This post, by Karen Swim, originally appeared as a guest post on the Confident Writing site on 5/15/09.
Whether you write as part of your profession, or as a hobby there may come a time when your writing feels flat and lifeless.
You put the words on the page and they seem dead on arrival.
You are all out of ideas and procrastinating because you are bored and certain your readers will be too. For those “must do” writing tasks, you may get it done and the mechanics are all there but the magic is decidedly missing.
Don’t worry, you can rescue your writing from the valley of dry bones with these 5 tips guaranteed to breathe new life into your writing.
1. Adopt the tone of a character from a novel, television or even your own family (we all have “characters” in our family).
I love writing following a Grey’s Anatomy episode. The writing has a fast pace and upbeat rhythm. That rhythm extends to the writers blog, which is updated weekly by the lead writer of the episode.
I mirror their lead and write “in character” following an episode. The technique allows me to uncover a lighter tone, stretch my writing muscles in a different way, and inject my business writing with new life.
2. The mind is a wondrous thing, and engaging another part of the brain seems to allow just enough breathing room to unlock your creativity.
If you have to write a report, write a haiku instead.
Try writing the opposite of what you need to do or challenge your brain with a non-writing task such as a computer game, or puzzle.
Even 15 minutes of a different activity can be just enough to allow your mind to shift and release a fresh perspective.
Read the rest of the post, including tips 3 – 5, at Confident Writing.