1. Walk a Labyrinth
Find a labyrinth near you (check out this site http://labyrinthlocator.com/), define a question or pick a single focus such as Gratitude, Peace, Joy, Understanding, Love, Truth, etc, and follow the path to the center and back.
2. Join a Forum
find a forum about your writing topic, join, and participate in the discussion. If you are brand new to the topic, ask the forum members to help you get started.
3. Take a Nap
4. Write a Letter to a loved one thanking them for being in your life
First write the letter, then decide if you want to send it, or better yet, visit them and read it to them directly. This one was inspired by A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future
5. Have a Paper Airplane Contest
Pick three topics, three ways to slant a project, or three different scenes. Take three pieces of paper and write one at the top of each piece. Fold each piece of paper into an airplane (using a slightly different method for each plan). Throw all three planes. Whichever goes the farthest is the topic you will choose. Unfold the winning plane, and write about that topic until the paper is filled on both sides.
6. Start a Story Circle
Using a writers forum (or a series of forwarded emails between a writer’s group) begin a story. Write one scene and then pass it on to another person, either by randomly choosing their name from the list, or simply letting anyone add a scene whenever they like. As the story “owner” make sure that at least one scene is added every week. At then end of two or three months, have a Story Circle reading, where someone reads the story and people talk about the parts that they really liked.
7. Postcard Surprise
Ask your friends and family to pick out two postcards wherever they are today and send you a note. Once you get the postcards, use one word, or one picture as the inspiration for your writing project. Don’t forget to call each person and thank them!
8. Meditation
set aside 15 minutes every day to sit comfortably, breath easily, and relax your mind. If you’ve never meditated before, simply breath in to a count of 8 and breath out to a count of 8, keeping your body still. If your mind wanders, focus it back onto your breath and keep counting. Don’t forget to set a timer so you won’t have to worry about watching the clock.
9. Retail Therapy
Don’t always buy all your writing tools and books immediately, use a trip to the bookstore as a great way to distract your conscious mind and let your subconscious mind work on the writing problem. Plus, you’ll have something new to play with when you get back to your writer’s desk.
10. Use a Timer
Get an egg timer or an online timer (like this one). Set it for 15 minutes and make yourself write about your topic continuously until the time goes off. After your time is up, you can take a break, change topics, or if you’ve got more to write, reset the timer and start again. You can use this technique with just about any writer’s block buster.
12. Create a Writers Group
Get your fellow writers or even your friends together at least once a week for a creative sessions.
13. Designate a Writing Buddy
Find one writing buddy that you can contact day or night to bounce ideas off of. The goal is to get immediate feedback about a topic you are working on, network with other writers, provide inspiration to others, and share success together.
14. Take a Clarity Day
Designate one day a week to spend some time away from work (whether writing is your day job or your hobby). Set aside 2 or more hours (I prefer 4 or more) and go to a public place where you can wander. Take your writer’s journal and a pen. Walk around and use your senses to experience the location you’ve chosen. If you feel inspired, sit and write about what you see, feel, hear, taste, and touch (and any other senses that are tingling). List any writing ideas that pop into your mind, either from your surroundings, your internal thoughts and emotions, or from the people talking around you.
15. Change of Scenery
Pack up the essential parts of your work and move to a different location; preferrably out of the house. Take your laptop, writing journal, and pens to a coffee shop, a restaurant, a bookstore, a library, a friends house, a park, a shopping mall, a museum, an aquarium, a marina, or a boat. Find a place to sit and see how a different environment effects your writing. This method is great to write fictional scenes or describe someones place of business (office, lab, manufacturing floor, etc).
16. Backup your files
17. Review your Life Purpose, Goals, and ToDo List
18. Read a Book Within your Genre or Expertise
19. Read a Book Outside of your Genre or Expertise
20. Subscribe to and Read an inspirational Blog (LiraVaughan.com)
21. Bake a cake
Or brownies, or cookies, or even bread pudding. Finish working while it is baking, but don’t eat any until you’re done writing.
22. Find 5 new markets for your writing
Pick up a copy of 2009 Writer’s Market
23. Rewrite a Query Letter
Take one of your article ideas that hasn’t sold yet and rewrite the query letter with a slightly different angle using any feedback you’ve received.
24. Reread the books that inspired you to become a writer
Mine are Dune, 40th Anniversary Edition (Dune Chronicles, Book 1)
25. Take a pottery class
26. Take a photography class
27. Learn to Draw on the Right Side of the Brain
28. Get Inspired by Creative People talking about what they love
Check out Ted Talks
29. Volunteer Your Time
30. Interview a Stranger
Introduce yourself to a stranger and ask what they think about your current writing topic.
