r/Creativity

NGL I got 47 unfinished sketches on my tablet and 12 demos in my DAW just rotting away like digital corpses. And yeah, I know I'm not alone - half this sub probably has a graveyard of half-baked ideas too. But man, it's eating me alive.

Here's the thing: the moment an idea hits - that spark of artistic expression or inventive thinking—I'm completely obsessed. My brain goes into hyperdrive. That's when I actually remember why is creativity important in the first place. It's the only time I feel alive, you know? It's the only time the depression fog lifts and I think "oh shit, I could actually make something." But then...

Then the work starts. And the moment it gets hard - the moment I need to render, mix, color-correct, polish—I'm gone. Vanished. Suddenly every other project looks better. Suddenly THIS project feels like complete garbage, like I'm just wasting time. So I pivot. New idea. New excitement. New heartbreak two weeks later.

I've tried calling it different things - artistry, inventiveness, ingenuity. I've looked up all the synonyms for creativity: originality, resourcefulness, imagination. Funny how all those fancy creativity words just mean the same thing when you're sitting there with a half-finished piece wondering why you can't just... finish. Why can't I just push through like actual artists do?

The irony is that creativity and innovation are supposed to be my escape, right? They're supposed to be where I go when the real world is too much. But instead they've become another thing I'm failing at. Another area where I'm not good enough. I swear perfectionism is a disease, and I'm terminal.

So what I'm really asking: how do you guys actually cross the finish line? How do you push past that "this sucks" moment and actually ship something? Or are we all just doomed to have these graveyards of unfinished dreams?

Because honestly, I'm not sure how much longer I can keep doing this cycle. My creativity feels more like a curse at this point.

I’m a documentary filmmaker and I’m fascinated by the shift we’re living through. I’m keenly aware that AI is an extremely divisive subject, which only increases my interest in examining it.

To be clear when I say 'creative work', I mean art that examines AI or includes it on some basic level, not AI-generated art.

There is obviously no definitive answer, but I’m wondering whether, as creatives, the subject makes us more curious, puts us off, or is simply uninteresting.

AI’s impact on creative processes and work is difficult, and I have imagined that it might be too too repellent for an artistic audience to engage with? Or is it the opposite, and now is the time to urgently engage with these ideas?

NGL, I'm tired of lying to myself about photography.

I grew up inhaling Creativity Inc. like it was gospel. Pixar. Magic. Teams of geniuses bouncing ideas around in California offices, making art that matters. The definition of creativity I got from movies and Instagram was: you pursue your passion, the universe rewards you, and suddenly you're published with a 200K following. That's what "creativity meaning" was supposed to be, right?

But nobody told me what it actually looks like as a hobby photographer in 2026.

Here's my reality: I work a full-time job I don't love. I come home exhausted. I scroll through my camera gear that cost me $2K (money I didn't really have) and think about all the shoots I haven't done. I take maybe 5-6 photos a week because that's what's left after work, bills, and just... existing. I post them on IG and get 12 likes from my mom's friends.

And the guilt? Chef's kiss. The absolute crushing guilt that I'm not creative enough. That I should be grinding 24/7. That all those quotes about creativity I pinned—"creativity is just connecting dots", "showing up is everything" - are somehow a personal indictment that I'm failing.

The definition of creativity I thought I'd find? It lied to me. Turns out creativity isn't what Creativity Inc. sold us. It's not a linear path. It's not momentum. It's small. It's lonely. It's me taking one good shot on a Wednesday night and feeling like I've accomplished something real, even if nobody sees it.

And you know what? I think that actually is creativity. Not Pixar. Just me. Just this. Here's the practice part (because apparently I need to earn my stripes):

• Stop chasing the 200K dream. Take one photo this week just for you.
• Delete Instagram for a week. Sounds insane. Worth it.
• Your timeline isn't anyone else's. Your pace is valid.

This hits different when you stop waiting for permission to call yourself creative.

TL;DR: Pixar lied to us. Real creativity is small, unglamorous, and it's enough. Stop waiting for the fantasy to make what you have feel legitimate.

Hi everyone, at this moment, I need to be creative to replace my time of domscrolling.
But I don’t know HOW.

Do you know any websites or mobile application through which I can stimulate my creativity ?

