Guest post by Rose Gilbert Anderson of RoseArticles.com
Some days it’s easy to feel that the well has run dry. You’ve written every word within you and you’ll never have another creative thought.
Rubbish. You’ve only just begun. Here are few ideas that will help you get the juices flowing again.
1. Go for a walk. Fresh air and exercise can lift your mood and give you a burst of energy. Don’t stare down at the sidewalk while you walk. Look around at the houses and the people you pass.
2. Make up stories about the people you see in restaurants or walking down the street. Where are they going? Why are they hurrying? Are they falling in love with a co-worker? Are they plotting to murder their obnoxious boss? Are they a compulsive gambler?
I do this when driving down the highway. I’ll see a dilapidated old building and I think “who used to live there?” “Why haven’t they torn that down?” “What would happen if a young couple bought it and tried to restore it?”
3. Read. Whether its newspapers, magazines or your Facebook feed, there are stories abounding in all media.
4. Reread some classics. You have not have picked one up since high school. But there are reasons why some books stand the test of time. Though writing styles may have changed, these books still have a lot to teach us about the art of using words to tell timeless stories. I have a cousin who is currently on a mission to read all the Pulitzer Prize winners for fiction. That’s a total of 89 books. Though I don’t currently have the time to follow him in that pursuit, it did inspire me to reread some of my favorites.
5. Spend some time in the library. Wander the aisles in sections you might not normally visit. Look at some travel guides for ideas about locations to write about or to use as story settings. See what kind of pets people read about most.
6. Take care of your health. Eat healthy foods, drink lots of water, and get plenty of sleep. If you’re constantly feeling sluggish it’s harder to be creative.
7. Go to a book store and walk the aisles. Look at what’s currently being published. Notice what magazines are still in print. These can narrow down topics for you to write about in your own work.
8. Write a fanciful tale that the childhood you would have loved. Create a world filled with dragons or wizards. Send a hero into space or to the Wild West. Don’t stress when you’re writing – just have fun.
9. Spend an hour doodling or coloring. Don’t laugh. I’ve always doodled and I’ve always loved coloring. But I use to have to find a child to color with to make it an acceptable activity. Those days are over now that adult coloring books are booming. You can relax your brain for a little while and then come back to your writing refreshed.
If you don’t enjoy coloring, play the guitar, crochet or paint a watercolor. Any type of artistic endeavor that is not connected to writing can help get you back into the groove.
10. Free write for thirty minutes. In her book, “Writing Down the Bones” Natalie Goldberg talks about this method of writing. You simply put pen to paper or keys to keyboard and write about anything or anyone for the allotted time. Don’t edit, don’t delete, don’t rewrite. This works to simply get your ideas and creativity flowing. Sometimes what you write is sheer garbage but it doesn’t matter, it still works. Other times you’ll surprise yourself by coming up with a sentence or a paragraph that is so good you want to save it for later.
Remember, that creativity breeds creativity. The more you feed your mind and spirit with creative thoughts and energy the more you’ll have to pull from when you need it for your work.