29 Ways to Stay Creative

I found this great image that gives a list of the 29 ways to stay creative. 29 ways?!? You've got to be kidding, right? So, I figured I'd go through them with you and see if we can come up with any more to add to the list.

1. Make lists. Okay. Sounds easy enough. I make lists all the time. I think this one we can make a bit more specific. Make a list of topics you want to write about.

2. Carry a notebook everywhere. Definitely something I'd advocate. Even if it's just your smart phone. If you get a burst of genius, get it down. There are plenty of applications for your phone to help you keep track of topics you want to write about. Evernote is a great one. iPhone comes with two: Lists & Notes. I use both. 

3. Try free writing. This is a perfect way to start writing. You don't have a topic so just start writing about whatever is on your mind or just type the same word over and over again until you finally break free and a topic comes to mind. Works nearly every time.

4. Get away from the computer. This one my dog loves. When I need to take a break from the computer I take my dog for a walk. Win - win situation for everyone.

5. Quit beating yourself up. Please, stop berating yourself if things don't go right or if you can't think of a topic. Please, no violence against writers. Give yourself a break. oops, I think that's another tip later on. But, I'm serious. If you still can't think of something to write about, don't worry. An idea will come. If you beat yourself up about it, nothing good can come of it.

6. Take breaks. See, there you go. Take breaks. Flip through a magazine. Go for a walk. Watch a TV show. Call a friend. Stroll through Facebook. Google strange stuff. Your brain needs a rest. Why do you think some of your greatest ideas come to you when you're in the shower or driving? Murphy's Law at it again? Not necessarily. Your brain is constantly working. When you give yourself a break, your brain can finally concentrate on what it needs to do. Find you a topic to write about.

7. Sing in the shower. Well, okay, I think that's a bit personal. I'd prefer not to, but to each their own. But, like I said before, sometimes the best ideas come when you're in the shower.

8. Drink coffee. Fire up those synapses. Give yourself a bit of a jolt. Just don't go overboard and get all jittery and end up walking circles in your living room mumbling to yourself. I don't think this idea wants you to get addicted to caffeine. 

9. Listen to new music. That's always a great one. And, really listen to the lyrics. You can get some great writing topic ideas.

10. Be open. I'm not exactly sure what this one means. I'm an open person, to a point, but I think it mean be open to new ideas. Be open to new options of finding topic ideas. Sometimes an idea comes from the strangest places or person.

11. Surround yourself with creative people. Join a writer's group. There's nothing like being in a room full of creative people. The room literally buzzes with creativity.

12. Get feedback. Everyone needs this. Even those of us who think we've got it all together. Another person's opinion helps to alter our perspective. You never know when someone else's opinion might send you on another path to another great idea.

13. Collaborate. This only works if you work well with others. Think back to kindergarten? Did you work well with others or did you spend a lot of time in the corner? eh?

14. Don't give up. Biggie. Never give up. I've been writing for twenty-five years. I still consider myself a child of the trade. I'm always learning. 

15. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice makes perfect, right? Well, not always, but the more you practice something, the better you get at it. That includes writing.

16. Allow yourself to make mistakes. We all do. Heck, just the other day, I created something for our next writer's conference and I went over it and over it. Proofread the heck out of it. Created an e-mail, sent it in, and wham. Looked back at the piece and saw a blazing error. Argh! I had to correct it and send it again. But, all is okay. Allow yourself to make mistakes.

17. Go somewhere new. A new environment can fill you with new ideas.

18. Count your blessings. Definitely. You are truly blessed. You're a writer, doing what you love, how blessed is that? Keep counting, I'm sure you can come up with more.

19. Get lots of rest. A must for anyone, especially writers. If your brain doesn't have time to shut down and restore itself, how is it ever going to continue working?

20. Take risks. Not literally. I don't mean walk in the middle of traffic or anything. But, consider a topic you haven't before and put your special twist on it.

21. Break the rules. Rules were made to be broken, right? Well, not all of them. Some of them can land you in jail. But, when it comes to writing, definitely break some rules. See what it does to your writing.

22. Don't force it. The ideas will come in their own time. A watched pot never boils. Oh, wait, it will eventually. Same with your ideas. They'll come. Eventually. Just give them time. In the mean time, go back to number 6.

23. Read a page of the dictionary. Now that's definitely an extreme way to find a topic idea. Try the Thesaurus as well. I remember back in the day, we had a set of Encyclopedias on our bookshelf. I loved reading them. What do we have now? Wikipedia. Try it.

24. Create a framework. Hmmm, well, let's see. Framework? Outline? I think that's what this means. Try an outline. Try a flowchart. Start with a word, then move on to the first thing you think of, then move on to what that makes you think of and so on until you've come up with an idea to write about.

25. Stop trying to be someone else's perfect. I'll do you one better. Just stop trying to be perfect. Period. See number 16.

26. Got an idea? Write it down. Don't trust your memory. Especially at my age. I write everything down. If I don't, I know I'll forget. Your brain can only hold so much information before it dumps a few things to hold more. Don't let one of your great ideas be that something that gets dumped.

27. Clean your workspace. A bit of procrastination, but it works. A messy desk is the sign of a genius, right? Einstein never had a clean desk. But, every once in a while, organizing your desk can help you organize your thoughts.

28. Have fun. That's what this is all about. Writing is fun. You get to have fun doing what you love. If it starts to feel like work, it's not fun anymore. Keep some fun in your life. I have a helium-filled balloon in my office. It always makes me smile when it drifts around into my vision.

29. Finish something. Yes, it ultimately comes down to this. You must come up with a topic, write about it and then finish your piece. Just as we've done here. We're at the end. 