I want to find something easily accessible for beginners.

Thanks you to help me !!

(I hope my English is good, I’m French :))

NGL, I’m genuinely freaking out over here.

Yesterday, I tried to do a fun free-play afternoon with my 6yo son. I dumped a giant box of cardboard, tape, and markers on the floor, ready for him to build a spaceship or a fort. Instead of getting excited, he had a full meltdown. He kept asking, "What am I supposed to build? What are the rules?"

It broke my heart. We've packed his week with soccer, coding classes, and structured activities so tightly that the poor kid literally forgot how to just imagine stuff on his own.

IMO, we're totally failing this generation by robbing them of boredom. So how to foster creativity in a child when society pressures us to structure every single second? How to encourage kids creativity when they've been trained to just follow instructions?

Finding ways on how to foster creativity in children shouldn't feel like another stressful chore, but here we are.

Has any other parent dealt with this? How do you un-teach this mindset?

I've been thinking about this weird contradiction lately. We're constantly told to "follow your passion" and find a career that lets you be creative. Sounds great, right? But what happens when the thing you genuinely enjoy becomes the thing you have to do 40 hours a week? That's where I'm starting to wonder if a creative career is actually the best career for creativity. Because there's a huge difference between making something because you want to and making something because a client, boss, deadline, algorithm, or paycheck is waiting for it.

When creativity becomes a job, you don't always get to create what interests you. You create what sells. What gets approved. What performs. What the client asked for three revisions ago.

And honestly, that kinda scares me.

We talk a lot about how to foster creativity, how to improve your creativity, and why is creativity important, but we don't talk enough about what happens when creativity gets turned into a productivity metric. Even businesses figured out that creativity matters. We ask why creativity is important in business and how to foster creativity at work, but then give people 30 minutes between meetings to "think outside the box" lol.

So yeah, I get why people want creative jobs and creative careers. Being paid to do something you're naturally good at sounds like the ultimate win.

But maybe the better question isn't "what is the best career for creativity?"

Maybe it's: what kind of life gives creativity enough room to actually survive?

Because some of the reasons why creativity is important have nothing to do with making money from it. Creativity can be how you solve problems, understand yourself, connect ideas, or just make something that didn't exist yesterday.

That's also why I don't think why is creativity important has a single answer. And why is it important to have creativity isn't necessarily about becoming an artist. Maybe creativity needs some distance from work to stay alive.

Or maybe the opposite is true - maybe the only way to really grow creatively is to make it your career and deal with all the ugly parts that come with it.

I'm honestly torn.

Would you rather have a stable job that leaves your creativity untouched, or build a career around it and risk turning something you love into "just another job"?

Lately I've been wondering if having AI generate endless ideas is actually messing with our creativity. Not in the obvious “AI is killing art” way. AI is insanely useful. It can help you brainstorm, get unstuck, or throw 20 random directions at you when your brain is completely blank. As a tool, I think that's pretty awesome.

But here's the part that bugs me.

If we constantly ask AI what to write, draw, build, or create, when do we actually practice coming up with ideas ourselves? There’s something about sitting with a stupid idea, messing with it, killing half of it, and somehow turning the other half into something decent. That process feels like part of the point.

And I'm starting to wonder if skipping that process too often makes our creativity skills weaker. Maybe that's also why some AI-generated stuff feels technically impressive but weirdly empty. It has an idea, but not necessarily your idea.

So what is creativity if we're outsourcing the first step?

I'm not anti-AI at all. I just think it works best as a co-pilot, not the person driving. Curious what you guys think - has using AI made your own ideas better, or has it made you rely on it more?

I attended a top-tier art school. I realized I couldn't fully tap into my creativity during the program because I wasn't in a very comfortable financial position compared to my peers.

It’s not that I lacked anything, of course, but I lived in a constant state of high alert; I was always worried about the future, the job market, and life after graduation—things that would demand networking, soft skills, projects, and so on, none of which relied solely on my individual effort. Most of my classmates didn't share those concerns. They took a more lighthearted approach to college and had more fun than I did.

I know there are cases like Van Gogh and other artists who lived in poverty yet still created masterpieces of unparalleled creativity and genius—but what about the average person? Are there any serious studies on this?

