Scott Oldford Site

Tag: inspiration

  • How to Use Writing Prompts to Become a Better Writer

    How to Use Writing Prompts to Become a Better Writer

    Writing prompts are everywhere, from published collections to free online tools. But when you use them, are you getting all the potential benefits?

    Even among writers who take their writing seriously both artistically and professionally, this question isn’t often asked. After all, prompts are pretty straightforward, right? Find one, brainstorm, write.

    If I’m being totally honest, when I first started writing fiction, I didn’t get all the hype around prompts. What was I supposed to be doing with all these random collections of ideas? Should I get a book of prompts and try one every day? Should I subscribe to a blog and try every prompt that hit my inbox? Should I join an online writing community?

    I couldn’t understand what made one prompt better than any other, and I got overwhelmed. It was enough to turn me off prompts altogether for several years.

    But this spring, I committed to writing a new story every week. It didn’t take long for me to start seeking ways to keep my concepts fresh … and so I decided it was time to give prompts a second chance.

    And that’s when something finally clicked for me. It turns out, the prompt itself doesn’t matter nearly as much as what you do with it.

    Want to make sure you gain all you can when you use writing prompts? Follow these tips.

    Fully explore the prompt

    It’s easy to feel like you’re under a ticking clock when reacting to a prompt (sometimes, you literally are). But don’t just roll with the first idea that comes to you. When it comes to creativity, quantity breeds quality.

    The first ideas we get tend to be the most obvious, or the most familiar. But one of the benefits of prompts is that they stretch our creative capacity. So flex that imagination and take the time to come up with many different story premises before committing to one.

    I recommend focusing on possible story directions for at least 10-15 minutes before you do anything else to get past the easy ones and start coming up with more intriguing, exciting angles.

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    Draft ’til you’re done

    Let’s be real: That creative high you get from prompts is only going to take you about 15 minutes into drafting. But don’t stop writing! Finish that sucker.

    It can feel like the ideas (or even just the burst of creativity) are the whole point of using a prompt, but there’s so much more to it than that. Prompts also give you the opportunity to practice those oh-so-critical elements of the storytelling craft, such as plotting, characterization, worldbuilding and even editing. Don’t shrug off an opportunity to hone your skills.

    Get feedback

    This is another critical aspect to using prompts to hone your skills. No writer is able to judge his or her own work objectively. So once you’ve done as much as you can on your own, get outside input.

    If you have a critique partner or writing group, that’s perfect. If you don’t, there are plenty of ways to join one, or just ask a friend to give it a read. A person doesn’t have to be a writer to tell if something reads well — they just to be thoughtful and willing to share an honest opinion.

    Submit it

    By now you’ve got a fantastic story on your hands. Don’t let it just sit in a folder in your laptop. Find a literary magazine that’s a good match and submit it!

    Some prompts even offer their own opportunities to be published. For example, DIYMFA’s Writer Igniter is seeking submissions for an anthology to be released this fall, but you’re only eligible if you use the Igniter to create your story.

    Go back to square one

    Congratulations, you just prompted your way to an awesome story, snagged a byline and sharpened up your writing skills along the way.

    Why not do it again? The more you practice, the better you’ll get, and the more bylines you’ll win. And since you took the time to brainstorm lots of ideas at the beginning of your last prompt, you’ve got a slew of ideas already, waiting to turn into stories.

    Do you use writing prompts to help you develop stories or practice your skills? Share your strategies — and your favorite sources of prompts! — in the comments.

  • Should You Wait for Writing Inspiration, or Stick to a Routine?

    Should You Wait for Writing Inspiration, or Stick to a Routine?

    Do you wait for inspiration to strike before you write, or sit down on a regular basis and write regardless of how you feel?

    It’s great to feel inspired — to be almost obsessed with your writing, eager to get words down as quickly as possible. When you’re really in the writing zone, you might find yourself losing track of time and being highly productive for hours.

    But let’s be honest, for most of us, this isn’t a daily or even a weekly reality. Most of the time, we do want to write … but we somehow struggle to get on with it.

    If you only ever write when you’re inspired, you probably won’t produce much. That’s fine if you’re happy writing an occasional poem or short story, but if you’re working on a blog, a novel, or an entire writing career, you’ve got to make writing more of a routine.

    And yet, sitting down and forcing out 1,000 or 2,000 or 3,000 words a day could just be a recipe for hating both the act of writing and what you’ve written.

    Here’s how to get the best of both worlds.

