How to Stay Creative and Write Unique Content

This was the challenge on the platform NotePD. I answered it. And came up with the list below. See what works for you.

This was the question: ‘How do you stay creative and write unique content?”

It was asked on an interesting platform called, NotePD. (Link is below.)

Just answering this challenge brought out some creativity in me. Below please find some ideas that just may help you. 

1. Pay Attention

What are people talking about? What's in the media? What's appearing in your feeds? Capture these themes in a notebook or on your iPhone's notes. 

2. Connect the Dots

See #1 above. What can you do with what you're seeing or hearing?

3. Solve Problems, Relieve Tensions

Are you seeing a problem in your world? Come up with some ideas to solve it. A good practice comes from author James Altucher. He suggests you write “10 ideas a day” to do so. Example? “What are 10 new uses for empty retail space?” Or “What are 10 things you would do if you were the CEO of American Airlines?” Will these ideas be implemented? Maybe.) No matter what, you’re getting your brain to exercise.

4. Write "Morning Pages"

This is the gift from writer Julia Cameron author of the book "The Artist's Way." Her practice suggests that when you wake up, the first thing you do is write three pages in a notebook. (Yes, pen or pencil on paper. No typing. Writing!) This form of writing should be unfettered and free-form. It’s just for you. It’s a way to simply “empty your head.”

Idea Hack: If you’re stuck on a project, simply “write three pages.” It can be at any time of day. Just get the problem and your thinking on paper in a free-form way. (Usually a good solution appears somewhere in the middle of page two.)

5. Read What's Out There, Write What's Not

You may be passionate about music. Or movies. Or mushrooms. What are people writing about when it comes to your topic? Find out. Then write the opposite. Or at the very least, write a new angle on it. And if no one is writing about mushrooms, you be the one.

6. Try Some "Forced Creativity"

The band The Dandy Warhols forced themselves to write a song a week (and shoot a video for it) for a year. The results were quite good. (I wrote about it here.). What can you "force yourself" to create?

7. Museum Visit (No Agenda)

Go to a museum and just absorb. 

8. Museum Visit (Look and Post)

Go to a museum with the express intent that you will report on your visit. Maybe it will be a series of Instagram images. Maybe it will be a review on TikTok. Maybe it's just an email you will write to your mom or a friend.

9. Start a Blog

Figure out a topic and just go. Don't wait for it to be perfect. Just start writing. And force yourself to post at least once a week. Heck, you can post your best ideas from your “10 Ideas a Day” exercise.

10. Play with AI

Get on Dall-E or MidJourney and start prompting. In fact, today, I may take some classic poems and see what they look like through an unexpected lens. Example? /imagine the poem Dante’s Inferno in the style of Pixar. Or /imagine TS Eliot’s ‘The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock’ in the style of film director, Wes Anderson. No doubt, creative stuff will emerge. Try it. I’m sure it will inspire you to take some kind of action. (In fact, see the image from this blog post above? That pretty much inspired this whole list.)

To stay creative and write unique content, check out what’s going over at NotePD here.