Snippets of an Author’s Life: Post 2

It’s insane. I wrote two full blog article drafts and half of a third for two different series in an hour (a record, to be sure) when I should have been somewhere else other than on the computer. Why today and not yesterday when I had the whole (rare) day? I’d been trying to establish these posts for over a week and kept coming up dry, so of course I took time to capture them when they decided to spew like a geyser.

I figure if I keep getting the best ideas while I’m supposed to be doing something other than writing, then I need to harness this phenomenon to my advantage. Perhaps it’s the adrenaline of getting ready to go out. Or the mind-numbing boredom of tedious activities. And then, of course, there’s water.

Housework or errands clearly function as excellent threats to convince my brain to churn out ideas faster than I can take dictation. I’m sure other writers experience this.

So if you need to kick-start your writing muse, or find it, go do anything but. I suppose it’s similar to the advice given to insomniacs when they can’t sleep.

Just make sure the activity doesn’t occupy your mind. You need to allow your brain to create. The activity needs to be tedious enough to make your brain want to scream and run—over to, say, writing. Or be something you’d rather not be present for, so your brain will naturally want to rebel by doing something else—coincidentally, writing. Meditative activities such as walking (cited most by writers) and listening to music (my primary scene creator) are also effective.

For additional, hardcore ideas on how to inspire your writing—without the need for housework or threats—read these 14 tips.

If you have a story about how you outwitted a muse with attitude, I’d love to hear from you in the comments.