Clever Writing Exercises to Get Your Creative Juices Flowing
Writing is never an easy feat. One day you are inspired, and the next, you are unable to proceed with writing. It doesn’t matter if you’re just starting or writing for years; creativity does not always come easy. Being a writer means being open to the possibility of getting stuck in ideas for quite a long time. There’s no shame when experiencing this, but learning to break free from this writer’s block is an essential writer’s skill. Even the most artistic people have their days where the creative process will screech to a halt. Lack of inspiration, flat motivation, and dips in confidence are only some of the contributing factors to creative drought. Maintaining a positive mindset to overcome this conflict is necessary to allow the flow of creativity.
Greg Van Arsdale, The Chuck and Lisa Series creator, is an astounding self-published author with plenty of books under his name. To write countless books just like Greg, you need to get your creative juices flowing. Creativity is all about making new connections and skills. Thus, below are writing exercises to generate new, exciting creative ideas coming uninterruptedly.
Practice Flash Fiction Writing
Writers need to practice, and that means practice getting creative with their words. Writing flash fiction is a great practice you can undertake. The most celebrated writers favor the flash fiction genre, among others, because it can trigger emotions and convey profound truths with only a few short paragraphs. Practicing flash fiction writing to get creative juices flowing is necessary. Writing problems, such as redundant passages, can be practiced and honed through writing flash fiction. To define flash fiction, it is a genre with a very short story. There is no set word count with flash fiction that even if a story is a few words, it can be defined as flash fiction. Practicing flash fiction is not only for breaking free from creative drought but also for building psychological momentum, writing growth, and fine-tuning your writing.
Experiment With Various Genre
Strictly focusing on one particular genre can be bruising. You’ll get lost in the genre, and your story will lose relevance towards the end. Even the most productive writers can become weary of the genre they’re writing. For that reason, blur genre boundaries to get creative juices out and about. Explore the idea of “genre” in writing. Writing outside your typical writing style can be extremely challenging, but this offers you a new perspective, which can be very refreshing as well. When you go back to your writing after playing with genres, you’ll be able to look at your work with fresh eyes and new ideas with a creative kick.
Utilize Prompts
Prompts are an excellent resource for writers, novelists, and authors. Sometimes it isn’t easy to come up with ideas for a story you want to write. Hence, writing prompts is perfect for getting your creative juices flowing. With prompts, you can quickly and immediately generate with fresh story ideas. Writing prompts greatly benefits any author’s ability to form creative results. Prompts vary; they can be verbal, written, or visual. Most of the time, visual prompts are used as a single image that can elicit a range of concepts. Prompts are thought-provoking and thrilling that can send your imagination to run off.
Play With Your Senses
Sensory writing exercises offer an opportunity to give your novel a creative twist. You may have heard of the “write with all five senses” advice from the most celebrated authors. This is actually a brilliant piece of advice that you need to take. Using all of your five senses will help make your fictional world come to life. Each sense is powerful in its own way. And when combined, they offer you a full and immersive writing experience. Thinking about ways to connect with your senses allows you to unlock a new train of creative ideas, thoughts, and possibilities. Furthermore, practicing on using sensory descriptors can take your creativity to the next level.
Describe Without Describing
The characters in your stories embody your writing. They are your words turned to flesh. They speak the message you want to convey and carry much of the burden of the plot, theme, mood, and emotions. However, they do not exist until you describe them on the page. When describing your characters, most writers rely on physical descriptors to build the character, which is tedious. Authors must be the type of show, don’t tell kind of writers. To strengthen that aspect, take the time to describe your characters without actually describing them as a person. Through this practice, you are honing a skill and allowing your creativity to flow and take over your writing.