5 Tips For Moving The Creative Train Along

We’ve all been there. The creative train is stuck on the tracks, not sure whether to go up the Mountain of Insanity or to continue on the flat Plains of Nothingness.

Or perhaps there’s the Forest of Kill Your Darlings where you have no choice but to let go of a piece you loved but it just doesn’t work with what you currently have. Alternatively, you can stick those darlings in the Mii Parade and they’ll just walk around aimlessly…

So, what do you do? Hit your head on your desk? Procrastinate on social media? Go outside? Do chores? Okay so those last two are actually helpful…

I came up with a tip the other night and I can’t believe I’m actually going to do it myself. Someday. I’m still cringing over the thought. But, here it goes – along with my sanity:

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Tip 1: Reread the Very First Thing You Ever Wrote For This Story

Now, this isn’t the one I was originally cringing at (but I am now because oh my word my 13-yro self did not know how to vary sentences-ok so maybe a little but STILL). This is the very first thing I ever wrote for A Time For Everything and I even remember where I was at when I wrote it:

But, re-reading an earlier draft (or several) could help get those gears going. Who knows, this one could give me…uh-oh. I think it’s starting. Huh. Maybe it could work for those characters??

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Tip 2: Rewrite The Very First Thing You Ever Wrote For This Story

Yeah. The thought of rewriting this:

Made me cringe. I’m still cringing.

But the reason behind this is to see how you’ve improved. It might also get those gears going and get that train moving. (Whether or not I’ll actually rewrite this remains to be seen but I probably will bc WHY NOT)

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Tip 3: Have A Character Do Something That’s Both In and Out of Character

Now how does this work, you might ask? Well, suppose your male protagonist usually says things as simply and as briefly as possible. Now put him in the same vicinity with the woman he loves and have him try to express his feelings for her.

What’s going to happen, if he’s the shy sort in this sort of matter, is he’s going to trip over his words and proceed to think he’s saying something stupid. So he’s going to backtrack and say something he thinks is better, but then when that fails, he gives up and is completely embarrassed.

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Tip 4: Have The Character Do Something That Looks Stupid But Is Actually Brilliant

Literally the first example that came to mind was Ja-excuse me, Captain Jack Sparrow.

Seriously though. Making your character do something that looks stupid can be a mask for what they’re actually doing: something brilliant that gets them out of whatever mess they’re in.

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Tip 5: Toss The Outline But Don’t Toss The Outline

You heard me. If you’re a hardcore outliner, toss the outline. Not completely, just enough to give yourself flexibility. But don’t toss it completely – you don’t want to forget what color a character’s eyes are.

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Those are only a few ways to try and get that creative train moving again, and you’re certainly free to tweak them as needed! Tell me your thoughts below! What do you do to get the creative train moving again?

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*cue me rushing back here to insert this before I forget and the post goes live without it* If you haven’t noticed already, I removed the link to my knitting blog up in the menu because I have an official author website up now: H.S. Kylian

Right now, the plan is to use it for writing updates*, upcoming releases, cover reveals, preorder announcements, interviews, and blog tours.

Don’t worry, this blog isn’t going anywhere! This will still remain as my primary writing blog and there’s a link for it up in the menu on the official author site, along with the link to my knitting blog!

Anyway, that’s about it for today! Have a lovely rest of your day, friends!

*Due to this, this Saturday’s upcoming post will be the last writing update on TWW; however, reading updates will remain because book reviews are still part of TWW’s purpose.