Jump Start Your Creativity

Reprinted from the Northwest Sisters In Crime newsletter

By Leslie J. Hall

All writers have days when we just don’t feel like writing. What can we do to get over this temporary lack of motivation? Usually, getting away from the current project can help. Below are some simple ways to get the creativity flowing in a new way.

Write about your journey to the end of the rainbow. What did you find when you got there? Were you happy, sad, disappointed, frightened?

Choose five vivid adjectives that could describe your childhood. Then, pick one and create a scene centered on this word.

Observe a stranger on the street or at work, then write what you suppose could be a daily list of events in his or her life.

Take a contemplative walk and pick a leaf from a tree. Trace the leaf's outline on a sheet of paper and fill the space with the strongest thought from your walk.

Turn on the television, and watch one minute of the first program that you see—with the volume off. What are the characters saying? You fill in the dialogue.

Quick writing “assignments” like this are also good for just helping you get started. Once the pen is moving, the right brain seems to just open up and go!

Five ideas reprinted in part from www.writersdigest.com email newsletter,
Writing Prompts for Every Day