Creative Writing Triggers

Writers write. That may seem painfully obvious but it’s what we do. We can’t afford to be so undisciplined that the words don’t flow from the keyboard. Call it procrastination, laziness or something else (I don’t believe in writer’s block. See my post about that here).

In another post, I shared some writing exercises that one of my former college professors used in class. Here are a few of my own techniques that I’ve come up with over the years:

Write down some words at random and list as many synonyms as you can for each. Pull out the thesaurus if you have to. Seeing certain words in black and white can trigger ideas.

Copy the lyrics from a song you despise. Take those verses that make you wince from their supreme awfulness and rewrite them.

Make up a product or service that you need to sell. Create ad headlines that will grab people’s attention. Don’t filter yourself — let your imagination go wild.

Writer’s Block? Patooey!

Writer’s block is the bane of scribes everywhere. Clever, insidious and destructive, it saps us of creativity, industriousness and time.

Well, I don’t believe in writer’s block. I'm sure many writers will disagree with me and consider it blasphemy, but I believe writer's block is a sham. There, I said it.

Let’s be honest. A more apt description for writer’s block is procrastination, aversion or laziness (I can personally attest to employing all three). Simply put, it’s an excuse to not put in the effort. Yes, we are creative. Yes, our profession requires more brains than brawn. Yes, yes, we all have special talents. And, no, writing isn’t easy. It takes dedication, resolve and a certain gift. But, unless you’re writing for yourself and strictly for fun, it is a profession, a career, a business, In other words, show me the money. And even if you are writing for yourself, "writer’s block" is the perfect bulletproof method to slip that poem, short story, essay, script or whatever into a drawer so you can "get back to it later."

Bottom line: We have assignments, projects, jobs -- and deadlines. Don’t rely on the crutch of writer’s block. Don’t sit around waiting for your muse to mystically ordain the computer screen. Per my previous post (Inspiration), writing = ass in chair. It’s as simple as that.