    Step #1: Schedule regular writing sessions

    To keep up your momentum, you need to write regularly. That doesn’t necessarily mean writing daily.

    Some writers thrive while working on their book, say, for 20 minutes per day, without fail. Others do much better with two hour-long sessions each week.

    Find a writing rhythm that works for you — not your best friend, your creative writing tutor, or that author you follow on Twitter. Experiment with short daily sessions one week and longer twice-week sessions the next. Which do you prefer?

    You may even find your rhythm shifts over time, especially if other aspects of your life change, so don’t be afraid to experiment again occasionally.

    Step #2: Make your environment work for you

    Something that writers often don’t realize about inspiration is it generally doesn’t just appear out of the blue.

    You might always feel inspired after a long walk, or a relaxing bath, or when you listen to a particular piece of music.

    As much as possible, make your writing environment work in your favor. When you sit down to write, you want to feel like you’re instantly getting into that writing zone.

    This could mean:

    • Removing distractions from nearby — if you have a bunch of half-read books on your desk and they tempt you away from writing, put them somewhere else.
    • Playing music, white noise, or other sounds that help you focus. I often pick an album (or a band) to listen to just while I’m working on my novel-in-progress, and sometimes use Noisli if I’m struggling to focus on other writing.
    • Using reminders of your writing goals: inspirational quotes or posters on your wall, vision boards, or your total word count so far on a Post-it note on your desk; whatever works for you.

    Step #3: Give yourself a break when you need it

    While it’s great to form a strong writing habit, if you have a particular day or week when you’re really struggling to write, let it go. Take some time off before you risk burning out. You may just need to let your work sit for a day or two while you give your subconscious a chance to come up with some new insights.

    Personally, I sometimes find it hard to distinguish between feeling a bit lazy and being genuinely in need of a break. If that happens to you too, I suggest setting a timer and writing for just 10 minutes.

    If you find your initial reluctance to write has faded, or entirely gone, keep going! If those 10 minutes were a real grind, stop and give yourself permission to have a writing break.

    Step #4: Stay connected to your writing in busy times

    Sometimes, routines get interrupted. Maybe you’re ill, or your kids are ill. Maybe you’re moving house or starting a new job or working on a big non-writing project.

    If you know you’re going through a busy patch, and you won’t have the time or energy to write on a regular basis, look for ways to stay connected to your work.

    That might mean:

    • Keeping a notebook of ideas for blog posts.
    • Reading books or blogs about writing (or listening to podcasts).
    • Sharing excerpts of your writing with other people.
    • Jotting down a single sentence in a journal every day.

    You might find you feel inspired to write a blog post or a new scene of your novel — if so, great, go with it! If you don’t, that’s fine too.

    Ultimately, there’s no perfect blend of inspiration and routine that will work for every writer, but all of us need both the spark of inspiration and the momentum of regular work to produce finished work that makes us feel happy and satisfied.

    How do you balance inspiration with routine in your own writing life? Share your tips in the comments below!

  • Fighting Writer’s Block? This Strategy Will Get Your Creativity Flowing

    Fighting Writer’s Block? This Strategy Will Get Your Creativity Flowing

    Every writer experiences this situation at some point.

    You sit down at the computer, ready to hammer out words, but absolutely nothing comes out. Not a single word.

    It’s just you and the blank page, with its blinking cursor quietly taunting you. Eventually you force a few clunky words and then…

    Backspace, backspace, backspace.

    It’s like someone ran a super-magnet over your brain’s hard drive and wiped it hopelessly clean of whatever inspiration and imagination had been inside when you first sat down.

    What should you do when the creativity won’t flow? Prolific artists like Pablo Picasso and Austin Kleon, author of Steal Like an Artist, offered this answer: When you’re running low on inspiration, steal it from others.

    A point of clarification

    There’s a difference between finding inspiration in others’ work and plagiarizing it. Don’t plagiarize, ever.

    Become a student of others’ work, but do it to pinpoint the style that resonates with you and then make your point in your unique voice.

    Build a swipe file

    Staying creatively prolific requires smart tools, and the swipe file is one that should be in every writer’s bag of tricks to beat writer’s block.

    Marketing pros have used swipe files for years because they’re always looking for a hundred different ways to say something. Starting from scratch every time they need to pitch a product is both difficult and unnecessary, so they’ve learned how to engineer inspiration into the process by making it a ritual.

    They’re always paying attention, studying other marketers and collecting ideas. When a smart turn of phrase grabs them, or a competitor’s ad is a runaway success, these experts add it to their swipe files. When it’s time to develop a new concept, they use the swiped ideas to spark their own creative processes.

