Hey everyone! So sorry that this post is a few days late. I went on vacation last weekend and totally forgot to have the post ready to post on time. I hope that you can still enjoy it. This is post 1 out of 3 stand-alone posts before I go on hiatus to prepare for the next series. This means you will get 2 posts in 1 week. So, without further ado…
Staying Creative
One of the biggest problems that a lot of writers have is continuing to be creative and come up with new ideas, scenes, characters, plot points, and others. Some writers refer to this as writer’s block, lack of motivation, or other names. When it comes down to it, I always refer to this personally as a burnt-out creative bulb.
Think of it this way; every writer has a creative lightbulb that runs in their head nonstop. Some people’s lightbulbs dim at night and others shine brighter. But just like a regular light bulb – eventually the filament in the bulb becomes weak and burns out. To begin writing again writers simply need to replace their creative lightbulb that has gone out with a new one. Therein lies the problem. Finding a new lightbulb – finding a new muse, or motivation – can be difficult for many writers and some aren’t even sure how to do it.
So in this week’s post I will share just a few ways that I have found to replace my personality creativity lightbulb and hopefully either one of these ideas can work for you or it can inspire you to try a new way to replace your own creativity lightbulb.
Watch movies
Sometimes when my lightbulb has fizzled out and I just need some good old-fashioned inspiration I watch movies. I, however, purposefully watch movies that are not in the genre I am writing. For example, if I am writing romance novels, I will watch a fantasy film. Or perhaps I am writing a fantasy so I will watch a mystery. I try to choose movies in those genres that sound like they might have interesting or unique plot lines. And then as I watch them, I pay attention to how I feel while I’m watching, or unique plot points that are interesting to me so that I can see if there is a unique way to incorporate that plot twist from a different genre into my own genre.
Sometimes I will watch movies that are in my genre to try and make note of a consistent trope or plot point in several movies that I don’t like, perhaps that is the problem, perhaps I just don’t like that specific plot point and I need to remove it from my own story. Sometimes when I have done this, I have found whole subplots in my own book that I didn’t realize that I disliked and that were the cause of my lightbulb of creativity burning out in the first place.
Do something new
This option is not for every writer. I know a lot of writers who are not up for new things, never, no matter what it is. But there are different levels of something new for different levels of comfort zone writers. One of my friends is particularly excited about doing new things so she’s tried things from scuba diving to sky diving and others. I’m more of a small new things type of person.
A few times when my lightbulb has burned out, I have gone and done something new that I’ve wanted to do but haven’t. Maybe I go and ride my bike around the new park I haven’t been to. Or maybe I decide to go to that new food place in town I’ve been wanting to try. I buy that new bag/clothing item/book/décor I’ve been wanting to get. I do something new to put myself in new places, in different situations, with different people I might not know. Often times at least one things in this new place can inspire me and help me replace my creativity lightbulb.
Just write
One piece of advice that I always hear from other writers about how to motivate yourself or replace your lightbulb when you can’t seem to get creative is to just write. THIS DOES NOT WORK FOR EVERY WRITER. It doesn’t always work for me. But on rare occasions where I REALLY feel like writing, but I just can’t seem to come up with any ideas I just start writing. I start with a description, or a weird piece of dialogue and I just keep going. And before I know it, I’ve got a new idea (sometimes not even related to whatever I was writing) and my lightbulb has been replaced without me even knowing it.
This method is best based on the writer. Some of my writing friends will use writing prompts to keep writing when they don’t feel like it and use those to replace their lightbulb. Some of my friends will try to rewrite a scene from a tv show that they like as if it was in a book and that can help them find their creative bulb again. Whatever it is, sometimes writing can help to find and/or replace your creativity lightbulb.
These are just three methods that I have found to work for me to help me when my lightbulb has gone out – sometimes quietly and sometimes explosively. There are lots of other ways to spark creativity and it’s different for every writer. There are different suggestions and advice about this topic all over the internet. If you have any methods that work particularly well for you, don’t be afraid to share them in the comments below.
That’s all for this week’s post. Sorry again for the late post. I will still be updating my post again on Saturday as usual with the next stand-alone post. Saturday July 15th will contain the announcement for the new series title/theme and hopefully will be an exciting reveal. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, become a blog page member, share, and follow me on social media at the link on the bottom of the page. And remember,
Get Up, Get Writing, and Get Published. See you next week!
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