Writer’s block can be at best, frustrating and at worst, crippling for any writer. How can you crush this terrible beast and get those longed-for words and ideas flowing again in your novel?
In this blog I will list a range of activities to help stimulate your brain into generating new ideas.
The truth is, you are surrounded by ideas every single day and all you need to do is open your mind and eyes to them.
An important thing to remember, though, is to never let those ideas get away from you. It’s beneficial to carry a notepad and pen with you at all times, so you can jot down those precious ideas as soon as they come into your head.
Start getting into the notebook habit – you’d be surprised how easily ideas can slip away from you.
Without further ado, here is my list of activities that may beat writer’s block and generate new ideas and creative solutions for your novel.
Choose whatever activity (or activities) appeals to you, but I especially recommend the brain-dumping technique (which you will read about further on).
List of activities to help generate new creative ideas
Read books. If you’re serious about being a writer, it’s essential to read on a regular basis. It’s one of the best tools there is to improve your writing. It’s also a great ideas generator.
Speaking of reading, here’s an interesting blog by canva.com you may like to check out: 40 books to unlock your creativity.
Listen to music. Music is a great daydream-inducer. And daydreaming is great (it’s obviously not great when driving or operating machinery, don’t do that).
Whenever you’re daydreaming, you’re creating stories in your head. You’re being creative.
Let your mind wander and see where it leads.
Watch movies or TV series. How can your imagination function on a blank slate? You need to regularly feed it with ideas and characters, and reading and watching movies is a great way to do this.
Meditate. The mind is well known for generating great ideas when calm and relaxed, and meditation is great for that. Ask your mind to give you book ideas before your meditation session.
There are many ways to meditate too.
You could meditate by listening to gentle meditation music or by observing your breathing, and it doesn’t have to be a long session either. Just five, ten, or fifteen minutes.
Observe the world around you. Become a (discreet and respectful) people-watcher. Observe how people look and sound and dress.
Pay attention to what they say, as this may not only help you with story ideas, it may also help you write natural-sounding dialogue.
Keep that notebook handy for jotting down anything interesting.
Pay attention to the inner world of your imagination.
Pay attention to your outer world. Draw inspiration for stories from your own life.
Use writing prompts to generate story ideas. Write short stories using them; it may lead to a longer story.
Get out of your familiar environment and go into a new one. Take off somewhere new for the day or for the weekend. Travelling is fantastic for generating new ideas.
Research facts about the topic you’re blocked on.
Ask ‘what if’ questions with your novel to stimulate new ideas. For example, ‘what if’ the good guy in your book gets greedy and turns bad? ‘What if’ your bad guy has a spiritual epiphany and turns good?
You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.
– Maya Angelou
Combine story ideas from multiple sources. Get half a plot from a TV story and the other half from a magazine article or another news story.
Get ideas from news headlines.
BEAUTIFUL WORD OF THE DAY: WINSOME. Meaning attractive and/or an agreeable manner.
Use the ‘cut-up’ technique of American author William S. Burroughs. He would cut up pieces of text (words and phrases) and rearrange them to form new sentences.
Use your dreams for story ideas. Keep a notepad and pen beside your bed and write them down. At night time, ask your mind to give you book ideas through your dreams.
Re-tell a story in a different way. Gather plot summaries from novels you know of and incorporate some changes to them. Change the beginning, middle, or end. Mix the characters up a little.
Piggyback off the imagination of others. Use myths, legends and folklore for ideas. J.R.R. Tolkien did this for his ‘Lord of the Rings’ novels.
Ask other people for their ideas. My sister contributed greatly with her ideas for my first novel.
Use the brain-dump method for generating ideas. This is a favourite method of mine, and one I have spoke about several times now on this blog. It’s really helped me and I think it’s fantastic.
This method is also known as free-form writing.
Set a timer for five, ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes and write (or type) rapidly and continuously, focusing on the subject of your choice.
Don’t pause or back-edit, and don’t worry about stuff like punctuation, grammar, typos, and the quality of your writing.
Don’t worry if you keep repeating yourself sometimes either.
This is a great technique because it bypasses the conscious mind and accesses the subconscious, where all the creativity and good ideas lie. It’s also good writing practice too.
Keep a ‘cool’ file of ideas in your computer or notebook. By ‘cool’, I mean anything at all you like or find interesting and intriguing, be it a person, place, thing, or idea. .
Let that file build up over time.
Refer to your collage of stuff in your ‘cool’ file whenever you need ideas and inspiration. You may use these ideas individually, or as a collective.
Try any activity listed in this blog that appeals to you, and kick that writer’s block to the curb!
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