench posts will move, and you will be challenged to make your own judgments on your creative pursuits. This process can be incredibly beneficial for your personal growth as an artist.
Try Out Different Artistic Pursuits
As much as it is important to try and consume a variety of different artistic styles, activities and interests, it is also important as creatives to try out different artistic pursuits. This exploration can greatly enhance your creativity in everyday life.
I know you want to spend all your time perfecting the craft you’ve dedicated yourself to. But being creative isn’t about perfection. It’s about exploration. So it can be a great idea to shop around now and then and try something new.
Different artistic mediums help us to think in different ways from different perspectives.
They broaden our minds, challenge our thinking patterns, and help us approach our work in a different way.
The actor who sees themself as an artist is sure to make more inspired work than the actor who sees themselves as an employee. This mindset can greatly contribute to overcoming creative blocks.
Try New Things In Your Creative Pursuits
Here are some ideas for other artistic pursuits to try:
- Drawing
- Painting
- Clay modelling
- Playing an instrument
- Singing
- Dancing
- Knitting
- Crochet
- Sewing
- Scrapbooking
- Playwriting
- Novel writing
- Photography
- Jewellery making
- Whittling
- Collage
- Fashion design
I’m sure there are a million more to get you started. There are even a million more options within each of these options. When it comes to playing an instrument, you could try guitar, drums, piano, violin, Celtic tin whistle, triangle.
When it comes to painting, you could paint with watercolours or acrylics, you could paint landscapes, or portraits or abstract.
Remember, the point is not to commit yourself to a practice and get good at whatever you choose. The point is to explore. Try as many as possible in order to learn how to improve your creativity skills and enhance your creative expression.
Of course, if there’s an activity you particularly enjoy, you may feel the urge to keep coming back to it. Great! You have a new hobby and a new creative outlet.
However, I would encourage you to try as many different things as you can at least once.
It’s not the getting good, it’s the experimentation that counts. Simply pushing creative boundaries in your life will help to further push your creativity in acting and contribute to your overall personal growth.
Check Out Ethan Hawke’s TED Talk On Creativity
Ethan Hawke is an excellent actor – and one who absolutely recognises the importance of allowing ourselves to be creative.
Check out his TED Talk on the topic – it’s powerful and sure to give you lots to think about.
FAQ’s About How To Be More Creative
How do I train myself to be creative?
There are lots of things you can do to train yourself to become more creative.
This includes reading books on creativity, tapping into your instinct with freewriting or interpretive dance, trying new things, experimenting with different artistic pursuits and continually turning up and being creative, even when you don’t feel like it.
Engaging in acting exercises and improvisation skills can also greatly enhance your overall creativity.
How can a person become more creative?
A person can become more creative by letting go of restrictions, pushing boundaries, experimenting and exploring more, and letting go of self-judgment.
These things are easier said than done, so it can be a great idea to take baby steps and try activities that encourage creativity.
Freewrite, abstract paint or interpretive dance help you connect to your creative instinct. Being more adventurous and trying new things provides inspiration. Being kind to ourselves helps us feel safe to try new things.
Exploring various forms of creative expression, from theatre to visual arts, can also broaden your creative horizons.
How can I improve my creativity?
You can improve your creativity by trying new things and being more adventurous.
Try listening to different types of music, or watching different kinds of films. Connect to your creative instincts by freewriting or practicing interpretive dance.
Finally, allow yourself to experiment and let go of restrictions to do something truly outrageous.
Engaging in various forms of art therapy or expressive arts therapy can also be beneficial for enhancing your creativity.
Why do I lack creativity?
Because it has been trained out of you. Our society tells us to conform. It shames us for doing something different, or being seen as weird or strange.
Even if we’re seen as misfits, we can still carry a lot of shame for the ways we don’t fit in. You lack creativity because this was reinforced in you since the day you were born, and that kind of conditioning is difficult to undo.
However, by engaging in creative hobbies and focusing on personal growth, you can overcome these barriers.
Can a non creative person become creative?
Yes! Why? Because there are no non-creative people! We are human beings, we are a creative species. It is our nature. No, there isn’t anything wrong with you.
Our society has trained us to conform, not to think for ourselves, and not to be creative. It’s been drilled into you since the day you were born – that’s why you think you’re not creative.
Luckily, there are lots of ways to learn how to improve your creativity skills! Start off by reading Creativity: 7 Keys To Unlock Your Creative Self to learn why we all have creativity inside us and how to access it.
Remember, creativity in everyday life is possible for everyone, it’s just a matter of tapping into your innate creative potential.
Conclusion on How To Become More Creative
As you can see, there are so many ways for us to learn how to become more creative and improve our creativity in acting.
This journey of creative expression can lead to significant personal growth and enhance your artistic authenticity.
Sometimes, due to the society we live in, it can feel like an uphill battle.
I bet you have people in your life who value logic and practicality and who might make you feel ashamed for showing creativity and individuality.
Take comfort in knowing that humans are meant to be creative. By pursuing your creativity, you are on the right and most natural path.
This pursuit can lead to improved self-esteem, better problem-solving skills, and even contribute to your mental well-being.
Finally, try to surround yourself with people who are pursuing and valuing creativity, too.
Having a community of true creatives will encourage you to be yourself, experiment and discover deeper methods on how to improve your creativity skills.
These are all important ways to apply more creativity in acting and develop a stronger emotional connection with your craft.
Thank you so much for reading my post, break a leg in your creative pursuits, and please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.
