Writing casually and playing around can boost your creativity and even help you think of new leads to incorporate into your work.
Writing Exercises to Keep Your Creative Juices Flowing
Written by: AJ Bajo
September 25, 2020
The key to polishing your writing skill is writing consistently (reaching that 10,000 hours). Knowing this alone isn’t really enough. Understandably, it can be hard to come up with a concrete plot or the next move in a story you’re working on.
Still, not everything you write has to be a serious work of art. Writing casually and playing around can boost your creativity and even help you think of new leads to incorporate into your work. Here are some writing exercises to waltz your way out of a creative rut.
Try your hand at ekphrastic poetry
In ancient Greek, ekphrasis refers to a vivid description of a work of art, and ekphrastic poetry are poems about pieces of art.
You can toy with this idea by taking an artwork, a song or a movie scene that intrigues you or piques your curiosity, then writing about it. Take in the colors, brushstrokes, music, and the emotions being relayed by the piece of art, and try to come up with your own interpretation of the story.
Play with points of views
Take an old work, and think about how your story would flow in the voice of another character aside from the main ones. This can help you develop better characterization and character development.
Form or join a writing group
Sometimes all you need is a little bit of pressure to activate your writing flow. A writing group can help. Gather some of your friends who write or join a writing group. Come up with weekly or monthly writing assignments you can share with each other.
Switch genres
If you find that you’ve always been the type who always writes soulful poems, inquisitive horror stories or imaginative fan fictions, expand! Venturing into different genres might be the change you need. You don’t have to start out from scratch. Take a previous poem or work that you’ve written and re-imagine it in another literary style or genre.
Decide when is the ideal time to write
So you have a deadline but once a blank page faces you the ideas slip away. What could be wrong? It might simply be timing.
Consider if you are in the right frame of mind to write. Taking a respite from the pressure and agony of writing will help you. Going back to your work after distracting yourself will enable you to look at it with a fresh perspective and can give you a clearer idea on how to proceed.
Now that your juices are flowing…
Revisit previous work. If you’re bent on writing, now is the time to brush up some stories.
Writer’s block doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve lost the spark or passion that ignited your love for writing. It just means you have to switch things up and expand your perspective. Your mind is telling you that you need to be challenged and you’re ready to elevate your writing style.
To start your screenwriting journey, introduce yourself to short-form script!
