Alright, so, we’ve taken steps to prepare our brains for new branches of creativity, right? We’ve purchased that little notebook or downloaded that new app. We’ve started doing more challenging tasks and immersed ourselves in some new experiences or environments, right?
Great!
Now let’s take this a step further and try out some exercises that we can do on the reg (or when you need to) to get those ideas flowing!
Science has shown that Sleep has several benefits in your overall health and well-being – from making your skin look better to protecting your mental health. It can also foster your creative juices.
How many times have you gone to sleep worrying about something and then you dream about it? During sleep, it is thought that our brain works out all the problems we had during the day, it computes all the things in our subconscious that we are physically unable to do during the waking hours. It’s a fascinating process: our brains process through all the days’ info and toss out white noise to look for meaningful patterns and help problem solve.
Try that with writing. Go to bed and right before, right down what your problem is, think about it as you drift off and see what your brain can come up with when you’re out of the way.
Get outside. Walk, sit, camp, explore. Whatever. Just get outside and get some sunshine. Again, research has shown that being outside (as well as doing physical exercises) helps with concentration and creativity. Sometimes all it takes to get past a slump is sitting in your backyard with a nice drink and the soundscapes of nature.
Get together with your CPs or your inner writing circle. Present them with the issue your having. Give them only the necessary info that pertains to that scene. Then, work together and brainstorm possible solutions. I’ve been in this process before, and it really is amazing! Because your friends don’t have all that background info that you do, they’re able to approach the “problem” differently and sometimes with a better, fresh perspective.
Do something that requires no brain activity. Meditate. Take a shower or a bath. Sit and stare at a wall. Honestly, that last one is my favorite. Make sure you have a few uninterrupted minutes to yourself and just…blank out. Your brain will wander and may help you come up with a way out of your conundrum.
Be happy. Studies have shown a link between sadness and lack of new ideas. So if you’re feeling a bit down or sad, maybe don’t try and write. Instead, work on caring for yourself, source out that sadness and then do what you need to do to care for it. When you’re in a better state of mood, come back to writing. Your blank page syndrome may have just taken care of itself.
These are all great starts for generating new ideas. But don’t forget to check out my post this Friday for specific exercises to help generate fresh ideas.
Happy writing and I’ll see you in #TheWriterCommunity!
Rach
Comments