Have you ever felt like your writing was in a slump? Of course you have, if you’ve been writing for any length of time. I know I have more times than I can count.
What’s the cure?
I’m not sure there’s any perfect cure, but there is something that helps.
Stop writing.
“What?” you may be asking. “How can I write more by writing less?”
Often our writing gets in a slump because there is no new information coming into our brains. And sometimes you just need a break. Sometimes you need a change of scenery. Writing is a sedentary and lonely job. Get away from the house/office. If you work at home, seeing the same four walls all the time can kind of put a damper on your creativity and imagination. When you never see anything new, you won’t get new ideas.
Take a day trip somewhere: to a park or a lake, go shopping (but not in your town). People watch while you are out to get ideas for new characters.
You can take pen and paper with you, but don’t plan on doing a lot of writing. Plan on only taking notes. Take your camera if you wish to take pictures of new things and new places that could later provide scenery for your story.
Plan a vacation or even a long weekend to someplace new and different.
Listen to conversations people around you are having. Allow strangers to talk to you. For some reason, people feel the need to talk to me at the grocery store – and these are some strange people!
This is a conversation my friend overheard while she was at grocery store:
“Conversation between two late teen/20ish age girls.
‘So, like, Christmas in July? Like, I don't have any money in, like, December. Like, where do we get a tree in July?!’
It continued...
‘Yeah, like, it's all sooo, like, confusing! A baby born in a stable. Like, not me! Why didn't they have, like, reservations?’
For just a moment, I thought we were on some hidden camera revival!
Can't make this stuff up, folks.”
There has to be a story or a character in that somewhere!
These things – new places, new people, new experiences – can give you new ideas. Every writer gets stagnant from time to time. Give yourself a little freedom to NOT write and suddenly you will have ideas to fill several notebooks.
What’s the cure?
I’m not sure there’s any perfect cure, but there is something that helps.
Stop writing.
“What?” you may be asking. “How can I write more by writing less?”
Often our writing gets in a slump because there is no new information coming into our brains. And sometimes you just need a break. Sometimes you need a change of scenery. Writing is a sedentary and lonely job. Get away from the house/office. If you work at home, seeing the same four walls all the time can kind of put a damper on your creativity and imagination. When you never see anything new, you won’t get new ideas.
Take a day trip somewhere: to a park or a lake, go shopping (but not in your town). People watch while you are out to get ideas for new characters.
You can take pen and paper with you, but don’t plan on doing a lot of writing. Plan on only taking notes. Take your camera if you wish to take pictures of new things and new places that could later provide scenery for your story.
Plan a vacation or even a long weekend to someplace new and different.
Listen to conversations people around you are having. Allow strangers to talk to you. For some reason, people feel the need to talk to me at the grocery store – and these are some strange people!
This is a conversation my friend overheard while she was at grocery store:
“Conversation between two late teen/20ish age girls.
‘So, like, Christmas in July? Like, I don't have any money in, like, December. Like, where do we get a tree in July?!’
It continued...
‘Yeah, like, it's all sooo, like, confusing! A baby born in a stable. Like, not me! Why didn't they have, like, reservations?’
For just a moment, I thought we were on some hidden camera revival!
Can't make this stuff up, folks.”
There has to be a story or a character in that somewhere!
These things – new places, new people, new experiences – can give you new ideas. Every writer gets stagnant from time to time. Give yourself a little freedom to NOT write and suddenly you will have ideas to fill several notebooks.
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