Underwood; or, 7 Ideas to Stoke Creativity During a Dry Spell

As I’ve mentioned before, I suffered a very long time with writer’s block; this didn’t mean that there was a lack of creative flow or failure to find inspiration for me. I talk about it in my first blog post briefly, but I used to funnel my drive for storytelling through running Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. This allowed me the chance to write more short scenes (which felt easier than a story as a whole) and encounter details while still having the main animal of the story locked away in my head. Honestly, there were times I was trying to drag the monster out of the cage by pulling its arms through the bars. Other times, the beast would taunt me from the recesses of the kennel, shadowed and impossible to see. The writer’s block would sometimes complicate the creative process and my biggest fear in those days was disappointing my players. D&D players can be scathing when a story, a scene or scenario isn’t up to snuff, especially if the Dungeon Master (DM for short) has been building up the plot for multiple sessions and leaving cliffhangers left and right.

I bring this up because the pressure to deliver can be a huge roadblock to writing and the personal creative process that each writer goes through to deliver quality content. I’ve only had this blog going for a little over a month to give me some additional (read: practical) writing experience in-between the writing sprints I blow through whilst trying to finish my first full-length novel. While it has been a good experience brainstorming ideas for blog posts, researching how other writing bloggers post and watching videos on how best to run my blog, I have already found the pressure to write something new, different, special! to be pretty intense. I found that I’ve needed to pull into my bag of tricks to find inspiration for writing blog posts, chapters for my novel and even expanding ideas for the ever growing “on deck” list of stories to write.

I decided today to pull together a list of ideas to share to help get some of the creative juices flowing, whether you need something new for a deadline or you are just feeling incredibly stuck where you are in your writing.

#1. Change Your Environment: This could be as simple as cleaning your work space, changing where your work space is, or physically leaving the space and finding a new place to think. Much like a house with closed windows, our creative minds need a chance to breathe fresh air and admire some organized space. I know this can actually be the HARDEST step for some people, as they are putting up literal physical boundaries that are reflective of the mess they feel they host in their mind. Some of the most creative people suffer from ADD/ADHD and have a difficult time focusing on some things like picking up their offices/bedrooms and will do anything BUT cleaning. Let’s be honest here, though; everyone feels better working in a clean space.

Another one of my personal tricks that is related to this concept is rearranging furniture in my working space. Even if your office/writing space is shared or cramped, you can find little things to move around and change to increase the efficiency of the space, access to natural light, or general cleanliness of the area. Allowing the air to move differently around you can mimic the feeling of newness, even when everything remains in the space it started in.

#2. Use Music Apps to Create “Soundtracks”: I feel like this is an obvious one, since I’m the kind of person that has to be listening to music in order to get any writing done (bonus points for noticing that all my blog titles except my first begin with song titles). My trick with music is that I listen to other genres I wouldn’t normally play for immediate enjoyment and every time I come upon a song that makes me stop and ask “what song/artist is this?”, I put it in a playlist. I will also listen to pre-made lists I find in Spotify, since that is my music app of choice. I’ll listen to the lists on the front page, choose songs and dump them into a personal list that has been assembled with some other songs I’ve found from YouTube, 8Tracks or recommendations from friends. I usually build playlists for writing with one or two things in mind: “What is the mood I’m trying to evoke?” -or- “Can I ‘hear’ this playing in the background of the scene I’m writing?” I prefer to gather tunes this way because then I can explore the auditory space of a story and find gaps in the mood by looking at the playlist to help figure out “what’s missing”.

#3. Take Pictures that “Feel” Like Something: I used to use this technique a lot back in my college days when I had significantly more free time (and less children) and a digital camera. Nowadays, everyone has a decent quality camera in their pocket if they have a smartphone so this is a bit more accessible than perhaps in the past. For anyone who cannot take their own photos, I obviously recommend going for a journey down the Google Images rabbit hole or use your favorite stock image site. (I use Unsplash for my blog posts.) I live near Detroit, Michigan and one of my favorite things to do is head east into the city and just meander around downtown and take photos of city architecture, cool fashions (with permission, of course), artwork, waterfront areas, parks, ice skaters in the wintertime…so much good material to look at for inspiration. DON’T GET ME STARTED ON THE AMAZING GRAFFITI THIS CITY HAS! I’m also a fan of taking pictures of almost any old thing, rusted rebar, piles of rubbish, wood piles, stick forts in the woods, anything that I can look back later on and use for a background, a scene, a mood, an opener.