Now that we've seen the 29 ways to stay creative, do you have something to add?

Writing Tip - What to do When You're Stuck for a Topic

I've been fishing for a topic on what to write this week and so far, all I've got is wet bait. So, what do I do?

Change fishing holes? Tried it.

Change the bait? Tried it.

Stop fishing? No, I don't think so. How will that accomplish anything?

I'm going to follow the same advice I would give anyone else. Write. Write anyway. Write something.

Which is exactly what I'm doing here. I'm hoping that while I'm writing, something good will come out of it and I'll actually have something important to tell you about what to do when you're stuck for a topic to write about.

I do have a book. Is it a book if it's a cube that is about four inches by four inches? It's bound, so I guess it's a book. It contains 786 ideas to jump-start your imagination. The title is The Writer's Block by Jason Rekulak.

Randomly flipping through it here are some ideas:

• To Outline or Not To Outline
• Sibling Rivalry
• Describe the Worst Date of Your Life
• Superstitious
• Conformity
• Clueless
• Write a Story That Begins with an Explosion

I have other books too, to stimulate the writing part of my brain. Books about creative writing exercises. The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood is a good one.

If I flip through The Pocket Muse I come up with the following ideas:

Who is the tallest person you know?
Fill in the blank: When I first told my family about ________________ they didn't believe me.
Top Five Jobs for Writers based on an informal and deeply flawed poll:

• Security Guard
• Parrot Trainer
• Bounty Hunger
• Greeter at Walmart
• Neurosurgeon

These either net you lots of material or lots of time.

Ten Commandments for a Happy Writing Life:

1. Don't wait for inspiration; establish a writing habit.
2. Take time off.
3. Read voraciously.
4. Shut out the inner critic.
5. Claim a space.
6. Claims some time.
7. Accept rejection.
8. Expect success.
9. Life fully.
10. Wish others well.

Write about the first time you truly understood that all life ends in death.

What is the subject you are avoiding? Write it down.

Write a piece --fiction or nonfiction, poetry or script-- in which three objects exist at the beginning and only one at the end.

So, what do you think? Is there something in there for a topic to write about? Sure there is. And what's more, I just found another book I have titled 1,000 Creative Writing Prompts by Bryan Cohen.

Do you want to know what's in there? Well, let's flip through it and see what we come up with:

• The top 5 costumes you've ever seen on Halloween. Whey there were so memorable to you and why you wish you'd thought of them first.
• Summer fling? Ever had one? If so, write about it; if not, make up your ideal summer relationship.
• If you could choose any place to be your home; to be a place that you felt comfortable in and could enjoy most of your days where would it be? Feel free to choose anywhere in the world, even if it's somewhere you haven't been.
• Who is the most successful person you know? What can you learn from this person that is applicable to your own life? Write about a meeting with this big achiever in which you learn all of his or her secrets.
• Your significant other becomes a millionaire and starts buying stuff for you all the time. How does that make you feel? can you use your lessons to become wealthy yourself?
• You are very intoxicated at a bar and you completely black out. You wake up the next day with an unknown partner in your bed. How do you deal with the situation and what do you tell your friends who were at the bar with you?
• Shakespeare comes over for dinner. What do you make him and what do you and your family/friends talk about with him?
• Talk about a time in which you lost your voice and had to communicate without language. What did you do and how did it change the way people interacted with you?
• While dreaming you think of the most amazing novel you have ever conceived of. As you wake up, you scramble to a notebook and begin writing. What happens next?
• You have found yourself in the cartoon world of a popular movie or television show. How do you interact with the other characters and how does the style of animation affect you?
• What would you consider to be success in American society? What would be failure? What would have to happen for you to be willing to compromise your vision of success?
• Write about a time you had a run in with the law. It may have been something as simple as being pulled over or something ... a bit more serious. Talk about your experience from beginning to end and detail your emotions throughout.

Well, what do you know. I did it. I helped figure out what to do when stuck for a topic to write about. The best thing for me to do is browse my bookshelf and flip through all my writing prompt books. There is always something to write about.

Another tip is to change how you write. Write in a different location. Write with a different writing instrument. If you write on the computer. Try longhand and vise versa. Shake things up a bit and see what happens.

By the way, the above advice comes from Eating an Elephant by Patricia Charpentier. Pretty good advice, I'd say.

Now, I ask you this question: How do you figure out a topic when you can't think of something to write about?

Friday Five Minute Exercise - Release

1. Set your clocks/timers for Five (5) Minutes.

2. Write about Release. Pick a topic that has built up steam in your heart and mind. Write long and hard on this topic. When you are finished, be still and feel the release of pressure throughout your entire body.

Get into as much detail as you can for the next five minutes.

3. Ready?

4. Go.

5. Finished? Review and be amazed.

I hope you had fun. Come back next Friday for a new writing prompt.

Was this exercise helpful?

Did you succeed with this writing exercise? Was it helpful? Were you able to pick a topic to write about. Were you able to write long and hard? Did you find the physical release afterwards? Was this exercise helpful? Did you enjoy it?

Why or Why Not?

What Writing Topics do You Want for 2014?

It's now 2014. How many of you are still holding strong to those New Year's resolutions?

Yeah, me too.

I'm going to turn this post around a bit and ask you a question: What do you want to learn this year?

What writing topics would you like me to write about this year?

Because, really, that's what this blog is all about.

You.

What you can learn. What I can teach you. So, let's hear from you. I want to know. I want to be able to give you what you want.

Tell me one thing. Tell me a dozen things. Make a whole list. I don't mind.

I really want to know. What can I do for you?

Like the image, I really love writing. And even more, I love writing about topics you really want to know more about.

So, bring it on.

I'm listening.