Picture this, fellow writers: you’re immersed in a writing session, yearning to craft a tale that grips readers with an ironclad hold. Yet the scene falls flat. Enter Dwight V. Swain’s Scene with his goal, conflict, disaster method for building a solid scene. Find out how to infuse your writing with tension, action, and an irresistible forward thrust. Swain’s ideas show you how to write compelling scenes that will truly captivate your readers.
Unleash Your Creativity by Doing the Opposite
Creativity is the lifeblood of artists and writers and we often seek ways to generate fresh, original ideas. Sometimes, however, our gut instincts can lead us in the wrong direction, rehashing concepts that we’ve explored to death. Instead, we can explore uncharted territory by deliberately going against our internal instincts. Doing the opposite of what you plan to do can generate more original ideas.
Boost Your Creativity with the Art of Wu Wei
In the pursuit of creativity, we often rush from one idea to another, fearing the dreaded void of boredom. However, according to the wisdom of Wu Wei, allowing yourself to experience moments of stillness and boredom can open up a portal to creative insights. So take a break from the constant bombardment of stimuli, let your mind wander, and boost your creativity by employing this ancient Chinese philosophy.
Broken Branches and Knots: Thriving with Writer Rejection
No matter how long you’ve written and polished your writing, you’ll eventually need to show it off to other people. Professional publishers and agents reject hundreds more manuscripts than they accept. The sting of this failure can be hard to cope with. The best solution is to handle it the same way trees do: Broken branches are transformed into knots, which make the tree stronger. Writer rejection can seem like a death knell, but treated properly, it can allow us to thrive.
Niksen: Unleash the Power of Doing Nothing
In this hyperconnected, hyperproductive world, we often find ourselves caught in the clutches of endless to-do lists. But fear not, dear creatives, for Niksen offers a momentary escape. Niksen is a Dutch concept translating to “doing nothing”. We need to embrace the art of idleness! Take a break from the warp-speed of life and allow your mind to wander freely. Sit back, relax, and let the celestial winds of inspiration gently caress your weary soul.
Should You Keep Writing or Abandon Your Work?
In Aswan Egypt sits the world’s tallest stone obelisk, at a massive 137 feet in length. Pity that it’s laying down. After years or even decades of carving the monument from stone, the Egyptians abandoned the project. Why? Because a massive crack developed along the center. As writers, crafting a novel can feel like chiseling words out of stone. But if a fundamental flaw develops in your work, should you keep writing or should you abandon it all together? Here are three things to consider.
Writing is Emotion: Jerk Your Readers Around
Right now, ChatGPT is upending all kinds of art and writing. Yet the core of good fiction is the emotion the writer brings to the table. Let’s wait till AI goes through some trauma and then it might be able to write well. Everyone, AI included, can write decent fiction. But to make the story sing, you need to jerk your readers around because writing is emotion.
Exploit AI Mistakes to Improve Your Writing
Without a doubt, AI and ChatGPT have forever transformed the way artists and writers create. At this very moment, screenwriters are striking over the use of AI in film and television. And to be sure, AI is a powerful tool, able to churn out truckloads of workable stories and ideas. Yet just as many times, AI can generate some pretty insane snippets of text. Called “hallucinations” these hint at the way AI thinks and interacts with the world. As writers, we can exploit AI mistakes to jumpstart our own creative projects.
Writers Must Harness the Power of Ma — The Emptiness Between Words
Once you get rolling on a good bit of writing, you don’t want to stop. After all, the more you create, the better your end product will be, right? However, you might just be what the Japanese call a manuke, or fool. This is a person without the awareness of ma — a philosophy that cherishes the space between things. In order to writer better, writers must harness the power of ma.
How to Come Up with that Really Great Idea
Why is it that when we hunker down to come up with a new idea, our minds suddenly empty of any interesting thought? As writers or artists, our basic job description is the come up with new and interesting things. It’s the definition of creativity. But how to come up with that really great idea? Sometimes, you have to trick your brain in to being creative.
