Creative Writing Fears: What Happens When I Run Out Of Ideas For My Creative Writing?
A common fear of many creative writers is: what happens when I run out of ideas to explore in my creative writing?
Whether it's ideas to keep an ongoing project like a novel or script moving forward and developing, or fresh ideas for completely new projects, the fear that we might not have enough inspiration in us to see them through can be very restrictive.
Sometimes this fear can prevent us even starting a new creative writing project.
We don't want to risk the possibility of having to abandon it half way through because we've run out of ideas, then being resigned to adding it to our already substantial collection of half-finished projects gathering dust on a dark shelf.
So what CAN we do to prevent this kind of fear from crippling our creativity?
And how can we produce a steady flow of ideas, enough to keep us confident we'll always have new material and inspiration available when we need it?
It begins by changing our whole approach to"having ideas", and how we record and collect them.
If we simply sit hopefully and wait for inspiration to hit us when we need a new idea, we're going to be disappointed most of the time. We need a new, more consistent, more reliable approach.
So, to ensure YOU'RE never short of creative writing ideas whenever you need them, follow this simple 3 step plan:
1. Be open and receptive at all times. Having a stream of great ideas begins with letting yourself have them, and doing all you can to open yourself to them. What does this mean in practical terms?
It means looking at things from different angles, being curious, asking questions, absorbing the little details that makes something wonderful or provocative or moving.
The more you practice this, the easier and more natural it becomes to see beyond the everyday and the mundane and start to let those ideas come through, first at a trickle, then soon a flood.
2. Record every idea. It's not much use having this flood of ideas if you're not capturing them in a useful way. It's the equivalent of going through a long drought then when the rain comes, having nothing in place to collect the water, and seeing it all gush away as quickly as it came.
So what's the best way to record your ideas? For most people a small pocket notebook works brilliantly well. Carry it with you at all times and jot down even fragments of ideas you have. Just by capturing them in this early stage, they'll be able to grow. If you let them pass, or think you'll remember them later, they'll most likely be lost forever.
3. Have your idea collection ready to hand and ready to use. Once you've developed the habit of being more open and receptive to ideas and stimulation around you, then capturing the ideas you have in a useful form, what next?
It's no good then putting your idea packed notebook away somewhere, and sitting at a blank screen in the grip of writer's block, wonder where on earth the next idea will come from. Have your ideas book close to hand, use the ideas in it regularly, then cross them off as they're explored.
If you follow these 3 simple steps, and adjust them to suit you best, you'll soon have a great system in place to have, capture and develop more ideas for your creative writing than you'll ever need.
Whether it's ideas to keep an ongoing project like a novel or script moving forward and developing, or fresh ideas for completely new projects, the fear that we might not have enough inspiration in us to see them through can be very restrictive.
Sometimes this fear can prevent us even starting a new creative writing project.
We don't want to risk the possibility of having to abandon it half way through because we've run out of ideas, then being resigned to adding it to our already substantial collection of half-finished projects gathering dust on a dark shelf.
So what CAN we do to prevent this kind of fear from crippling our creativity?
And how can we produce a steady flow of ideas, enough to keep us confident we'll always have new material and inspiration available when we need it?
It begins by changing our whole approach to"having ideas", and how we record and collect them.
If we simply sit hopefully and wait for inspiration to hit us when we need a new idea, we're going to be disappointed most of the time. We need a new, more consistent, more reliable approach.
So, to ensure YOU'RE never short of creative writing ideas whenever you need them, follow this simple 3 step plan:
1. Be open and receptive at all times. Having a stream of great ideas begins with letting yourself have them, and doing all you can to open yourself to them. What does this mean in practical terms?
It means looking at things from different angles, being curious, asking questions, absorbing the little details that makes something wonderful or provocative or moving.
The more you practice this, the easier and more natural it becomes to see beyond the everyday and the mundane and start to let those ideas come through, first at a trickle, then soon a flood.
2. Record every idea. It's not much use having this flood of ideas if you're not capturing them in a useful way. It's the equivalent of going through a long drought then when the rain comes, having nothing in place to collect the water, and seeing it all gush away as quickly as it came.
So what's the best way to record your ideas? For most people a small pocket notebook works brilliantly well. Carry it with you at all times and jot down even fragments of ideas you have. Just by capturing them in this early stage, they'll be able to grow. If you let them pass, or think you'll remember them later, they'll most likely be lost forever.
3. Have your idea collection ready to hand and ready to use. Once you've developed the habit of being more open and receptive to ideas and stimulation around you, then capturing the ideas you have in a useful form, what next?
It's no good then putting your idea packed notebook away somewhere, and sitting at a blank screen in the grip of writer's block, wonder where on earth the next idea will come from. Have your ideas book close to hand, use the ideas in it regularly, then cross them off as they're explored.
If you follow these 3 simple steps, and adjust them to suit you best, you'll soon have a great system in place to have, capture and develop more ideas for your creative writing than you'll ever need.
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