How to Stay Creative Under Pressure
As Advertising and Public Relations students, we are constantly challenged to create, create, and create some more. But when it comes to assignments, papers, social media posts, blogs, and more, sometimes we just hit a creative block. This blog will provide you with some tips to keep and manage your creative spark!
Change Your Environment
The physical space you take up is an important factor. Sometimes, a change in your surrounding scenery can help spark new ideas and get the creative juices flowing. Whether you move from your bedroom to your living room, or from the library to a busy cafe, the change in scenery can inspire and challenge your way of thinking. If moving around isn’t a possibility, try putting on a study playlist or experimenting with the lighting in your room. Anything to get you in the right mindset. Staying calm and collected is better for your creativity.
Brainstorming!
Brainstorming, in all forms, can help inspire creativity! Creating an Outline! Compiling a long list, to cross off. Create a word cloud! Write down a single word, and connect the concept to other words or ideas that come to mind until you find a topic that might interest you.
If coming up with a writing prompt or an idea for the topic of your next assignment seems impossible, outsource! What I mean by this is to talk to some of your peers, come up with a few ideas, and bounce them around. Feedback from a friend— especially a brutally honest friend — is some of the best advice you can receive. Always look for ideas in the things you do or see or in something interesting you discussed in class you’d like to learn more about. If this isn’t an option, there are prompt ideas on Google. ChatGPT or other AI bots are great for generating lists of prompts for essay topics, the screenplay you’ve been dying to write, and almost anything! However, AI is not a fix-all solution; use AI for ideas, not content!
Break Up the Work
If you work far enough ahead, breaking up your work is a great solution to avoiding the creative block. For your first draft, write something. Anything. Word vomit onto the paper, and let it settle for a few hours, a day, whatever works for you. The goal is that when you return to it, you can build off of it. Instead of aiming for perfection on that first draft, get your ideas written down and rework them later. Taking strategic breaks and stepping away when you are feeling stuck are also great ways to get the creative juices flowing. Give yourself a healthy break, but don’t mix that up with procrastination.
At the end of the day, you know what is going to work for you. Next time you are stumped, try a new method to channel your creative energy! Challenge your way of thinking, and keep your creative flame.
Dominic is a senior pursuing a degree in Advertising and Public Relations with a minor in Digital Studies. He is currently an Account Associate with an Emphasis in Design and the 2024-2025 GVPRSSA Social Media Director. Outside the classroom, Dominic enjoys writing, going on walks, photography, and spending time with friends. After college, Dominic hopes to travel the country and get a job relating to content creation or paid media.