We’ve talked about developing our creativity. So far, we’ve covered practicing and seeing the world. Today we’ll discuss Technique 3: try something new.
I’m not just recommending we go skydiving sometime, although if you’re brave enough, go for it!
1. Experiment with a New Writing Style
Maybe you are strictly a blog writer; maybe you mainly write fiction; maybe academic writing is your singular experience in this wonderful craft.
Whatever your story is, it’s time to change it up. Try something new. Pick a type of writing you’ve never done before (or rarely ever do) and play around with it. Have fun. Make a mess. Don’t worry about how it turns out; it never needs to see the light of day.
I’ve done this with poetry, and my next experiment will be a short film script, which I’ve never written entirely on my own before. I’ve been intimidated to try; blank pages can be scarier when we’re filling them by a method we’ve never attempted!
2. Collaborate with Someone New
We all have our go-to feedback people. We know them, we trust them, and we’ve worked with them. Why not shake things up and approach someone new?
It doesn’t have to be a lengthy project. It could be a blog article or a short story. We just need to stretch our creative muscles by working with someone we haven’t collaborated with before. A lot of times the people we’re accustomed to working with won’t criticize or push us. (We like to be comfortable, and our choices reflect this most of the time.)
If collaboration is a completely new and foreign concept, guess what your next assignment is! It might feel weird at first, because in collaboration we are trying to merge two voices, and we aren’t the ones calling all the shots in the piece, but it can be rewarding when we get to the end and have a product we’re both happy with.
3. Go Skydiving
Just kidding. Or go ahead! The point here is to collect new experiences. We have to get out of our comfort zones.
This sounds a lot like what we covered in our article on seeing the world. The difference I want to highlight here is that we’re looking for new experiences, new feelings, and new sensations we can remember and use later in our writing. Going skydiving will give us words for what it feels like to stand on the edge of a plane thousands of feet above the earth, looking down at the faint ground below and knowing we have to step off the solid platform onto nothing and just fall. And we have to hope that our parachute works. That’s definitely getting out of our comfort zone. (<— By the way, this is why I’ve never gone skydiving but also why I sort of want make it happen someday.)
I’m telling myself this as much as I’m telling you. I wouldn’t describe myself as a brave person; I hate “putting myself out there” and running the risk of being terrified, failing at something, or disappointing people. But the times I’ve plunged ahead and done things anyway have been some of the best decisions I’ve made. Choosing to ride all the roller coasters at Cedar Point is a very small example, and in the process I discovered I actually like roller coasters more than I’m scared of them! Who knew?
4. Don’t Just Do It
Whether it’s flying for the first time, taking a helicopter tour, going horse-back riding, participating in a community theater production, learning to ride a unicycle, or exploring an ancient castle, we should try something new.
But beyond that, while we’re doing these things, we must experience them. We must be fully present and notice everything we can. What does it feel like? Smell like? Sound like? Taste like? We must feel and treasure these experiences so we can vividly use them in our writing. We can’t just do it; we must experience it.
While touring a castle in France, I paid particular attention to the way sounds echoed off the solid rock all around us, the way our steps sounded on the stones, the way the light flickered around the curved walls, and the way the air was damp and heavy in the interior. I wanted to be able to put characters into a castle readers could believe in, so whether they’d never visited one or had toured all of them, the experience would feel authentic and vivid.
Writers need to notice the small details. More than anything, these are what make our writing realistic, believable, and ultimately powerful to our readers.
What will you try next in your writing—or in your life? Share in the comments!
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