Sometimes it feels as if everything has already been done. There is no room for still another portrait or another novel. It is time, then, to consider the art of inventing new forms. Michael Shapiro, in his inspiring book, “The Creative Spark,” relates that Ian Anderson (of Jethro Tull fame) was similarly stumped. He contemplated how to move his career forward. The music scene already had a number of accomplished guitarists stealing any thunder that might come his way. Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page had cornered the market on guitar virtuosity.

Rather than compete head-on with these accomplished musicians, Anderson charted his own course. He picked up the flute. He made it the signature instrument of the band. That decision created a new space for Jethro Tull to emerge as one of the most successful and popular folk-rock bands of all-time.

But sometimes you don’t even have to go as far as picking up a new instrument. You can just use the skills you have already honed within a given artistic medium. Combine two distinct elements that have never been considered in relation before.

In a recent workshop, the author Pico Iyer discussed the genesis of one of his most popular and enduring pieces of writing. He had been asked to write an article about his travels. But he felt like everything that fell within the traditional travelogue had already been written. Then he seized upon a memory that he had while traveling through China. He had come across a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise in Shanghai. It dawned on him that the intersection of Communist China and American fast food was not something that he had seen in print before. He wrote the article around this combination of seemingly disparate elements. He mentioned in this workshop that he still follows this line of thought whenever he feels stuck. Instead of rehashing what has already been written, he looks toward how two different notions can suggest new possibilities.

In an earlier posting, I discussed a proven way to stir the imagination. Just conjure up two different images in your mind. Let’s say you come up with an orange and a hammer. Now, you may not write about or paint an orange or a hammer. But those images can inform your work. They can inspire your unconscious to make connections that have not yet existed. You are on your way to inventing new forms.