    When I began writing fiction seriously 10 years ago, I borrowed that approach to build an inspiration reservoir, and it transformed my writing.

    It all starts with reading

    To be a good writer, you must first be a prolific reader. As you expose yourself to ideas and stories, your brain subconsciously absorbs and files source material that will inform your work.

    If you don’t think you have time to read, that’s an indication that you need to make time and foster curiosity. Reading both broadly and specifically in your chosen genre will teach you what good (and bad) writing looks like. You’ll develop a palate for language and intuition for good ideas.

    More importantly, each idea and word that you experience is like a dot on the page of your subconscious. Creativity is little more than connecting dots, so the more dots you have, the better. When comes time to write, the well will be full.

    But reading isn’t enough. You have to steal along the way.

    Steal like an artist: How to use a swipe file

    We’ve all had times when we’ve had a great idea, or were inspired by something we saw, and didn’t take the time to capture it in the moment. “I’ll write it down later,” we say, but later never comes. The moment is lost, and the idea along with it.

    This is where the swipe file comes in. You need one place to conveniently and consistently chronicle the dots as you bump against them.

    I use a combination of Evernote and Pocket as my swipe file. Both are free and can be used on a mobile device and laptop, so I can capture text, images and audio notes for later reference.

    For those times when I purposely unplug from digital things, I use a pocket-sized Moleskine notebook, though several writerly folks I know use Field Notes.

    As I come across things I want to capture, I curate them in my Evernote swipe file or jot them down in my notebook until I can add them to Evernote.

    A peek inside my swipe file

    My Swipe Book is divided into a few separate sections:

    SIPs (Stories in progress)

    At any given time, I have dozens of ideas in various stages of development. Stories need space to grow and time to age before they’re ready to be written.

    I often have “What if… “ scenarios that cross my mind, and this is the folder they go in until I can more fully develop them.

    Story starters

    Reality is sometimes stranger and more fascinating than fiction. I keep a folder specifically to capture those things that I think carry some story DNA. Often, bits of story starters end up in my work in unexpected way.

    Stolen Words

    To be a wordsmith, you should study wordsmiths. As I’m reading during the week, I come across turns of phrase that I love and wish I had written. I’ll capture those in my “stolen words” folder and study them to deconstruct why I love them.

    I also flip through this folder when I’m stuck with own manuscript and need inspiration to see things from a different angle.

    Putting it all together

    It all breaks down to this process:

    • Create a swipe file to easily capture ideas for later.
    • Explore other people’s ideas and be hyper-aware of what resonates with you.
    • Capture great ideas in the moment and curate them in your swipe file.
    • Once a week, review your swipe file and see what happens.

    Developing a bottomless reservoir of ideas is truly as simple as it sounds. Be curious about the world around you and then document everything that sticks with you. Soon you’ll have more ideas than you can possibly develop, and your imagination will never stall again.

    Do you keep a swipe file? How has it helped you as a writer?

  • Feeling Stuck? 7 Tools for Developing Fresh Story Ideas

    Feeling Stuck? 7 Tools for Developing Fresh Story Ideas

    As writers, we have a number of jobs. Putting words down on a page is only half of what goes on behind the scenes, right? There’s also the editing, the research, the continuous coffee making and, of course, coming up with ideas.

    This last task is one of the most important parts of the writing process because without ideas you have, well, not a lot. If you write regularly, whether that means blog posts, short stories or copy, you know that coming up with consistently brilliant ideas isn’t always easy.

    It’s true. While most writers are naturally creative and innovative, we sometimes run out of steam. Tapping away at a keyboard for hours at a time can leave your brain mushy and your ideas lacking a certain luster. Once you’ve finished writing for the day, you have to plan out your ideas for tomorrow (cue head hitting desk), leaving you feeling unmotivated and, at worst, like a bad writer.

    Luckily, there are plenty of places you can tap into for writing inspiration when you’re running low on ideas.

    1. Buzzsumo

    Buzzsumo is great for creating instant “lightbulb” moments for blog posts and articles.

    It’s extremely user-friendly — all you have to do is type in a few words about the topic you’re researching. Buzzsumo’s algorithm uses social shares to measure how readers engage with certain topics, pulling in the best-shared posts relating to the keywords you choose.

    The downside? Buzzsumo isn’t free. You can use it on a limited basis without paying anything, but if you want to see more than 10 results, you have to cough up $99 a month or more. However, I often find that the initial 10 results are enough to get the cogs moving, so I’ve stuck with the free option.