I used to be so creative at 14 and I feel like now at 18 I've lose a lot of it. Any advice?

ngl, the whole ai and creativity debate has been bothering me way more than I expected.

I'm 25, I write and do design, and lately I've been wondering what the hell we're even supposed to do with creativity if AI can generate a paragraph, a logo, an image, a whole concept in like 10 seconds. And yeah, I get it. ai creativity can be useful. I’m not gonna pretend it’s completely evil lol. If I’m stuck on something, using AI as a tiny assistant to brainstorm or catch mistakes? Fine.

But when people start saying “just let AI do the creative work”... nah. That’s literally the part I actually enjoy.

Writing something shitty, deleting half of it, staring at the screen, getting frustrated, randomly finding one sentence that works. Same with design. Trying 15 versions before something finally clicks.

Those are the actual creativity skills I care about.

Maybe I'm just being stubborn, but I don't want creativity to become another thing where the human is basically just approving machine output. I've seen enough creativity quotes about “trusting your creative process” to know the process IS the point.

AI can assist me. It shouldn't replace the reason I create in the first place.

I swear I used to have ideas. Like, actual original thoughts. Now I scroll for 20 mins and suddenly my brain is just 47 TikToks, 3 Reddit takes, and a guy explaining productivity like he personally invented oxygen.

This is starting to mess with my creativity ngl.

I’ll sit down to make something and my first thought is basically, “has this been done already?” Then I open Instagram for “inspiration” and somehow end up comparing my unfinished idea to someone’s perfectly edited 8-year career.

Cool. Very healthy.

And every time I search “how to improve your creativity,” I get the same creativity quotes about thinking differently, while I’m literally consuming 900 other people’s thoughts per hour.

So now I’m wondering: why is creativity important if we’re constantly filling our brains with everyone else’s ideas?

Maybe what is creativity isn’t about having more ideas. Maybe it’s about finally shutting up long enough to hear your own.

why do I always feel so stressed and spun out when I consume content? I always think it's good for me. Something I've noticed about myself. I feel bad almost every time I consume more than I create in a day. Not guilty in a dramatic way. More like a low hum of "you didn't actually do anything today, you just took stuff in." Watched things, scrolled things, read things other people made. And by the end of it I feel worse than when I started, even though none of it was bad content, I just didn't make anything. The days I feel fine are the days where creating came first, even a little. Doesn't matter how much I consumed after that. It's specifically consuming before creating, or instead of creating, that gets me.

I don't really have a conclusion. Just something I keep noticing.

I’ve been making music and writing stories since I was a kid, but lately, I feel completely drained. For months, every time I sit down to work on my fantasy novel, my mind goes blank. It’s like my creativity skills just packed up and left overnight. I used to write purely from the heart, but now I’m stuck in this soul-crushing loop of self-doubt, terrified that I’ve lost my spark forever.

To make matters worse, everywhere I look online, people are debating ai and creativity. Seeing algorithm-generated art pop up in seconds while I spend four hours staring at a blinking cursor makes me spiral even harder. Is ai creativity going to replace that painful, beautiful human process of raw self-expression? Or are we just overthinking it?

I’m struggling to figure out what is creativity meant to feel like when it stops being an effortless joy and turns into a daily battle against burnout.

How do you guys push through when your internal creativity tap suddenly turns off? I’d love to hear how you deal with this.

Okay so I've been sitting at this same desk for 7 years doing the same soul-crushing spreadsheets. I just... can't anymore. I used to paint. Used to write short stories at 2am because I had to. Now I can't finish a doodle without feeling guilty. Ngl, it's getting bad.

Somewhere along the way I bought into the "be practical" trap and honestly? I grieve that version of me every day. Creativity isn't just a personality trait. Why is creativity important hits different when you realize its absence is literally making you depressed.

I keep asking myself what is the best career for creativity without completely tanking my finances - zero answers so far. Been trying to figure out how to foster creativity again at 32 while paying rent and not losing my mind entirely.

Those of you who made the jump after 30 - how did you do it?

Ive always been into music, but i cant do any instruments cant fathom to understand any sort of music making software, im really into coding, but i cant code, and i just feel like i cant do anything ever, i wish someone could help me

An animated short I made, currently only in Italian. I'm looking forward to dubbing it into English as well as making more animated shorts!