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11/30/2016
How to Stay Creative When Writing - Whether Moonlight or Sunshine, Find Your Right TimeWhat time of day did the girl in the introduction start her writing? In the morning. Was there anyone else around when she started writing? Just her! Discovering the time of day when you are most ready and willing to write and set a time to do it with the minimum distractions can help you refrain from not staying focused (Carpenter).
Keep track of when it’s the best time of day for you to write and when you are most creative. Is it morning, when your mind is open and refreshed? So many writers write in the morning so they can get their ideas out while their mind is clear and before getting into the hustle and bustle of busy life. Possibly your time to write is in the afternoon, when you have finished the most important things on your to-do list, whether at work or at home, and you have some time to reroute your thinking to what matters to you? Afternoon may primarily work best with those who work from home at another employer or one who doesn't work at all. I would not recoommend working on your novel at the office, peeking over your shoulder every five minutes to make sure the boss isn't coming down the hall. Or perhaps your best writing happens in the evening, when everyone is doing their own thing and your mind can finally focus on what you want instead of filtering through your career tasks, homework, kids’ activities, etc. Getting all of the most important stuff done in the day and sitting to write certainly may feel more productive, because you've tackled, or at least dabbled, in all the necessities on your to-do list. Finally, there are many people who get their best ideas while sleeping. Maybe your time is in the middle of the night, or just really late at night. Many times have I had a thought that randomly woke me from my sleep, and I had to write it down – whether a dream or an inspiration or even an object to write about. Sleeping is when your mind is most clear and it can reveal great ideas for your inner thoughts. If you are like me, you don’t really have a specific “time of day” where you are most creative. Your mind works throughout the day, and it’s tailored to a more specific matter of when you are less stressed, less tired or have a stimulating environment. Often, creativity sparks with a mere thought. This type of “time of day” moment is more fragile, but still works. I personally believe honing in those times, along with finding your time of day where your ideas best surface, is the best discipline to give yourself when trying to find your creativity. Works Cited Carpenter, Courtney. "The Top Ten Tips For Finding Motivation to Write."Writer's Digest. 09 May 2012. Web. 27 Oct. 2016. I assume for the vast majority who are reading this, writing means something special to you. Well, it’ll be the saving grace when you are in a tight spot with your story. Don’t ever forget that writing is your best friend and safety when ideas are running thin. Writing down ideas when the creative moment hits may spark something for future writing you do.
Writers usually like to keep a journal in a place that is easily accessible for their tasty thoughts. Ideas come fast and leave even faster, so be ready! Keep a small journal in your purse or car, if you are an avid writer. That way, no matter where you are, if an idea bubbles to the surface, you won’t have to keep the tape rolling in your head throughout the day. You can write it down and know you caught one when it was fresh. Ideas are intangible and fragile. There is a great deal of effort that goes into trying to remember everything you’ve ever thought was good for your writing without having something tangible to refer back to. In order to remember without having something, you’d have to go through a process in the mind called short-term memory to long-term memory. But this process is very complex, all just to keep an idea in your head. For something to be converted to long-term memory, there must be an active step to keep the information in the brain, like making a song or beat out of the information you are trying to remember or making a picture to help visualize your idea. For example, when I would study for a test in college, the only way I was to not drown in the sea of information which needed studying would be to make flash cards (which entails writing) and repeating over and over again the information until I memorized the question before even reading the answer. Rote memorization is one of many ways of transferring from short-term to long-term memory, but that’s a topic for another day. If you couldn’t tell, transferring short-term to long-term memories takes lots of time, effort and mental capacity in an already overflowed brain (which is why you are even reading this most likely). If you are the type of person with that perfect photographic memory for thoughts, then kudos to you and hopefully you’ll walk away with something from this blog besides a waste of time! However, the majority of people’s minds don’t work that way. This is why keeping a journal to write down your ideas and creative inputs is one of the best remedies to a dumbstruck brain, so you can look back and possibly spark new ideas or help with a story you are currently working on. Keep the ideas flowing. Whether it sounds crazy, makes no sense or doesn’t even have to do with the story you are writing, ideas can be used endlessly for many different things and at any time to help you conquer your worst writer’s block moments. Works Cited Carpenter, Courtney. "The Top Ten Tips For Finding Motivation to Write."Writer's Digest. 09 May 2012. Web. 27 Oct. 2016. The first technique, which has probably been proven most effective, is moving around when your fingers won’t let you type another word. First, take a step back and get your mind off the work by doing something else away from your work space, which will help put to rest all the ideas bumbling around in your head.
A lonely wooden house sits on the fine white sands of the beach. Purple and pink splash across the sky as the sun peeks through the still waters ready for what the day will bring. Birds chirp their good mornings and crabs have already kissed their families goodbye and set out for the day. About a mile off from the house where the shore meets the waves, a young blond-haired, brown-eyed girl strolled back toward the porch after her morning walk in the crisp humid air. Her white cotton cover-up blew gently against the wind. She walked up the steps onto the wrap-around porch where pumpkins and a wooden sign presenting an inspiring word sat. The decorations caused passerby to sigh with dreams of their own in mind as they glanced at the magnificence of such a place. As she slid the glass doors open, she took a deep breath, hearing the soft piano music in the distance. Walking over to the tan couch, she sunk into its memory foam pillows. With a smile on her face, she sat back up, grabbed her pad, pen and her glass of sweet tea and lemon, and put her fingers to work on the story that will continue her legacy far beyond her years.
This is my dream life. Where I always go when stressed or frustrated and need to “get away.” Imagination and creativity can come from anywhere – places, people, religion or even going through experiences or memories. The main objective is to find within yourself what keeps you going when you feel you've run out of steam. There are many ways to stay creative when writing, which will be discussed in this next month. The different ways of creative insight have both scientific value as well as efficiency in keeping on track. Hopefully you will find at least one technique that may help your creative juices continue to flow, even when they seem completely drained. |
FROM THE WRITER
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