Five Ways To Increase Writing Creativity
Daily Activities to Keep Your Creative Words Flowing
Aug 30, 2008
When you write, sometimes writer's block takes over and sometimes there are just too many ideas in your head. Here are five ways to keep your creativity going.
When you hit a snag in your creative writing process, there are some activities you can do to flex your creative muscle, even on the hard days.
- Describe a mundane, every day scene or action. Try going to Starbucks or even taking a notebook and pencil to a park bench. Once you’re there, observe what’s going on around you, from kids playing on the playground to a person sipping a cup of coffee. Then start writing. Describe the scene or the action, keeping in mind that your job is to paint a picture for the reader. You can write one paragraph or ten as long as you realize that all of it won’t be gold – but you’ll definitely get the creativity going. You may even encounter something that fits well into your novel, short story, or memoir.
- Write the scene that pops into your head. Sometimes, especially if writers are working on a novel or short story, there are too many possible outcomes, story lines, and characters. Your head can quickly become filled with excess – and this keeps you from writing. Instead of concentrating on that big picture, write a scene that you think will happen somewhere in your storytelling. It could be one short scene, a piece of dialogue, or a combination of the two. But the point is to get it out on paper. Don’t question where it’s going to fit into your current work – just write it. If you end up not using what you’ve written, you’ve probably still created more insight into a character, a location, or a plot that will help you move forward.
- Use a writing prompt. A prompt is simply an instruction, sentence, or description that is intended to start the writing process. Just Google “writing prompt” and see what results you get! Writer’s Digest provides regular prompts and even contests to go along with them. Another good source is a book called The Pocket Muse: Endless Inspiration by Monica Wood. Inside, you’ll find all sorts of prompts to get your words flowing again. Another idea for a prompt is to flip through a book or magazine and use a photo. Consider describing what happened before or after the image captured in the photo – or write a background on the people, places, or things in the photo. Just as a picture is worth a thousand words, a thousand words just might be worth a picture!
- Try stream of consciousness. This is just like journaling or blogging: what’s on your mind today? Did you read something in the newspaper or see something on TV that got you going? Some writers just use this as a creative rant and move on, while others actually find a way to create essays or short stories from what they’ve written. Writing about the things that move you is not confined to "Letters to the Editor" anymore. You may even discover you have a talent for blogging!
- Keep a reporter’s notebook. Don’t use a regular notebook or notepad. The trick here is that the object can give you some inspiration. Moleskine makes some great reporter’s notebooks, the kind that flip open vertically and are held shut by an attached elastic band. In fact, Hemmingway carried this particular brand. Imagine him running around Paris with his gritty reporter’s notebook tucked in a pocket. You can keep your notebook with you at all times – and record whoever or whatever you happen to encounter. You can take a look at these inspirational writers’ tools at www.modoemodo.com.
The main idea is that you should always be on the lookout for ways to keep writing. Try one of these suggestions – or all of them. You may even want to alternate your creativity exercise from day to day. Once you start doing these things, you’ll not only write constantly but you’ll end up with a wide variety of new material.
The copyright of the article Five Ways To Increase Writing Creativity in Writing Fiction is owned by Chris Amisano. Permission to republish Five Ways To Increase Writing Creativity in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
