Until the last few years, I’d bounced into conversations about writing and, most likely to the utter annoyance of other writers, said with a big smile, “I’ve never had writer’s block!” It seemed to me like running out of ideas would be impossible. But sometimes life can get in the way, and when we’re under stress, those ideas are there, but we struggle to dig them out from under the mounds of other thoughts taking priority in our minds. So here’s my top ten list of ways to unearth your awesomeness.
Jenny Hale
Get dressed up and go out. If you look your best, you’ll feel better and you’ll be able to focus on writing instead of whether the person down the street thinks your ponytail needs a good wash. If you’re confident on the outside, it may help you to be confident on the inside. Confidence breeds ideas.
Go get a coffee. Not just a regular coffee. Get one of those that takes ten minutes to pronounce. If you don’t have one, take one of mine: “I’ll have a double shot skinny hazelnut latte with no whip, please.” The caffeine will wake you up and, in the right place, you might get one of those pretty little leaves or hearts drawn on the top of your beverage, making you feel special. To be creative, you have to be happy. (If coffee isn’t your beverage of choice, figure out what is and go get it!)
Sit in a public place. If you’re following my advice directly, that would mean carry your coffee (carefully so as not to disturb the leaf drawing in your foam) to a busy table and open your laptop. Firstly, it will make you feel important. People will have no idea what you’re doing—you could be trading world currency for all they know. If you feel important, you’ll want to look important, and you will most likely focus directly on the writing in front of you. Without being able to see the dirty dishes in your sink, you might find ideas start flowing.
People-watch. I once saw a woman enter a café with a giant handbag slung over her shoulder, and, peeking out of it, was a tiny Yorkie puppy. As a mother of two children and a life-long dog-owner myself, I wondered about that woman. Did she have kids? Maybe that puppy was like her child and she’d brought it to the café to keep her company. If she had kids, would she have brought her dog? Maybe not… She might want the complete solitude of just drinking her coffee.
In the same café on different day, another woman came in, this one with an extremely well-behaved Great Dane. It was the size of a small pony, its back towering over the tables as it trotted by. On this woman’s arm was a baby carrier with a new born child, and I thought, “Wow. She’s got a dog like that and a baby and she’s still getting her latte! My hero.”
Guess what I’m not thinking about: the house cleaning I need to do, or the project one of my kids has that requires more patience and materials than the building of the Ark. I’m getting ideas instead.
Read. During the second half of that latte, close down your computer and read something great. Find that book that you’ve been wanting to start, that everyone is raving over, and dig in. Sometimes, other authors give me ideas. I might say, “Hm, that old man in that book talked to his son harshly. I have an old man in my book… what if he didn’t speak to his son at all?” I got an idea!
Go sight-seeing. Grab another latte to go (or a water) and hit the road! I just toured two Virginia plantations. I’ve always wanted to see them and never have, but during my edits for my next Christmas book, I wanted to dig deeper into the lives of an old wealthy family, and I needed some inspiration. I drove past vineyards and horses grazing, parking my car and climbing out onto the grounds that were originally given to the first governor of the colonies by the King of England, and I went into the old laundry building (now a gift shop) and purchased a ticket for a tour. I got to hear all the family stories over the generations who’d lived there, and I left that day with a character arc and a new thread for my novel.
Call your friends. When you’re stuck, call your best friend. Tell her about your character’s situation by asking, “What would you do if…?” If your character is faced with staying in her small town or heading out to the big city, you could ask, “What would you do if you had a chance to move to New York? Would you?” When you get an answer, ask “Why? What would scare you? What would excited you?...” Then, decide if your character is like your best friend or would she have a different view?
Listen to music. Music just makes me happy anyway, and when we’re happy, we get ideas, but also, the lyrics can really come into play when writing. The reason songs get popular is because they have to sound great but the really good ones also are relatable. People have lived those lyrics. Have your characters? And at the very minimum, you can dance off that latte you had earlier.
Don’t write. Think. Step away from what you’ve written and let it settle in your mind. Maybe the next day when you get that latte, you only bring a pad of paper and a pen. Think through your story and jot down things as they come to you. It might take a few days away from it. I find I can only write about 1,000 words at a sitting, and I can only edit around 4,000. After that, my mind has to rest. But if I let it, I’ll have a ton of great ideas when I come back to it.
Read what you have. Sometimes, when all else fails, I go back to the beginning. I’ve read a lot of posts where I’ve been told just bang out the first draft; don’t spend too much time rereading. For me, rereading allows me a chance to meet my characters as a reader rather than a writer. Then, when I get to the end of what I’ve written, I know where they need to go.
In the end, whether you like lattes or cafés isn’t important. What’s important is finding a way to free your mind by doing what you love. Find time for yourself and the ideas will come.