    I used Buzzsumo to come up with an article for The Huffington Post about things you shouldn’t do as a freelancer. After typing in “freelance tips,” I saw top articles like “10 Tips for Surviving as a Freelance Artist,” “Things I Learned the Hard Way,” and “Freelancer Tips for Success.” Since these posts focused on things you should do as a freelancer, I flipped the idea on its head and came up with “69 Things You Should NOT do as a Freelancer”.

    2. Quora

    While Quora used to be full of weird and random questions, it’s now a great source of inspiration and writing ideas. The site is full of people asking interesting questions that you just might be able to answer!

    Quora is free, and is great for finding out what readers really want. Just type in a few keywords and you’ll find yourself inundated with questions you can answer.

    I’ve found lots of inspiration on Quora for travel pieces, since there are hundreds of people looking for tips, hacks and itinerary inspiration. I’ve even been inspired by other people’s answers on Quora.

    For example, one user responded to a question about working remotely while traveling by saying that most people he knew who quit their jobs to live such a life were outgoing and confident. Now, I quit my job to travel the world, but I’m definitely not confident or outgoing, so I wrote a post highlighting how you don’t have to be confident to travel.

    3. Pinterest

    Pinterest is no longer just a place to browse through pretty pictures (though I can definitely spend a few hours doing that!). It’s also filled with great articles and tons of article ideas.

    Give it a try: Type “writing” into the search bar and check out the results that come back. Narrow them down by using the bar across the top to apply filters like “tips,” “inspiration,” “examples,” etc.

    If I click on “tips,” I can see loads of pretty pins with text over images. I see one that offers “Advice for New Writers,” so I might alter this slightly and create a post called “Advice for Shy Writers” based on my experience.

    I mainly use Pinterest for short story inspiration, using the highly visual layout to create settings and scenes for my characters. It’s perfect if you’re writing a novel or need to describe a destination for a travel piece, because you’ll find hundreds of examples that inspire your descriptions.

    4. Feedly

    I’m a big Feedly fan. Every morning I check my feed for new posts from my favourite sites.

    The great thing about this tool, besides the fact that it’s free, is that you can personalise your feed to include any topics and blogs you want, and you can separate them out into manageable lists. Writing for a cooking blog? Add a load of foodie sites to your feed. Need some travel article ideas? You know what to do!

    To get the most out of Feedly, bring up the search bar in your browser and type in a keyword. You’ll then see other blog posts on that topic all in one place. Handpick your favorite ones, and add those blogs to your feed to stay up-to-date on their new posts — which sets you up for future inspiration.

    I have a lot of large travel publications on my Feedly and I noticed that a lot of them were posting articles about “X Free Things to do in” a given city. The destinations they were featuring were fairly generic and well-covered — Lisbon, Barcelona — so I racked my brain to come up with less-commonly-written-about places where readers could benefit from having a selection of free things to do.

    I came up with “Free Things to do in Copenhagen.” It’s a notoriously expensive city, plus I already had a post on costs in Copenhagen that does particularly well on Google, so I knew this new post would be a hit.

    5. Bloglovin

    Like Feedly, Bloglovin is a free RSS reader that allows you to personalise your feed with blogs and sites that interest you. The great thing about this tool is that you can save articles for later, explore new blogs in different diagonals, and follow other users who like the same things as you, which gives you lots of different avenues to go down in search of inspiration.

    I follow mostly travel and lifestyle bloggers who post about their daily lives and what goes on behind the scenes of their blogs. I used to post solely about travel, offering tips and narratives about places I’d been.

    However, after seeing that some of the most popular posts on Bloglovin were ones that delved into the blogger’s life and turned the spotlight on them, I decided to shake things up. I now have a series on my blog about my life as a freelancer, and these posts are some of the most engaged with on my site.

    6. Google Alerts

    If you haven’t already set up Google Alerts, stop reading now and go and sign up — it’s free!

    Set as many alerts as you like with different keyword variations and topic ideas, like your name or “how to beat writer’s block.” I’d recommend receiving updates once a day; otherwise they can clog up your inbox.

    Google Alerts are perfect if you’re writing news articles and blog posts on trending topics. Each day, you’ll have a fresh set of blog posts, articles and news reports featuring the keywords you’re researching waiting patiently in your inbox.

    One of my blogs focuses on art around the world, highlighting artists, exhibitions and creative cities. I use Google Alerts to spark recent, relevant ideas as the art world changes so often. For example, the other day my alerts included a news article about “Sofia, Eastern Europe’s Unknown City of Art”, which has inspired me to write a post about some of Europe’s lesser-known arty hotspots.

