Three Ways to Keep Your Creativity Pumping

Fiction writers are on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred sixty-five days a year. There is no telling when the magical muse will poke his or her head out of oblivion and speak. Unfortunately, there is no way of enticing it to speak either. A fiction writer's muse will give ideas whenever it is ready to, and not a moment before.

In the absence of muse, a fiction writer's craft must go on. Muses are proud creatures and, if ignored or harangued for too long, they may not come back at all. Sometimes, you have to keep your creativity pumping all on your own.

Luckily, there are ways to raise creativity levels without the help of your muse.

Writing Prompts

Online, in books, and in fiction writing magazines, you can often find a bunch of writing prompts to use. You can also find randomizer programs online that will come up with unusual story ideas and starters.

Using these writing prompts will help to keep your creativity high. Of course, you will not be coming up with your own story idea, but instead molding another's idea into your own creation.

Think of a writing prompt like a box of craft supplies. You are given a character, a theme, and a setting, and asked to make a project. There are innumerable ways you can do this.

Completely Random Input

A great way to force your brain into creative thinking is by the use of the "Three Random Word" trick. All you have to do is flip open a book, or a dictionary, three times and randomly pick a word on the page. These three words will form the basis for your next fiction story.

With these three words, you can go in many different directions. That is where your creativity is engaged.

Nonsense

Fiction writers flying without their muse co-pilot must allow themselves to delve into uncharted water. Nonsense builds creativity.

If you are thinking of a vague story idea - for example, boy meets girl, they fall in love, and get married - but find it flat and uninteresting, you can interject some nonsense. Give the boy a crazy uncle who is allergic to the girl's perfume, or a troubled past that manifests itself in anger at Italian food.