I just finished directing an improvised puppet show which was not only a blast, but also extremely educational.  I thought I might share some of the puppet lessons I learned over the next few weeks.

One of the things I noticed was the different ways the actors treated the puppets. Some of them treated the puppets as if they were real, living creatures. They got special backpacks and bags where they stored the puppets whenever they weren’t in use. They even felt uncomfortable if someone else used their puppet. In fact, words like “creepy” and “wrong” were used when that happened.

The other actors treated the puppets like you might treat a t-shirt. As soon as they were done using their puppet,they slipped it off and they didn’t think about it again until it was time to put it back on. They didn’t care who used it.

I’ve talked to other people about this interesting difference and discovered that the two attitudes extend over every creative art. Some people thought that the actors who were sensitive about their puppets were being overly precious and shouldn’t get that attached. They argued that puppets were only objects.

An equal number of people went in the opposite direction. They said it was only natural to develop that kind of connection.

I don’t think either attitude resulted in a better performance, but I did notice that people were irritated when they were forced to treat the puppets like the other group of people. If someone who treasured their puppet was forced to set it down somewhere unsafe, their eyes would constantly dart to it until they could pick it back up. If someone who treated their puppet like an object was forced to treat it like a person, they felt uncomfortable.

People treat all the supplies they use to create in one of those two ways. They either make their tools into magical implements that must be chosen and treated with the greatest care or they consider only the practical aspects of their tools.

In most books on creativity, they try and push you into treating tools as magical things. They want you to set up a special creative space and a special notebook. This works for some people. Other people work much better just scribbling their notes on napkins and in the margins of books.

Take a moment to figure out how you treat your tools. Recognize the kind of person you are and use that to help you create. My advice is not to tie your ability to your materials. Use the best tools available, but don’t make the lack of a specific tool an excuse to not create.

Treat your tools in the way that is best for you.

Today we take a break from our usual tips and strategies for being MORE creative to discuss the exact opposite idea. After all, at this point you probably have so much creative energy that you need to slow it down or shut it off.

What are some good ways to crush your creativity?

1. Surround yourself with uncreative, unadventurous people. If you do this, you can be sure that any creative urges you have will be squashed as soon as they appear. Also, make sure the people around you are less intelligent than you are. That way, they won’t challenge you, just limit you.

2. Write a bad review of your project before you’re even finished. Before you finish a project, start writing a review in your head. Just list all the faults and be as harsh as possible. Don’t give constructive criticism, in fact don’t even focus on the material, critique yourself personally. Doing this can guarantee you’ll never finish.

3. Start it tomorrow. You’re really busy today. Everything should clear up tomorrow. And if it’s not better tomorrow there’s always the day after that.

4. If your energy starts to lag, put it aside for later. Don’t worry. You’ll get to it.

5. Deny any solution that comes from inside the box. Wait until you have an idea that is crazy original. No one wants to see a great, classic idea well-presented. Nope, people want everything to be amazingly original. In fact, if anyone has done anything remotely similar to what you want to do, why bother?

6. You’re an adult, act like it. Creating shouldn’t be fun. Unless it feels like work it’s probably terrible. In fact, the whole idea sounds silly. Nothing is fun. Nothing is funny. Any idea that you have the might make someone question your position as a responsible adult shouldn’t be spoken aloud. Just squash them down into your stomach, they can help plug your ulcer.

There are some frames of mind that are great to visit when you are creating, but terrible when you stuck in it and trying to just live your life. This is one of those.

When you’re working on something, throw all subtlety to the side and try heightening the emotion behind what you’re doing to operatic proportions. Nothing just happens in an opera, everything has a deep emotional meaning and is either the most wonderful thing in the world or the most tragic. This can make even a trip to the grocery store into a life or death struggle.

You know that person who cut in front of you in line? No longer is he just a rude person taking advantage of you, he is now a villain who is not just destroying your life. He’s insulting all of your ancestors and plotting your downfall. In fact, he has probably been sent by an evil god to torment you. What a tragedy! Will you stop them or silently suffer while they gloat?

Applying this kind of emotion to what you’re working on is not only going to let you more completely explore it, it can also stop you from holding onto to unhealthy emotions in your life. Pushing things to the absurd can both give them power and remove power.

Try this: Take a nothing story from your day, something with a beginning, middle and end, and retell it to someone using operatic emotions. Justify your behavior in the story based on the heightened emotions. Let the story either end triumphantly or tragically.

Use this ability until you can turn it on and off as easily as a light switch. Eventually, when you sit down to create any tiny situation in your life can become the fuel for high drama and transcendent art!

After all, who wants art that even the artist doesn’t really care about? No one except people who buy art for hotel rooms.

The process of creation involves an endless number of decisions and its easy to get hung up. A single moment of doubt can bring everything to a halt when you are presented with a series of seemingly equally good choices.

If you find yourself in this situation, why not just choose an authority figure you trust and make that person your audience? I don’t think you should actually show what you’re doing to that person, just do what you think they would enjoy most. You don’t even have to know the person to use this method. You can pick a critic or another artist and design for them.

Billy Wilder, a fantastic movie director, so trusted the instincts of filmmaker Ernst Lubitsch that whenever he needed something for whatever he was working on he would ask, “How would Lubitsch have done it?” He even hung a sign in his office with this question to remind himself of its importance.

Decide who your Lubitsch is and use them as your intended audience when you are stuck for a decision. When you choose someone who has standards and taste at least as high as your own, asking that question can only make you better.

Does the project you’re working on seem dull and lifeless? Have you lost interest in it! Change the energy!

Too often we get so bogged down in the original emotion and inspiration for an idea that we forget having some contrasting bits will improve the entire piece. If you’re writing something really depressing, try adding some humor. Even in Shakespeare’s most tragic work he has funny characters and scenes. If you’re working with a muted colors, try a touch of brightness. Not only will it draw attention to some important detail, but it also makes the rest of the piece look that much darker.

You can also change your own personal energy. If you have been working slowly, try working quickly. If you have been creating on the computer, try working with pencil and paper. If something makes you feel angry, try working from happiness.

Even the worst heavy metal album has power ballads between the head-banging thrashers. Not only does it attract more female fans, it also makes the rocking songs seem that much more brutal.

Change up your energy!