What's your creative process?

[kara_susvilla]

Having a process also allows you to think of ideas that may not be easily apparent. What's one thing you do to help come up with new ideas? How can you incorporate this into a repeatable framework (for yourself as well as those you collaborate with)?

*To learn more about this, check out the Generating Content Ideas lesson via HubSpot Academy. 

[A0]

Overthinking 🤣.

[YourBrvnd]

😂

[AshPMcK]

I seem to come up with ideas easily only because I look at life like art. Everything in life is art, when you see the beauty in everything you also see that there is a story to tell. I also like to use ideas from dreams there is so many great ideas that comes from my dream. Another thing that I like to use is listening to what subject keeps popping up in my life and then creating something around that topic. 

[RGorumba]

My process always starts with visualization. I draw and sketch my imagination of how I want it to appear. After that comes the topic and title research. I always try to look for other content online for inspiration especially when I am finding it hard to start from scratch. I make different versions and I make other people vote and critic which piece is better to use.

[EHansen]

I'll use my Nerdy 30 birthday invite from a few as an example. I knew I wanted the party to be 90s themed (born in the 90s). We decided to have it at a retro arcade/pinball hall and so I had to figure out how to convey that message. I wrote out ideas for design and then sketched. I finally landed on my husband and I dressing up in 90s attire in front of our Ninja Turtles arcade cabinet and making it look like it was a hand made invite on a torn notebook paper.

[YourBrvnd]

@EHansen This is really great!! 

[Nugo]

This might sound creepy but it helps me. I take a walk to a public space, it could be a park, or a restaurant and I pay attention to everyone around me. Watch how they converse, how they react to situations, I mostly just soak it all in and let everything around me speak to me. Before heading to this park, I must have already gathered information about what I want to write about. My process takes my mind off the idea and pops up something I wasn't considering.

[SEgah]

 I try as much as I can to calm my nerves , understand what the subject matter is; this gives me a sense of clear direction to source for information from the appropriate channels. Eventually, this helps me come up with news ideas

[Isadoraamelia8]

Watching youtube videos, talkinh with people with different group and perspective, and of course eagerly searching it online can help me with new ideas

[Asma7asn]

What's your creative process?

Brainstorming and getting inspiration from various sources. Then, researched to deepen my understanding of the topic. Use mind mapping to organize my thoughts and generate new connections and insights.

[andresfernandez]

My process involves these steps:

1) Research: finding out as much as I can about the topic/problem (usually searching online); I add all the seemingly valuable links I find to a note on my phone

2) Distill and organize: I then transfer the Note's contents to a Google doc, and I start adding comments or additional thoughts to the links that are more valuable (as well as related links), and discard the ones that aren't; I then rank and organize the links based on how they relate to one another, or how closely or distantly they pertain to the problem or topic

3) Step away... I always have to step away from the problem for a while, and that's usually how the ideas come to my mind. If I'm staring at the doc I'll go back to "organizing" mode and won't be able to come up with new ideas. Whenever the ideas come, I add them to a note on my phone and eventually to the Google doc (which then becomes a repository of ideas with sources/support)

4) Share and collaborate: once I have a framework with ideas and research to back them up, I open the Google Doc up to relevant team members and collaborate via comments, edits, etc.

[VBramblett]

One thing I do to come up with ideas is just do a thought dump in one minute then expand on each idea and see the commonalities. To incorportate this into a repeatable framework is to find ideas from more than one source, and even using BuzzSumo.

[EBevans]

I think the best thing I can do to come up with ideas is similar to that mentioned in the video on "where do ideas come from?" Whenever I take my mind off of a project, paper, or anything that involves being creative, that's when I have that eureka moment when a fully formed idea pops into my head. Whenever this happens, I make sure to write it down immediately because I have a horrible memory. There have been countless times when I just can't get anywhere when writing a paper, so I take a break by turning on a movie and then an idea would come to me and I thought oh I'll write it down later, then I end up forgetting. Now I make sure to go in the notes app on my phone and jot down any random thoughts that could potentially help me. I think that this can be turned into a repeatable framework by just stepping away from work for a bit when you're really stuck. It could be going for a walk, maybe going on social media (this could help fuel ideas by looking at other content), watching tv, or talking with your team about anything else besides work. When you can't come up with ideas on the spot, it can be really frustrating which will then make it harder to come up with good content. Learning that it's okay to take a break from the creation process is essential.

[EGitome]

I love to jot down any ideas that rush through my brain. Then evaluate one by one focusing on my goal. This enables me to align my creativity with my goals. I later on include someone else in this process to help me have another eye/thought. I always keep it open to me learning and expanding my creativity.

[FBouricha]

I write down any ideas that pop up in a big A0 paper that I put on my desk and come accross daily.

[KDeffley]

A lot of times, I'll begin with an outline of what I'm trying to convey in my material. Then I'll brainstorm and connect each element of my outline. Then I'll research each element to make sure I'm giving the best and most authoritative information. Finally, I'll sit down to write or create in a stream of consciousness while keeping my outline handy to stay on track. That's when I'll send my work to someone to look over, and I pretend I'm that specific person looking at the material with fresh eyes. That's where I punch up and get ready for submission, assuming the edits coming back to me aren't too crazy. 

[AniB1]

One thing is for sure, if someone asks me of a new idea of content I will not have any idea what to bring. I just try being aware all the time with things that interest me so to learn as much as possible. This will help me in some moment (I never know when) if I have all my inspiration somewhere "saved". That means I use very often templates on my Instagram account when something inspires me, Pinterest and also screenshots and quick pictures. It can be a movie, a poster on the street, a reel on Instagram, a Youtube video, an ad. Moreover I let myself making company with people who are different than me. It really helps to see the world from a different perspective. 

[RHailey5]

I haven't yet figured out how to turn it into a repeatable framework but I find that forcing myself to have ideas never works. I'm often inspired by movies, music, and other creators and artists around me. I let the ideas form in my head until I get that "Eureka" moment! I will also often bounce my ideas off other people to validate them before moving forward. 

[MBoyce4]

The times I find myself to be most creative are when I am bouncing ideas off of other people. With someone else to validate my ideas and help me expand on them, they grow into things that I never would have thought of on my own.

[CAlabi7]

Researching, the moment something comes to mind, I try to do an extensive research on it so l can know as much as possible. Reading and watching of social media contents also work as I try to discuss with those around me to get their opinions.

[AOgungboye]

Reading has mostly been a source of ideas for me. The fact that I love reading has helped me a lot to be able to come up with great content ideas.