31. Go to a Movie, Musical, or a Play
Consider the universal theme and how it relates to your topic
32. Read about why Nobel Prize Winning Writers Write
33. Update Your Resume
Describe all your recent accomplishments, training, and experience and remember how much time and effort you’ve put into your writing abilities. Consider using a professional resume writer to get the best result. (www.LiraVaughan.com/resume-writing-services/)
34. List 25 New Topics that you’ve never written about before
35. List 25 Topics you’ve written about but using a Different Slant, Genre, or Point of View
36. Rewrite a previously published article, short story, or scene from the opposite Point of View(POV)
Protagonist vs antagonist, positive vs negative, male vs female, etc
37. Search 3 off-topic magazines for ideas
Pick 3 magazines you don’t usually read, and find at least 3 ideas that can be used in your current writing project.
38. Read a history book
Pick at time in history, find a book that summarizes that time, place, lifestyle, environment, politics, health, etc. Describe the universal themes that were important to both that historical time and your project.
39. Visit a Sanctuary
Go to a Church, Mosque, Monastery, or Retreat and soak in the contemplative environment with gratitude and acceptance.
40. Listen but do not speak
Designate a day to only listen. Go about your day but do not speak to anyone verbally. Instead use nonverbal cues such as smiling, nodding, hand gestures, etc. You may also use written communication if absolutely necessary, but try to avoid it.
41. Pay attention to nonverbal communication
Go to a public place such as a coffee shop, a mall, or a restaurant where you can sit quietly and observe the conversations going on around you. Try to figure out which smiles are real, and which are forced. Who is happy to be there, and who would prefer to be somewhere else. Use this knowledge in your next scene, in your next presentation, or in your next training/process development project. Check out this book for more details The Definitive Book of Body Language
42. Start a Garden
Get dirty and watch the growth process of plants to learn more about Universal themes.
43. Get introspective in your Journal
Use your writing journal or a separate personal development journal and answer this question…”I love to write because…” Pick out your top ten reasons and post them by your writing desk (or use them as your screensaver).
44. Use a writing prompt from your favorite book
My favorite book for this is Room to Write
45. Use an inspirational quote as a writing prompt
Here’s my favorite Quotable Quotes
46. Stream of consciousness
Start with a basic thought such as “Today I want to write about…” or “The most important aspect of my topic is….” and simply write down everything as it comes to your mind. The initial goal here is quantity, not necessarily quality. Let your random thoughts release your subconscious onto the paper.
47. Physical Exercise of any kind
Get the endorphins racing through your body, creating energy, excitement, and enjoyment. Then come back to your writing.
48. Bubbling
A great brainstorming method where you take your topic of interest, write it on the middle of a big piece of paper and circle it. Then you draw 7 to 10 lines off of your center bubble and brainstorm anything that comes to mind (by free association or by sub-topic focus). Circle each of your new bubbles, and repeat the process, either letting your mind find connections between bubbles, building off of new bubbles, or off the original bubble. Its important not to censure your subconscious so use colored pens instead of pencils so you can’t erase anything. You can also try a program called Cayra if you want a software interface instead of paper & pen.
49. Call Your Creative Muse
Develop a ritual to get you into the writing mood and get your subconscious (or your Muse) working. My ritual includes making a cup of tea, opening the window shades to let in the sunlight, sitting down at my desk, clearing a space to begin brainstorming, taking a few easy breaths with gratitude in my heart, asking my Muse to visit me today, picking the highest priority writing task on my ToDo list and using one brainstorming or writer’s block busting technique to get my creative flow started.
50. Research Your Topic
Open up your web browser or go to the library and find three (3) to five (5) new facts about your topic that you didn’t know before. Don’t allow yourself more than 1 hour of search time or you’ll just be procrastinating! Then take your new information, reform your topic idea, and start writing.
51. Find a Writing Mentor
Search online or in your writing classes for seasoned writers that inspires you to write. Contact them, explaining how much their work encourages you, and ask them to mentor you through a project or particular problem. Remember to respect their time and experience and be grateful for any advice they provide.
#32 is one of my favorite essays too! I’m going to give #7 a try… My family loves postcards. Thanks!
@PJ – I absolutely love the way Orphan Pamuk writes. I discovered the essay while searching for another topic and I actually got a little emotional. Really motivating prose.