#4. Take A Notebook to a (Socially Distanced) Public Space: I like to people watch, so this is another no-brainer for me. While most of us take trips to parks, malls and restaurants for our own personal reasons and needs, these are great places to get snippets of dialogue, watch people casually and intimately interact and to watch minute dramas unfold. Watching the expectant look of a teenager who is (unfashionably) early to a hang-out, a tired father running his kids out of energy at the playscape, girls giggling over prom dresses…Personally, I like the juxtaposition of teenagers on cellphones and scooters while crossing through a wooded, empty park, swings bobbing in the wind with ghost children to keep them moving. Jotting down observations can just get the pen moving, which may be all the push you need to write that chapter. Maybe it can inspire your next novella…You’ll never know unless you go.

With the COVID pandemic, it’s really hard to get out in these kinds of public spaces safely, at least in the U.S., currently; at this point, I really only recommend this if you are able to properly socially distance, wear a mask and do not have underlying conditions or care for someone who does. I actually bought a hammock for the two large maple trees in my backyard and the brief moments I have alone to swing in my hammock and listen to music have been a salve on my inability to get out due to my own underlying conditions; so, if getting out is not an option…

#5. Window Watching: This might seem like an odd thing to do; I promise, I’m not recommending going full stalker on your neighbors. Take a look at the houses across the street from you, or the parking lot of your apartment building/flat. Look at the bike racks, look at the trees, bushes. Admire the color of the sky, the oppressive nature of the rain clouds, laugh at the whimsical birds chasing each other in the spring and the aggression in the squirrels hunting for fall meals before hibernation. Ponder the fashions walking the streets, listen to the sounds of the city. There is an entire world living out there, stories unfolding in front of our eyes if we dare to witness. What stories are hiding behind the doors, under the tablecloths, and over our ceilings today?

One point I’d like to make at this juncture, if I may, is that these techniques are not limited to inspiring fiction; non-fiction writers can benefit from letting their internal processes and research rest while cleansing clutter, reorganizing space, going for a walk, or taking photographs of things that are topical for pieces they may be working on. Sometimes, just changing the work space we are in (from researching in the Library to taking the materials to a friend’s or parent’s house _{within reason of course, don’t expose people to COVID if you can AVOID it}) can help in getting that next paragraph written or the perspective just right on that dissertation.

#6. Complete 1 Long Outstanding Task, First: Not sure about you, but I always get a good boost in productivity when I’ve completed a task I’ve been putting off forEVER. Today, for example, I spent two hours in the front yard trimming all the trees encroaching upon the street and the driveway. This was about three years over due and I’m still surprised that the neighbors didn’t call and complain about squatters living here because, between pregnancy and a new baby, I wasn’t doing anything with the yard. Now that my yard is in better shape, I feel better. It clears an entry in my mental task list, which means I have more room for more writing.

I find this works for the little hobbies I have in my life as well; completing a knitted hat, or a difficult puzzle, a diamond painting, or a cross stitch picture always hypes me up for the next project. I’ve found inspiration while knitting many times, throwing my needles into the basket and diving for my Chromebook to write something down as fast as I can type it out, cackling like a super villain. Catharsis is worth getting up for and doing something on your list and you deserve relief from task-oriented baggage to make space for your creativity. You owe it to your talent.

#7. REST and Take Care of Yourself: You also owe it to yourself to take breaks and give your hands, eyes, voice and mind a rest. Deadlines are very important, absolutely; but, you and your talent deserves you at your best, whatever that is. Sometimes, your best is 20% and a 5 hour nap; sounds good to me! One thing to keep in mind: if you find yourself sleeping all the time and feeling low energy constantly, it might be a good idea to take yourself to the doctor and get checked out. Your health is paramount to survival and I hope that you take care of yourself. Sometimes, all we need is some sleep and sunshine; sometimes, we need Vitamin D supplements and therapy; sometimes, we need store-bought neurotransmitters. No judgement, as all of these things may be necessary at any given time for any person and no one should be made to feel any kind of way about doing something to make oneself feel better, so long as that action is not self-destructive. Drink another glass of water. Give yourself a hug. Cuddle with a plushie. Indulge yourself with a comfy blanket and a nap on the couch.

Sometimes, I wonder if it would be a good thing for writing to be easier. I think, in the end, anything worth doing will be something you can learn from; inherently, this may make a thing hard. I love storytelling as much as I love breathing and, so long as the medium is the written word, I don’t care how hard it is if I can get the stories out. That doesn’t mean, of course, I have to make it harder on myself. These tricks have helped me pull brilliant D&D sessions from nowhere at the eleventh hour, draft excellent term papers and create elaborate and colorful worlds for characters to blossom in; perhaps, they will help inspire you as well.

-V. Raylean