Five Ways to Nurture Your Creativity ⏱ 3 Mins

December 2, 2024

Find inspiration and fuel your imagination by following these tips from singer Kristina Mann on how to nurture your creativity.

Kristina Mann can trace her journey to becoming an artist to one Friday in 2016.

The Stockport singer set aside a day to ‘make space’ and figure out who she was creatively.

Making space is like having an emotional declutter. You identify the thoughts and habits holding back your creativity and lean into the things that serve your ultimate goals.

“As soon as I made space, things started to happen for me,” Kristina says. “The beginnings of my album Gold came from the work I did that day.”

Since then, Kristina’s confidence as an artist has gone from strength to strength, but it hasn’t all been plain sailing – she struggled during the pandemic.

But, as Kristina reveals on the Singing Teachers Talk podcast, she’s learned many valuable lessons along the way. And one of the most powerful ones is to nurture creativity – as opposed to waiting for it to come to her.

“You can’t wait for a big moment or vision to just happen; you’ve got to step out and take a risk.”

How to Nurture Creativity

1 Daily habits

Build positive habits into your daily routine that allow you to reflect and explore.

Kristina starts the day with ‘Morning Pages’, a journalling exercise made famous by Julia Cameron in An Artist’s Way.

It involves filling three pages of a notebook with thoughts, dreams, worries and observations first thing every morning.

You write in longhand anything and everything that pops into your mind. There is no need to labour over every word; just relax and let the pen lead you.

2 Structure

Artist Henri Matisse said: “Don’t wait for inspiration. It comes while working.” And many mindset coaches and psychologists would agree.

We often assume structure will suffocate or crowd out inspiration, but the opposite can be true. Regular lessons, workshops or rehearsal sessions can fuel creativity, providing you approach them with focus and intention.

Kristina has regular singing lessons with vocal coach Hannah Smikle. “I have never learned so much about myself as I have in singing lessons,” she says. “They’re a place of self-discovery.”

3 Goalsetting

Goals give us a sense of direction and purpose. But it’s important not to just focus on the big picture stuff like getting a record deal or headlining a festival.

To reach your long-term goals, you need short-term ones that will act as stepping stones on your creative journey.

These could include practical things such as organising a gig. If it helps, divide your short-term goal into even smaller, mini goals, such as booking the venue, arranging the publicity and finalising your setlist.

4 Find a mentor

A great mentor will pick you up when you feel down and give you a push-along when you need it.

A mentor shouldn’t be afraid to give you constructive feedback when its warranted and keep you accountable. Ideally, they’ll also have industry knowledge that they can share with you.

Kristina’s vocal coach, Hannah, serves as a mentor. “Hannah challenges me, cares about my voice and gets the best out of me,” she says.

5 Stay positive

Many artists find their creativity fluctuates throughout their lives (even Beethoven had a seven-year fallow period where he struggled to write anything at all).

But when you go through a difficult patch, remember that it won’t last forever.

Kristina experienced a challenging period during Covid where her vocal ability and creativity “dried up”.

But things have now turned around, and she’s flourishing now.

“Even though I had a difficult time during Covid, I’m grateful for it now. It’s provided me with rich material.”