A change of scenery
Having just moved into a new place, I can tell you that a change of scenery definitely changes your attitude about certain things as well as your thinking patterns. Reinventing the daily intricacies of your life makes you see them in a new way, even makes the mundane kind of exciting again. 
Even a short term change of scenery–a vacation, a visit somewhere new–makes you ‘wake up’ and gets your brain running again. It’s a scientific fact that routine makes us blind and makes time go faster. If you want to slow down time, you need to seek out new experiences and venues. Your brain switches on when you’re in the presence of the unfamiliar.
Can this apply to writing as well? Of course!
When you’re stuck on a story, or you’re going through a dry spell of no writing at all, it can be incredibly aggravating and frustrating. For some people, a change of scenery helps. Moving your writing spot, or taking it out of the house to a coffee shop or library, seems to help. For me personally this doesn’t work, because a change of scenery is distracting to me. I find myself absorbed more in the environment around me than the story–I need my familiar, non-intrusive spot to write. That’s just me, though–not all writers are like this, and you might benefit from a different view.
There’s also the method of changing the scenery in the story itself. If you’re stuck and pulling your hair out, asking “what the hell happens next?” maybe it will jog your creative brain to pick up the story at a different spot, or write something different altogether. You can go back and write forward from a different scene (it might turn out better than what you have already), or jump ahead and write something that happens in the future and figure out how to connect the two pieces. You might step to the side and write something completely different–even completely different than the genre you usually write–to help your brain wake up. Likewise, if you’re stuck in a fallow period, you could try writing something you would never write, or are too scared to write, or is silly or unpublishable, knowing it’s for your eyes only and that it’s just to make your brain shake off the dust and snap to attention. Our minds work best when given some variety to play with.
Changing your view helps your eyes open and your creativity awaken. If you’re stuck in the same old same old, try turning around. The smallest shift in perspective could make a world of difference.
Filed under: Behind The Scenes Tagged: advice, creativity, inspiration, writing
