Finding your muse and breaking that writer’s block

I wish I was a better writer. Don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty good, but as I get older, I feel like my ideas are getting fewer and far between. I think we all go through some form of writer’s block, whether be it a blog like this, or even a new recipe to try for dinner. It can feel discouraging, and if it involves your line of work or a staple in your life, it can feel downright tragic. The good news though, you’re not really out of ideas! I promise. You might just need to try looking at something from a different angle.

I know, it seems like I’m trying to give some sort of easy solution or trick to get past that hurdle. In fact, it can be quite hard to see something in a different way. We are dependent on our patterns and perspectives to get through daily life, to form and maintain friendships, and in many ways do our jobs. But here’s the thing. The more we adhere to our patterns, the less we are open to new experiences. And that’s where most good ideas come from, isn’t it? Something new, something that hasn’t been said before, or at least something that hasn’t been described quite that way. Our muse is our experience plus our imagination; she can’t survive without one or the other. Think about it. What makes something boring? Imagination is limited when your outlook on life is static, and your outlook on life is limited when you can’t explore those impossible ideas swirling in your brain.

Reengaging that muse can be tough, but I say that you can do it by finding that different angle of seeing things. Have an old, tired recipe? Take the risk and turn it upside down. Add curry to an American dish. Double the amount of pepper. Make a vegetarian version. It may wind up totally sucking, but you just changed your perspective a bit, likely triggering more ideas to try. Have writer’s block? Start a daily journal where you capture literally any thought that comes to mind, even if that thought is ‘I don’t know what to write’. Or you can try defending an argument that is opposite or contrasts your own belief or way of thinking. It doesn’t have to be good, like the recipe, it first just has to ‘be’. Anything that pulls you out of your everyday experience can ignite your imagination, which in turn can start the ideas flowing. Capture those ideas, good and bad, expand on them, toss what doesn’t work, keep what does. I’ll bet you dinner that expanding on even the bad ideas will help you find that one good idea that has been stuck in your brain this whole time.

The point is to reignite your passion by unlocking your brain, by getting out of your own head so to speak. Finding that different angle can seem scary, but as a writer, who doesn’t love something scary? 🙂 Give yourself room to breathe and the permission to color outside of the lines. The first rule of creation is to create; with some courage, what that creation turns into can be something much more meaningful than you, well, imagined. For something like writer’s block, or whatever it is that is being blocked, change your angle and you will be surprised how many new ideas emerge.

By the way, this first blog post is just what I am talking about above. Does this article suck, or does it ring true? In fact, it doesn’t really matter. It’s a beginning, and we all have to start somewhere…