Blogger:Mary Keeley
This time every year I start thinking about spring cleaning. Winter is becoming stale, and I’m antsy to open windows to refresh the house. Creativity can become stale too, especially when you’ve exhausted all your ideas and none of them has worked. What can you do to refresh your craft and ideas? I’m going to offer some outside-the-box suggestions for opening your sensory windows.
Change your modus operandi and step out of your comfort zone. You will reap benefits from choosing activities completely unrelated to writing.
For example, go for a walk. Don’t assume anything from what you see; simply observe the scene before you.
Next, focus on little details and allow fresh thoughts to come to you.
Hmm. Children are walking to school unaccompanied by an adult. Seems to be a safe neighborhood. The people in this grocery store look happier than those in the grocery store on my side of town…why is that?
The point of this endeavor is to gain a fresh perspective on life and see the world from different vantage points.
Here’s a list of activity suggestions:
- Read a couple of books from a genre you don’t normally read.
- Take a different route to work for a week.
- If you live in a rural area or a suburb, go into the city and vice versa. Volunteer in a soup kitchen or homeless shelter.
- Watch a TV show you haven’t seen before.
- If your preferred entertainment is a theater or concert, go to a high school or college basketball game, or vice versa.
- Visit several churches of different sizes than yours.
- Watch news coverage of a situation or event on several TV channels.
Right away, journal about what you observe: the visual surroundings, smells, sounds, light/bright vs. dark/uncomfortable, the people, general atmosphere, and so on. Record what your five faculties told you about those new surroundings. How did the goings-on affect you emotionally? Spiritually? Physically?
These activities will breathe fresh air into stale thought patterns. Perhaps you are already in the habit of inserting yourself in new surroundings to stimulate fresh perspective. Of the ideas I’ve suggested, which one(s) do you think would be most helpful to your creative self? What other ideas have you tried?
Mary, I like to visit a local shopping mall and hang out at Starbucks and “people watch.” I’ve gotten some great insights from doing that. (Of course, I must drink a cup of coffee so I won’t be suspect…)
Another thing that jumps to mind–I do flip between two specific television channels for the daily news. One is more liberal in format and presentation while the other leans more toward conservatism and a Christian-oriented mindset. The perspectives from each are far different and inspire in me a whole range of varying emotions.
Thank you for great suggestions!
I agree, people-watching is a great exercise, Cynthia. And coffee is a definite must:)
And thanks for sharing the idea of hearing both sides of the political spectrum on new channels. That’s an important source for keeping up on issues relevant to contemporary life, where we can learn the hows and whys of people’s views.
Wonderful post, Mary. Funny how you’re talking about winter being stale and today we’re getting the first real snow storm we’ve had since October. 🙂
I like these suggestions. I’ve tried some of them. I also like Cynthia’s idea. I actually learned a bit about tweens from visiting the ice skating rink with my girls. It’s also fun to watch kids in group activities. I held a workshop a couple of weeks ago that included a group exercise. Watching them interact was quite a learning experience.
I hope your snowfall was beautiful and inspiring, Cheryl. I enjoy people-watching too.
Lately I have been reading a lot of romance books. It is a genre that I normally don’t read. I read some romance books many years ago and I never really got into them. My taste was just different years ago and I could not get into them. Time has changed my opinion of romance books and I can appreciate them more now. I will need to incorporate more romance into my novel.
Also too, I have been taking an online class on the Koran which is totally way out of my comfort zone since I will be having Muslim characters in my novel. The online class I an taking is for both Muslim and Non-Muslims.
Great point, Lori. If you haven’t read a particular genre for a long time because you didn’t like it, try it again now. Your opinion might have changed over time and life. Interesting peek at your novel. Let us know what you learn from your class on the Koran and how you apply it to your character.
Great suggestions, Mary! And very timely too since I just opened the windows to let a fresh breeze through. 🙂
I agree with what Cynthia said about people watching. One of my favorite places to do this is at the airport. I like to speculate on where people are traveling, why they’re headed there, etc. I even spotted the human representation of one of my heroines while waiting for a flight! I stopped just short of taking a keepsake photo. 🙂
I agree, Sarah. People-watching in airports is especially insight producing because you see more varied people groups and nationalities. I like to get to there early to avoid being rushed, which gives me lots of time for observing and imagining.
I definitely agree with the people-watching. Then, I like to imagine who they are, where they are going, why they are there, etc. based on how they are dressed, how they fixed their hair, what they are eating, how they walk, etc. Thanks, Mary, for the suggestions.
Meghan, I imagine noting those little details charges your imagination. Great point.
Mary, these are great ideas easily incorporated in our everyday activities. Your suggestions do not require an expensive trip or registering for an on-going class…(which might be helpful too).
Closing my eyes and listening to a symphony, swimming, showering or dawdling and puttering around seem to excite my imagination.
Thanks for encouraging us to get out of our comfort zone and fill the well!
That was my goal today–low budget suggestions available to all of us. Thanks, Kate, for the ideas you offered too, and that “dawdling and puttering around” can be time well-spent!
I work at home, so taking a different route to work is a bit of a challenge!
Ah, interesting and creative suggestions, Kate. Thanks for sharing. I’ve also found that background music helps my mind stay focused too. I’m going to try “dawdling and puttering around” (love the word picture that prompts).
I like to read scriptures before I write. They’re full of amazingly diverse characters spanning the gamut of all human emotion and behavior. Plus, it puts me in the right spirit to receive inspiration of my own.
Recently I was able to attend an Interfaith Roundtable Musical Celebration. Christian, Buddhist, Islamic, Jewish, Native American and many more religions performed songs and dances from their traditions. It gave a wonderful perspective on the similarities and differences of our lives.
Thanks for sharing your interesting example of “out of your comfort zone” activity and the benefit you received from attending the interfaith event–and your reminder that OT and NT Bible characters offer colorful insights too.