Every creative person encounters times where we're not feeling creative at all. In this post, Macy Thornhill shares ways to support yourself to get past the natural blocks and slumps that come with the creative life.

“Being a writer is not just about typing. It’s also about surviving the rollercoaster of the creative journey.” ― Joanna Penn, The Successful Author Mindset

As writers, we’ve all had those times when we’re procrastinating. Whether it’s because you feel like your creative spark is waning, life is getting in the way of your writing goals, or, if we’re honest, because you’re a little afraid to take the plunge into serious writing.

How do you keep yourself productive when you’re in a creative slump? Sometimes, it’s possible to write your way through it. But other times the best you can do is keep yourself productive in other ways. But how do you know when you’re staying busy, versus when you’re doing busywork?

Over the years, I’ve learned a thing or two about writer’s block and creativity. With these tips, you’ll be able to keep yourself motivated and inspired, while waiting for that spark to come back.

1. Take Time To Think About Your Writing Career

“When you feel that creeping self-doubt, acknowledge it. Write down your feelings in your journal in your journal… and then continue with your writing.” ― Joanna Penn,

Sometimes, especially when you’re just starting out, it’s easy to get overwhelmed as a writer. It’s lonely work, and it can take a while to build up a readership or client base before you really get going.

It can be tough to self-motivate sometimes. When you’re finding it difficult to carve out time for writing because life gets in the way, or you’re not sure where to start, take some time to think about your goals.

For me, I have a notebook that I write in daily. It’s one part diary, one part bullet journal. I use it to keep track of what I’m working on, and where I’m hoping to take my writing in the future.

Find a way to keep yourself on task, whether it’s weekly writing goals or a list of places you want to eventually submit to. You’ll find it’s a great way to stay motivated.

2. Connect With Other Writers

Whenever I feel stuck, I find it motivating to spend time with other writers. Not only is it great to talk shop with someone going through things with you, but other writers might also see things you miss.

Procrastination and writer’s block can come from a mistake you don’t know you’re making. Connect with other writers, through writers groups or classes, and let them help you work through the problem.

At the very least, it might be enough to get you excited about writing again. If you don’t have a writing group in your area, try the Twitter hashtag #amwriting to connect with other writers, or find writing communities on Facebook or Instagram.

One caveat: As described in The Successful Author Mindset, writer groups can have an opposite effect on your creative flow. Group members can be critical for the sake of being critical and you can get lost in the avalanche of untargeted feedback. So make sure the group you’re in is one that will help you grow and move forward.

3. Write Something New

Many writing blogs advise against starting a new project when an old one is floundering, but I think the trick is to do something small. If you’re working on a novel, try a short story. If you’re writing fiction, write a non-fiction article.

The shift in your thinking can sometimes be enough to shake something loose creatively. So get out there and try something new in your writing! You could surprise yourself.

4. Work On Your Portfolio

A writer’s portfolio is a calling card for clients, agents, and publishers. If you’re in a serious writing lull, sometimes, going over your best pieces can help you remember your goals. Updating your portfolio can keep you busy, without succumbing to busywork.

What you need in a good portfolio depends on you, but a welcome page, resume, and references are a good start. Update and organize your contact info.

When you’re choosing pieces, make sure to choose not only your best but samples of the kind of work you’re most interested in doing. Try not to mix genres too much here. You want to show flexibility, but with a clear voice, and clear goals. Finally, mention the domain of your portfolio on all your online profiles, so potential clients, publishers, and agents can find you.

5. Resist Temptation to “Research”

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: “Oh, I really can’t write this scene without checking…” and two hours of Google later, you still haven’t written anything, but you now know everything there is to know about 18th-century juggling, how to bury a body, and the correct way to swaddle a baby.

When we’re procrastinating, research can be a very tempting distraction, especially now that you have an endless universe of data at your disposal. But resist the temptation. Without a clear idea of what you need to find, you’re not going to be effective as a researcher. Use your research only when you have a specific goal, and don’t use it to avoid producing work.

6. Take a Writer’s Walk

Sometimes, we can get so busy with writing we forget other things. If you’ve been pushing for a deadline, working on a big project, or looking for clients, it’s tough to make time to stop and smell the roses. Literally. Sometimes a change of scenery is exactly what you need to get your creative juices flowing.

Spending time in nature also boosts your memory, improves your mental health, and even increases brain activity! If spending too much time in your home office is sapping you creatively, get some fresh air, and replenish your creative energy. It’s better than sitting at home, staring at a blank page!

Takeaway

The best way to build a successful writing career is to make writing a habit, and show up for yourself. But we’ve all had times when it feels like the creative spark has left us. Sometimes it’s a day or two, sometimes a couple of weeks at a time.

