You may have never heard the term ‘Writer’s Block’ before, but if you like to push yourself to create new things you may have felt it.
Sometimes we’re in the mood to write/create but we can’t get our head in the right place. Either you’ve got too many thoughts buzzing around, or you just can’t think of something worth turning into a story.
Creativity is an odd skill and it can be hard for some people to simply switch it on and off. However, being able to spark up your creativity at will is a really useful skill in life (not just for storytelling). With this in mind, learning tricks and techniques to get your creative side working is never a bad thing.
Today we’re going to look at a quick technique I use. If it works, it will help switch on that creative part of your brain and prepare you to create a fantastic story.
(*Teachers: There are printable PDFs available for this task. These are revised according to Scottish primary school levels (‘Up to P4’=approx. age 8 and under, and P5+=approx. age 9 and up). You can download the sheets by clicking on these links: Up to P4 [Greyscale], Up to P4 [Colour], P5+ [Greyscale], or P5+ [Colour].)
Somewhere different
Think of where you’re writing right now. Is there a place that could be the most opposite you could imagine? Somewhere absolutely nothing like where you are sitting right now?
What is that place like?
What’s the weather like there?
Is it a safe place or is it somewhere perilous?
If you were to sit down and write in this new place what would you be writing with? Would it be a scroll of paper with feather quill and ink, or a futuristic tablet with an AI who talks to you as though they’re the cleverest being in the galaxy?
A stranger
By this point, you know a lot about this new place so take a look around and see if there’s anyone there? Who are they? Are they human/ animal/ alien/ something else? What are they doing? What mood are they in?
You now should have a setting and your main character. This isn’t everything you need for a story but it’s a good start.
Getting to know people
If you need to get more ideas about what your character might end up doing, imagine interviewing them as though you worked for a newspaper. What are their interests? What are their skills? What are their main fears? What would they like to be doing this time tomorrow?
This exercise doesn’t always help, so don’t worry if a story still isn’t appearing in your head right now. Why not take a break and go for a walk. Or you could go chat to a friend or family member and ask them some of the questions I suggested you ask your imaginary main character.
The answers they give you don’t have to be written down, it’s sometimes good to simply get to know more about someone. Take your time and pay attention to what they are talking about. You might be surprised at the direction their own story takes.
For a writer, the bonus of listening carefully to others is that the more you understand people and the different ways we all see the world, the easier you’ll find the job of creating a fictional character.
Go and write
If you feel like this has cleared your writer’s block and you’re now ready to get that story written then pop on over to the writer’s room and get those words down.
If you haven’t joined yet, no problem. It’s free to join, takes less than a minute, and once you’re registered you can pop back here and click the button below, or simply click on ‘Go Create’ up in the main menu at any point.
Follow the buttons below to find your way to the right place:
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THEN…
