O For A Muse of Fire

What do you use to get your creativity flowing again?

gingerune
GIMP, apparently.  But no, really, what do I use to get my creative juices flowing again when I have neglectfully let them stagnate?  In a perfect world I would not be allowed to let them coagulate, but here we are and there it is, you know, and so the question stands.

500 plunk

Thanks to Kendra, I now have a title for this exercise - this exercise which I did not myself invent.  If you don't need anything more than a kick in the pants, this is a great way to make yourself buckle down and work a little harder, darling.   In short, sit down and make yourself write 500 words before you are allowed to get back up.  There are no other rules.  The words don't have to be the best.  You should certainly try to do your best, but don't sweat the small stuff, as Applejack says.  This is a case of pushing yourself more than it is of pushing your characters.  Just move the plot along 500 more words and find where that puts you.  I usually find it has got me into the swing of things and I'm willing to push beyond 500 after that.

the shadow things

read well and rightly

You will always hear me say you must read, because it will always be true.  But in this case, make sure you are reading the right books.  I have finally reached a place in Gingerune at which I can go read about the Norman invasion of England if I like (which I do want to read that book at some point) and not have it unduly affect my writing, but I don't think it would be wise for me to make a reread of, say, Jane Austen because her dialogue would probably undermine my own.  I could probably get away with a reread of Knight's Fee, though.  Keep in mind where you are in the writing process:

do you need research material?do you need prose inspiration?do you need help defining your characters?
While you never want to steal from other people, half the art of writing is learning how to take other people's work, break it down into its essential components, and refashion it to help create the story you have in your own head. (WRITING IS ALCHEMY.)  You cannot create ex nihilo: there is no shame in admitting this fact of nature and getting help.

plenilune

poetry and music

I know this is kind of an odd thing to throw out there, but poetry and music (which is poetry set to harmonious noise) are very important to people and have been throughout human history.  They are important for you, they are important for your characters.  Writing a fairy-tale?  Dig around online or at the library for Tennyson or Spencer.  For music, I've been putting on Loreena McKennitt's hour-and-a-half-long performance at the Alhambra, which has lots of eastern-style music thrown in.  It is very inspirational and mood-setting. 

talk at people

We're assuming here that you have a general idea of what your story is going to be, but you're stuck and you don't know where to go.  Think-vomit at people.  Spill what you have, what you think you might have, what your problems are.  Sometimes, getting everything out helps shake answers loose that you did not know you had already.  And if you don't manage to shake anything loose yourself, your friend may have some excellent points with which to aid you.  If nothing else, at least they will be able to share your pain when you are done talking.

adamantine

imagery

There are days when I have to go trawl my own Pinterest boards to restore the visual images I had of my story-worlds.  And then there are days when I get it into my head that I am artistic and I make collages, as you see...  These activities are mind-numbing in a way, and if they don't help me get a good visual image back, they do at least make me fed up with GIMP and the internet so that I want to do nothing but make pretty words in my document just to restore some sanity to the world.

This is less a case of things I use and more things that I do.  But I hope that helps the inquirer and anyone else who was looking for some assistance.  Ciao!