Here are some more fun, quick ideas to jumpstart your creativity.
- Try something completely foreign to you. Go play bingo. Talk to strangers. Ride in a hearse or on a horse. Go by the Harley Davidson store and pretend you’re interested in buying a bike. Go to the opera. Learn sign language. Blindfold yourself for the morning. Listen to rap music. Listen to talk radio. I picked up a book the other day at B&N on the sale table: 2,001 Things to Do Before You Die. Not only is it a great idea book to get you out of a rut, it’s a treasure house of situations, goals or nightmares for your characters.
- Write from a prompt. There are tons of writing prompts on the web and even books of prompts. If you just can’t get into your WIP (work in progress), take fifteen minutes to write from a prompt. You might find a great scene unfold before your eyes.
- Read a book out of genre or, if you haven’t done so for a while, read a book on writing. If you’re a romance writer, pick up a Harlan Coben novel. Not as big a stretch as a Harlan Coben reader picking up a romance novel, is it? Hey suspense writers, you might be surprised! Dig through your boxes and find On Writing by King, or Write Away by Elizabeth George or any number of great books on writing. Or maybe THE writing bible – Swain’s Techniques of the Selling Writer. I find that I brainstorm well when I’m reading other things. So, I keep an index card handy to capture those thoughts.
I hope you’ll find these tips useful and thought provoking.
If something gets you thinking or if you have a topic you’d like to see here, feel free to email me.
Jaxine Bubis, a.k.a Jaxine Daniels is a multi-published romance author. She teaches writing workshops at writer’s conferences around the country as well as online. Her current projects include a romantic suspense novel set in the high mountains of Colorado as well as a definitive resource on creating fabulous characters.
Visit her website at http://jaxinedaniels.com. Email Jax at JaxineDaniels@gmail.com.
