15 Ways Fiction Writers Can Stay Creative in 2016

December 29, 2015

When your medium is magical action thrills, dystopian high jinks, or paranormal cozy mysteries, the creative perspiration required to keep those tall tales coming can be taxing at times, to say the least. Here are a few lighthearted ways to revamp your creativity as the new year gets underway:

Rummage the racks at your local thrift store and dress up as the characters in your book for a few hours.
Surround your house with crime scene tape and storyboard a tall thriller tale for overly-inquisitive neighbors.
Watch a foreign movie without subtitles and cook up a far-fetched comedy script as the story unfolds.
Write a paranormal romance starring your elderly grandparents.
Treat your characters as imaginary friends and engage in deep, existential conversations with them (oh wait, you already do that!)
Take a road trip to your setting, or some place like it, and bring back a souvenir jar of dirt for narrative inspiration.
Browse old family photo albums and fabricate a fascinating family tree based on exotic fictional characters you wish were part of your heritage.
Designate one day a month as “break a ho-hum writing rule and take an epic risk day.”
Imagine the people sitting next to you on the tube are aliens plotting to hijack earth’s public transportation, and you are the last of the Superheroes.
Hibernate in your other world (magical, dystopian, or otherwise.)
Relabel the OJ in your refrigerator “Creative Juices,” then glug down the potion chanting I BELIEVE!
The world is your canvas, so scribble, color, jot and doodle inspiration, preferably not on surrounding walls.
Revel in a completely random day where you do all the things you would never normally do (start out on the right foot with fried ice-cream for breakfast.)
Elope with your imagination until the family search party tracks you down, famished and Donner-esque of course. A horror story perhaps?
When all else fails, drastically increase caffeine intake!

15 Ways Fiction Writers Can Stay Creative in 2016

Rummage the racks at your local thrift store and dress up as the characters in your book for a few hours.

Surround your house with crime scene tape and storyboard a tall thriller tale for overly-inquisitive neighbors.

Watch a foreign movie without subtitles and cook up a far-fetched comedy script as the story unfolds.

Write a paranormal romance starring your elderly grandparents.

Treat your characters as imaginary friends and engage in deep, existential conversations with them (oh wait, you already do that!)

Take a road trip to your setting, or some place like it, and bring back a souvenir jar of dirt for narrative inspiration.

Browse old family photo albums and fabricate a fascinating family tree based on exotic fictional characters you wish were part of your heritage.

Designate one day a month as “break a ho-hum writing rule and take an epic risk day.”

Imagine the people sitting next to you on the tube are aliens plotting to hijack earth’s public transportation, and you are the last of the Superheroes.

Hibernate in your other world (magical, dystopian, or otherwise.)

Relabel the OJ in your refrigerator “Creative Juices,” then glug down the potion chanting I BELIEVE!

The world is your canvas, so scribble, color, jot and doodle inspiration, preferably not on surrounding walls.

Revel in a completely random day where you do all the things you would never normally do (start out on the right foot with fried ice-cream for breakfast.)

Elope with your imagination until the family search party tracks you down, famished and Donner-esque of course. A horror story perhaps?

When all else fails, drastically increase caffeine intake!

What’s your secret sauce for jump-starting the creative writing batteries in 2016?

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