When you’re in a slump, it feels easier to fill your life with pointless online meandering or lose yourself in irrelevant statistics.

It’s fine to take breaks, but spend that time to move closer to your goals. If you use this inspiration gap to work on other aspects of your business, you’ll stay motivated, and will return to your writing in no time.

What do you do to motivate yourself when you hit a writing slump? Please leave your thoughts below and join the conversation.

Macy Thornhill is the frantic scribbling squirrel over at Clippings.me. She loves writing herself out of sticky situations and helping fellow scribblers grow their freelance writing business.

If you haven’t heard of a muse board, don’t worry, you are not alone. Today’s guest blogger, Jill Hedgecock, developed the time-saving tool and her older daughter named it.

At some point, every writer has probably paused and wondered what the hair color of their antagonist is or perhaps the shape of the nose of an ancillary character.

What if instead of searching through files looking for a character profile or rifling back through chapters, all you had to do was look up? That is the just one example of the brilliance of creating a muse board.

So what exactly is this marvelous time-saving tool?

A muse board is a visual aid designed to create mood, inform plot, assist in character development, and inspire descriptive prose.

Assemble Materials

A standard 36- by 48-inch tri-fold presentation display board is the format that I use because it mimics the proper text proportions of story structure: a beginning (25%), middle (50%), and end (25%). The size makes it transportable, yet large enough to give you a snapshot of the essential elements of an entire plot. You will also need:

• photos and/or images of characters and setting (make sure they are not copyright protected)
• colored cardstock

Colored-backgrounds for the images can help a writer find the proper plot pacing: (e.g., red for intense scenes, orange for tension-building moments and yellow to let your readers breathe). The thicker paper allows for the images to be easily moved around if you decide to restructure your scenes.

Other possible elements:

• scented paper
• reminder post-its
• family genealogy
• geographic maps
• timelines
• back cover text or taglines

Organize the Images

Whether you are a “pantser” (those who let the story unfold organically) or a “plotter” (those who prepare a detailed book outline), you can still benefit from the tool.

For the pantser, as your character or setting starts to develop, take a break from the keyboard and find images after the initial descriptions are established. Your board may very well be developed at the end of each writing day or even at the completion of a chapter.

For the plotter, go ahead and dive in and complete the whole muse board or maybe prepare it in stages for each panel.

Remember: The board can be changed at any time during book development. Peel off the image of a character that got axed in draft two or plaster a new image on top of it. Better yet, keep it on there and use it as a conversation starter at a book event.

Reap the Benefits

A muse board can make you a better writer. That’s a bold statement, so let me explain.

Besides avoiding the time-suck of making sure descriptive details are consistent throughout the book and fixing pacing (described above). Here are a few more advantages:

• Got writer’s block? Study an image on your board write a paragraph on why you included it. Or write backstory around the picture. It doesn’t even need to be part of the book, but this short exercise may jump-start your work-in-process or possibly take your characters on a new and exciting plot twist.
• Can’t find the right ending? Move images around. Chances are the answer is on the board, but maybe in the wrong spot.
• Fix a one-dimensional character. With a muse board, you can treat them like paper dolls. Dress them in different clothes. Put their image on a horse? Are they afraid? Thrilled?
• Do you stumble when it comes to conveying emotion? Images can provide visual descriptors. Where are the tears welling up in a photo of a young girl? What is she doing with her hand? (For example, I have a picture of an angry teen to remind me about how she feels about her father after she discovers his extra-marital affair.)
• Does your plot occur in one place? Grab images of a park or a greyhound race track or a kid playing in a fountain. Can folding these settings into your story add depth?
• Study your second and third muse board panels. You might find opportunities to foreshadow early in the book.
• Do you see repetition in the photos? This may help you identify a key theme that hadn’t occurred to you.

A muse board is both a great attention grabber and a conversation starter. A muse board is a 4-foot visual feast that can be seen across a room. It can pique curiosity. In a few short moments, the visuals can tell your storyline more effectively than your elevator pitch.

[Images provided by Jill Hedgecock.]

Jill Hedgecock’s debut coming-of-age suspense novel, Rhino in the Room, was largely written with the aid of a muse board during the month of November as part of the National Novel Writing Month program.

She found new ways to improve her writing when using the muse board tool for latest novel due out in 2019, Between Shadow’s Eyes. To learn more, visit www.jillhedgecock.com. Connect with her on Twitter @JillHedgecock.

Every writer has strategies they use when they're feeling blocked creatively and the words aren't flowing. In this post, Kim Petersen shares one of her favorite ways to get back in touch with the creative muse.

Can you relate to this scenario?