    7. HARO (Help a Reporter Out)

    I only signed up for HARO this week after hearing that another blogger I follow tapped into it for inspiration. It’s free, and you get daily emails from reporters and journalists who are looking for sources for articles. The queries are divided into categories, so you can choose which alerts you receive (I’ve signed up for the travel and lifestyle segments).

    As I’m a new user of HARO, I haven’t incorporated any of its ideas into my writing yet. However, I can see the huge potential. For example, yesterday there was a call for “Restaurants Not Reachable By Car”, which could become “10 Quirky Hotels in the Middle of Nowhere,” or “5 Mediterranean Beaches Only Accessible by Car”.

    Not all of these tools will work for you. Find the ones that work best for your needs and experiment — mix and match ideas from different platforms and follow a selection of different publications. Most of all, have fun opening up new verticals of inspiration at the click of a button!

    What’s your favorite tool for writing inspiration? Where do you turn when you need to come up with new ideas?

  • 5 Ways to Start Living an Awesome Life Worth Writing About

    5 Ways to Start Living an Awesome Life Worth Writing About

    The best writing usually comes from personal experience. Doesn’t it? So then, how do you live an AWESOME life worth writing about?

    As a travel blogger, I constantly ask myself this question. And no matter what type of writing you do, I bet you’ve asked yourself the same thing.

    Here are five ways to live a life worth writing about.

    Read the rest of this post over at Positive Writer.

     

  • 3 Ways to Train Your Brain to be More Creative

    3 Ways to Train Your Brain to be More Creative

    Whether you’re just getting started freelancing or are employed full-time, writing “on demand” can be terribly difficult.

    Does this sound like you sometimes?

    •  Waiting for inspiration that just isn’t coming

    •  Finally hitting your creative stride… only to realize you have a meeting in 15 minutes

    •  Barely making deadlines because you’re struggling to get into the creative zone when you most need to

    You’re not alone. Being able to turn the creativity spigot on and off is something all of us creative professionals struggle with at some point in our careers. It’s essential to find a way to harness creative energy and tap into it when you need it.

    I’m naturally more creative at night and I don’t know if that will ever totally change. However, a few big changes to my workflow have helped me tap into the creativity I need during normal business hours. Not only does this work better for my clients, it enables me to have a personal life instead of being holed up in my office working odd hours. Win-win.

    Here’s how you can start channeling your creativity when you need it most.

    1. Develop a (good) habit

    Get your brain and body in the habit of sitting down at a specific time to work and be creative. Working in the middle of the night wasn’t ideal for my life or for my clients, so I trained myself to develop a creative and focused mindset during certain times of the day.

    I started by blocking off two two-hour windows a day for creative writing. During each creative session, I silenced my phone, closed my email and social media channels, and focused solely on the task at hand. After about a week of sticking to this schedule, I realized that my brain started to “tune in” during these times. I no longer needed a warm-up (see tip #2) to get into the flow and I found that I was much more focused.

    Try blocking off one or two “creative sessions” during your day and keep at it for at least a week to develop a good, creative habit.

    2. Train your brain

    Sometimes your schedule just won’t allow you to stick to your dedicated creative time. So, take a cue from Pavlov and his dogs: develop a creative ritual to get ready to write.

    One option is to start with a “fun file” before diving into more serious, professional work. A fun file is whatever you want it to be — an ongoing story or a writing prompt response — but most importantly, it is a no pressure zone to get yourself into the creative mindset. Work on this fun file for five to 15 minutes before switching to your “real” work.

    Eventually your brain will start to associate the fun file with being a precursor to real work and you’ll be able to seamlessly glide into serious work straight from your fun file at any time of the day.

    3. Take the power away from “The Muse”

    I don’t know about you, but I’m not too keen on having to wait around for other people — inspirational muses included.

    A lot of creative folks get stuck on the idea that they need to feel inspired in order to produce creative work. I get it. When those ideas and words are just flowing out of your brain it can certainly feel like divine inspiration. But in reality, you’re discrediting yourself as a creative professional when you give too much power to the muse.

    Remind yourself that you are the one producing the great creative work. You are the one who worked hard to get here. The more consistently you work on creative projects, the less you’ll even think about that finicky muse. Get into the habit of creating on your own terms and you’ll never sit around waiting for inspiration again.

    How do you find inspiration and creativity when you need it most?