Welcome back to my blog!
I’m here to offer my two cents on different topics, to hopefully help you along in your writing journey and give you some information and helpful hints that maybe you didn’t have before. Let’s dive in.
We’ve all been there, before. Sitting at your keyboard (or pad and paper) waiting to write. Excited to write. But nothing comes. You’re in…
*GASP*
A writing slump.
First of all, take a breath. You’re okay. It’s not the end of the world. Every writer has been there (besides, it’s been proven that stress kills creativity). Now it’s time to take some proactive steps to beat this slump into the oblivion it belongs in. Right this way, please.
There actually is a science to creativity. Isn’t that crazy? Something that is supposed to be right-brained, spirit driven, can be measured by science.
You know that old saying, “the more you write, the more you’ll write”? Well, perhaps I threw together those exact combination of words, but we’ve all heard the same premise: The more you sit down to write, the more you’ll write. If you pause for long periods of time, you’ll lose your drive. And that’s because of ROUTINE. Making a consistent routine for writing helps to stimulate creativity and habit.
I read a fantastic article that inspired the direction of this post. Psychologist Robert Epstein, PhD, found that there are four main areas that help you to generate creativity:
Writing down your ideas. This is why I always carry my little red notebook with me wherever I go. I prefer that to an app in my phone, but that option works just as well as the other
Do something challenging. When I read this, I smacked myself in the forehead. OF COURSE! I said to myself! Putting yourself into challenging situations that require abstract thinking and that may not have a solution are a great way to get your brain stretched and to think outside it’s normal path of neurons
Expand your knowledge base. Love horses? Great! Read about gardening. Enjoy art? Study math. The point is, don’t just stay in the trenches of what you already know and enjoy. Read and study and expose yourself to other areas that could ad depth and a different perspective to your writing (and life)
Get into an environment of interesting things and people. The point is to generate new patterns of thinking and ideas
Want to read more about what he had to say? It’s a great article.
So, the first step in getting out of your writing slump is to try and make sure you’re never there to begin with. Start with these four ideas and shake it up a bit!
Happy writing and I’ll see you in #TheWriterCommunity!
Rach
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