Imagine that the planets have aligned. The stars are twinkling and shining bright over your Muse. The inspiring energy of the waxing moon has fuelled your creative well and you are at the top of your writing game.

The words are flowing – you idly wonder if fire could potentially catch your fingertips as you clank on the keyboard faster than a Bullet Train en route to Tokyo City. Hell, even the kids are cutting you a break.

Then, in the next instant, you’re drawing a blank. Suddenly, your words have hit a brick wall, your characters are giving you the evil-eye and the stars have forsaken your Muse for a glitzy night out on the town in Tokyo City. And you weren’t invited.

Sound familiar?

I’ve been there – my Muse has polarized me. Yep, he has ditched me for a night out in Tokyo to swing it with other writers while I desperately grasped for inspiration. Yet, I am a writer. I cannot wait around all day hoping he’ll tire of the Tokyo glitz and come back to me.

These are the moments that define us as writers; when we realize that we cannot always rely on the Muse to get creative. So, when the Muse has left us high and dry, we need a back-up plan. One that allows us to explore and engage our imaginative resources dwelling in the creative realms.

I’m going to share an alternative method that I use to tap into my higher-creative mind – the Pendulum. So, let’s get into it.

Understanding the Higher Mind for Creativity

To understand how we can deliberately access the depths of the higher mind, we must first understand that the human mind has many layers. Cognitive neuroscientists claim that only five percent of our brain is conscious while the rest lies beyond our awareness.

The conscious mind rules rational thought and language, as well as logical processing, while the unconscious mind thinks in the expression of form such as images, memories, underlying desires, and creativity.

It is the unconscious part of the mind that holds many keys to the lasting power of creativity.
Creativity takes courage. As writers, we yearn to tell stories; to express a sacred part of ourselves and share it with the world.

When we connect to our natural creative resources, we are actually tuning into the unconscious part of our minds; this is where we discover the pathways that lead us to glorious realms – the highest part of ourselves that defines our existence – the obscure and mystic higher-creative mind.

As creatives, we rely on connecting to those imaginative resources that linger in the unknown realms. Strengthening your relationship with these transcendental dimensions is key to allowing your creative energy to flow – Muse or no Muse.

Putting into Practice

So, we’ve established that the unconscious mind is our connection to our higher-creative minds. How can we use this information to enrich our imagination and inform our stories?

Raise your Vibration
It is well-established that when we raise our level of vibration, we attract influences from higher realms. While we don’t know for certain where artistic inspiration originates, this wondrous resource is available to us all and is the cornerstone of all creation.

This is not a vague, mystical conundrum as many might think. It is at this higher level of the creative process that we become a transparent agent for another intelligence to pass through us.

The higher the frequency of your energy or vibration, the lighter you feel in your physical, emotional, and mental bodies. By raising your vibration, you become more in touch with your higher self.

Practice raising your vibration by:

1. Meditation – no surprise here, meditation has been practiced by our ancestors for eons. The fact that stilling the mind has increased in popularity is related to the many benefits’ meditation produces as a holistic practice. Some of these nuggets include stress reduction, positive effects on emotional health and enhancing self-awareness. Yet, there is more at play here. It is when we are able to cease our thought-stream that we are propelled into the great silence; and this is where it’s at – the portal to the higher-creative mind.
2. Connect with nature – ah, there is nothing like curling your toes between grainy sand, or feeling the soft blades of grass folding beneath your bare feet. Don’t roll your eyes and frown, because guess what? Getting intimate with the earth is like tapping into a natural reservoir of electric energy. That’s right, the earth is equipped to absorb negative energy as well as supply what is needed to achieve homeostasis in our bodies. In short, stepping on the ground electrically balances you!
3. Explore your inner-world through free writing – free writing is to the mind what yoga is to the body. Allowing your thoughts to run free without restriction through your writing develops and fosters your writing abilities, as well as drives inspiration. In addition to promoting good writing habits, free-writing unearths emotional themes and can shatter those invisible barriers stifling creative expression.
4. Contemplate your divinity and reflect – without getting too enigmatic, it is amazing the revelations available to us when we take the time to ponder the mystery of life and our connection to all that is. It is in the small, quiet moments when you’re digging your toes in the sand and gazing at the ocean, or just sitting beneath the sun and appreciating its warmth that you connect with a higher energy, thus, raising your own vibration. Acknowledging and becoming aware of your connection to the universe cannot be underestimated.

Accessing the Pathways

Now that we have discussed a few ways to raise our vibration, we can take a look at opening the pathways to the higher-creative mind.

Accessing other dimensions is nothing new. You are a writer; chances are your interest in exploring the mysteries of life is as insatiable as mine. At least, to a certain degree. So, the fact that channeling the spirit-world has existed since day-dot probably doesn’t spook you.

