You know that
thing when you’ve been writing the same blah, blah, blah for so long that your
fingers almost work on autopilot – it’s as if the (same, boring) words just
appear there, of their own volition? Or when you find your own writing so
mundane that you can’t stand to even proofread it? Or when your own work is
entirely indecipherable from that of your colleagues or clients?
It’s time for a
creative jolt! I’ve written here before about Writing
Prompts for creativity, but now I am proposing another alternative:
Don’t write.
When you need a
burst of inspiration or creativity for your writing, sometimes the best thing
you can do is to not write at all. When you walk away from your writing, even
for a few minutes, you can return to it with deeper insight and fresh energy.
Here are a few ideas for ways to hit the restart button on your creativity:
1. Walk
around the block. Instead of spending that walk thinking about everything you
have to do, want to do, or wish you had done... find 10 beautiful things.
Colors, scenery, textures, sounds. 10 things.
2. Leaf
through a travel magazine. Rip out a page or two, and post them next to your
writing space.
3. Smell
something. Anything.
4. Eat
one square of a chocolate bar, or one m&m. Let it melt slowly in your mouth.
Notice how it tastes, smells, and feels.
5. Stretch
left. Then right.
6. Sing
your favorite song from elementary school.
7. Notice
your breath. Don’t alter it, by breathing more slowly or more quickly. Just
notice it.
8. Give
yourself a scalp massage.
9. Make
a paper airplane. Fly it.
10. Notice
how many things you can hear right now. How long of a list can you make?
11. Eat
a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Does it remind you of anything?
12. Come
up with a name for a new Ben & Jerry’s flavor.
13. Do
a headstand. Or a cartwheel. Or a sommersault.
14. Make
a “painting” out of the next five things you can get your hands on: White out?
Nutella? Shampoo? Orange juice? Lipstick?
15. Draw
a maze.
16. Make
up your own palm reading, for your own palms.
17. Check
out the clouds. What do they look like?
18. If
you had to name the color of the sky right now, what would you name it?
19. Find
something hot. Find something cold.
20. If
you made an autobiographical album, what would it be called? What would be the
names of the songs on it?
21. Tap
dance. Tap shoes not required.
22. Pick
a song, and play air guitar.
23. Try
to name all of the characters in your favorite movie.
24. Feel
something soft.
25. Come
up with five other items for this list.
Of course, the Writing
Prompts I’ve described also can do the trick! But sometimes the best thing
you can do is to get out of that part of your brain. When you activate other
parts of your mind, everything can come alive again.
Lauren
Brownstein has worked in the non-profit community for more than 20 years as a
fundraiser, educator, and program manager. She specializes in: helping grant
seekers develop meaningful partnerships with funders, crafting outstanding
grant proposals, and working with individual donors to help them make
philanthropic contributions that reflect their interests and passions.
Learn
more about Lauren’s fundraising and philanthropy work at www.pitchconsulting.com. Purchase her e-book, Grant Writing Quick Tips, and her audio file, Grant Writing for Creative Souls, HERE.
