by Rhonda Martinez
As young aspiring authors, we all find ourselves at the crossroads called “Where to go and How to get there”. Looking up to masters in writing, it is so hard to discover your style and most importantly get your writing going.
If you are also facing the trouble of sitting and staring at the blank screen, here are some tips and exercises that will help you get inspired.
Word Box
Such an obvious, still such an effective exercise to try out. According to Gabriela Pereira, an author of “DIY MFA: Write with Focus, Read with Purpose, Build Your Community” who shared practical advice on WritersDigest, this method helps her to gain fresh inspiration. It works like this. She has a box with pieces of paper and single words written on them. Whenever she feels stuck or just wants to train her brain to get a creative impulse, she closes her eyes and takes from 5 to 7 words out of the box. After that she starts writing until she includes all of the words she has pulled out. Gabriela believes that not only this exercise helps to boost inspiration, but it also drills a brain to create unexpected connections, as you need to somehow include all the words in a short story.
Word Association
Another great exercise to give a shot. This one helps to experience the free flow of thought. We believe that James Jones would definitely approve this tip. So here’s what you should do. Write out the first word that comes to your mind, and then continue the chain of associations. For example:
inspiration, writing, book, award, glory, lightning, thunder, storm, a ship, cruise, a captain, strong, desperate, lady, find, lost, glove…
This exercise will give you this burst of creative ideas and energy that you are craving for. What is more, you can try this method to find inspiration related to a specific character you are thinking about, or setting a scene. One word seems like a no-brainer, but it is truly worth trying, as you will enjoy the innovative stimulation to your ideas.
Discover Negative Space
Another useful tip from Gabriela Pereira involves exploring the so-called “negative space”. This is an area in art and design that serves as an opposing setting or environment to an object itself. Whenever you read a good book, you probably have this feeling that you only have a glimpse at the small part of characters’ lives, as the rest is left unseen. The gist of this exercise is to explore “the rest”, and expand your story. To illustrate how it works, let’s consider the following example. So you are writing a love-story with two main characters involved, and some other characters. If you get stuck with your story, you can try out writing a short scene about this or that moment related to the life of your supporting characters (even if their role in the whole story is not crucial at all). What is more, you can as well try out this exercise on other writers’ books. Choose the book, choose any supporting character whose life isn’t in the limelight, and imagine your own version of it.
Respond to a Poem
A well-known and effective way to practice your writing and refresh your inspiration is to write a response to a poem, or in fact to any kind of story. You need to pick a piece of writing you like, and react to it. If it is a love-letter, write a love-letter back. If it is a prose, you can try out writing your own creative interpretation of it.
Plunge into Art
The classic that never gets old - seek inspiration in art. Go to museums, see plays, fall in love with different kinds of arts, spend hours contemplating a painting, listen to inspiring music - the list is endless. We never know when inspiration can strike us, but we can speed up the process. Here is how it works. You look at the painting and try coming up with a backstory to what is happening there. In case it is a portrait, think what this person did in their life, or what had happened just before they came to sit still as a model. This exercise teaches an author to see any situation from the bird’s eye view at first, and then get closer to examine every little detail that is essential when creating a character, for example.
Search New Studies
According to Tyler Moss, these days authors have a unique opportunity to find creative impulse by searching new studies in Google. Choose the topic you are interested in whether it is physics, chemistry, biology or psychological studies, and look for the recent updates in these fields. For instance, the headline “Water Splitting Advance for Renewable Energy” can serve as a good start for someone writing a sci-fi novel, and thinking about setting the scene of the world in 3030. While another article on “Artificial intelligence can help some businesses but may not work for others” can lead one into peculiarities of a society, and to a close-up imagining the life of some man not being able to find a job. This is how it works, you pick the topic, look for research and voila, your brain is already shooting with ideas.
Get Inspired by Real People
Curtis Sittenfeld, an American writer known for her sharp short stories as well as 5 novels, shed the light on an interesting tip during her interview to a Writers Digest. The approach involves choosing a real personality like a movie star, a politician, a musician, and getting inspired. This exercise provides you with a foundation that you can play with by imagining various scenarios that could have happened, and how the life of a chosen person would have changed. What is more, you can let your imagination dive behind the scenes of real life events and enjoy all of the ideas that come to your mind, no matter how mad they can be. By playing with your creativity like this, you can truly find an inspiration you’ve been looking for.
Use Quotes to Practice Short Stories
Another simple, yet a productive exercise. Pick a quote or a saying, and try writing a story to either support the idea or contradict. For example, “curiosity killed the cat”, you may take it literally and come up with a comic strip based on the saying, or try out writing more serious stuff being educational. The choice is yours. What is more, you can enjoy reading through famous people quotes and take some time to think them through. This will in turn provide you with your own great ideas.
Write Out Some Headlines or Story Starters
Choose a headline or pick a book and write out the first sentence. Then, try to continue the story by providing your own outlook. It is a perfect creative task to train your brain and seek inspiration. For those who don’t want to scroll through looking for a perfect starter, there are tons of resources with already-made story starters.
Explore New Things
The last exercise may seem overgeneralized. However, it often turns out to be one of the most effective ones. As a writer, you will be in constant search for inspiration. The main difficulty authors face is lack of ideas and getting fed up with a routine. For this reason, the best you can do is to try and explore new things whenever you can. It can be applied to anything you do in your life: from trying out a new cooking recipe to taking up salsa dancing, from going out to a new restaurant to traveling to a new country. When exploring something, we are alert and focused on the thing we are doing. This is a unique experience always full of amazing opportunities to find inspiration. Eleanor Roosevelt once said “Do one thing every day that scares you”. That is why, don’t hesitate to go for it.
Summing up, as any activity writing needs constant practice and dedication if you want to achieve the results. If you see yourself as a prospering author, don’t limit your imagination and work for it. Don’t let a writer’s block stop you from creating a masterpiece. You need to invest your time and energy in what brings you joy and fulfillment.
We hope that this article helped you find some of the exercises you want to give a try this very moment. These methods are real life-savers when it comes to getting stuck, and speaking from personal experience, they have truly proven to be effective. So, what are you waiting for?
Rhonda Martinez is a blogger and reviewer of popular essay writing services at LegitWritingServices.com. As a content writer, she loves writing about education technology, psychology and digital learning.