If you are anything like me, these ancient methods and spiritual-based practices may even fascinate you. One such practice is the use of the pendulum.

Before we dive into more about the pendulum, I will say that this practice is a highly subjective field of interest. I cannot claim the following to be absolute, but in the realm of accessing my higher-creative mind, it works for me.

The Pendulum for Creativity

Did you know that pendulum divination is one of the oldest processes for channeling guidance from the higher realms?

Historically, dowsing has been known for its ability to locate water, gold, oil and other minerals. Neolithic cave paintings have been found depicting figures holding dowsing rods, and the fact that dowsing was practiced by ancient tribes suggests that its practice is naturally occurring.

But what dowsers use more than any other tool is the pendulum. While this form of divination is one of the oldest methods for receiving guidance from the spirit world, the swinging patterns of the pendulum can also be used to access our higher mind for creativity.

What is a Pendulum?

The pendulum is a very simple tool. It is a symmetrical, weighted object that is hung from a single chain or cord, and one that allows the user to tune into their intuitive powers.

The pendulum acts as a receiver and transmitter of information, and moves in different ways in response to questions.

Pendulums can be made from all kinds of materials: quartz, crystals, and gemstones. And metals such as silver, gold, coins, keys, and other objects, as well as various woods.

How Does It Work?

Much like the ever-growing popularity of current practices described for using Tarot to inform our writing, the pendulum can be used in a similar way.

[Note from Joanna: Here's an article about using tarot to access creativity, and here's my podcast interview with Caroline Donahue about tarot and creativity.]

Personally, I own two pendulums and use my favorite rose quartz pendulum daily to inform my creative writing, as well as to help guide me on other life matters. When using this tool to aid with my craft, I will generally consult on character elements and actions, and story structure and plotting. For example:

My Muse is off in Tokyo and I’m stuck with a rebellious character facing a critical best-bad choice. I’m coming up with blanks. I might be in two minds about which way the story needs to unfold. I may even be reeling from the beats not making sense to me (even though I wrote them), and my thoughts are spinning – am I still in alignment with my story theme? Is this what my character would choose to do/say in this scene? Would she actually react that way?

You get the drift. This is the moment that I’m feeling somewhat confused with the progression of my story – you know, that part of the story where you feel as if you are losing sight of the global story?

Enter the pendulum:

• Once you have your pendulum, it is a good idea to start by fusing your energy with the instrument. You do this by holding your pendulum in your palm and connecting with its natural-based energy.
• The next step is to introduce yourself to your pendulum. This might sound silly, but for you to get the most from your pendulum, you will need to get to know each other – intimately.
• Hold your suspended pendulum between your thumb and index finger with your dominant hand and proceed with your introduction. You can then begin with the basics and ask your pendulum to show you its responses. You’re going to need to know the appropriate swinging actions for “yes”, “no” and “uncertain” if you are to elicit information from your instrument.
• Ask for clarity and that your answers be given for your highest good.
• Take a breath and go ahead – ask your pendulum if your character would rather use a sword or a blunt object to slay her enemies! Or if your story is still on the right track.
• Love your pendulum. Accessing the higher realms is a gift. Always demonstrate gratitude for your pendulum and acknowledge these divine pathways your tool provides.
• The more familiar you become with your pendulum, the more accurate the information will flow through to you. In time, you will learn to trust its creative influence on your work and treasure the guidance and inspiration this tool can offer to your vision.
• Have fun! Honor your connection to the higher creative realms, but don’t forget that your higher-self connecting you to the unseen dimensions does not take life as seriously as you do. So, get laughing as you access your higher-creative mind.

The pendulum itself is only a tool. Dowsers believe that they are contacting their higher-self, which is the part of ourselves that connects us to the universal consciousness, therefore has access to all information, including creative energy.

Using your pendulum to access your higher-creative mind and explore your ideas can be fun and informative, and is a great tool to use to connect with the higher realms, but like any other divination tool, it is important to remember that it should be used respectfully and for the right purposes.

Creative energy expressed through art has the power to transcend and shape lives. It is through accessing the mystical chords of the higher realms that we able to harness our unique higher-creative minds and share our gift with the world.

It’s like giving wings to your dream and watching it fly.

What do you do to access your creativity when you're feeling blocked? Please leave your thoughts below and join the conversation.

Kim Petersen is an award-winning and USA Today Bestselling Author, Kim’s latest book, Creative Writing Energy: Tools to Access Your Higher-Creative Mind is the first in a series of books developed to help creatives discover and nurture their natural imaginative resources.

Visit Whispering Ink Press for more information on how you can stay connected to higher-creative self.