3 Unusual Ways To Improve Creativity As A Writer

Over the last 3 years, I’ve written 200,000+ words on the internet.

The goal is to write daily even when I’m old and retired. It clears my mind, helps me have something worthwhile to do, and a great way to make extra money. 

But I have to say -- writing is not for the faint of heart.

It’s hard to come up with ideas on what to write about. I used to travel a lot before the pandemic and liked writing about my experiences.

But in the last few years, I focused more on building discipline.

And building discipline requires you to do monotonous tasks every day. I have a simple routine:

• Wake up

• Drink coffee

• Deep work session

• Shower and get ready

• Go to work

• Work out at the gym

• Take my night shower

• Journal/read

• Sleep

Of course, the fun and exciting things happen between this boring routine.

These could be:

• Conversations with coworkers

• New learnings from a book I'm reading

• Or meeting new people during the day

Needless to say, without much reflection, there is nothing worthwhile to say. It feels like my ideas suck. I don't want to write about the same topic over and over again. 

My articles all sound similar or follow the same structure. 

I’ve read 10+ writing books and took up 5 writing courses to help me write better articles.

After trying the tips I’ve learned, here are the ways I find most effective :

Getting lost in my thoughts during a long walk

At first, it was hard to incorporate walking into my daily routine because of my busy schedule.

My job takes up most of my time. I don’t want to sacrifice my writing time (before work) and gym time (after work). So I try to walk during my 15-minute breaks at work, and one hour on the days I'm off.

When walking, I try not to do anything - no music, no podcasts, no phone checking. It’s just me and my thoughts. I try to feel my feet against the ground with each step I take. I feel the sensations of my breath going in and out of my nose. I feel the wind brush against my face or or the warmth of the sun. I listen to the sound of birds, cars passing by, and the sound of leaves. 

Eventually, thoughts start to come by.

I watch them carefully but resist the temptation to write them down on my phone. I simply let them come and go. Sometimes they might seem too crazy, sometimes they may be something I’ve been thinking about.

When I come home, I rush to write down everything I thought about. I make sure to document the raw thoughts and not worry whether they make for good articles or not.

This becomes my ideation process and lets me have things to write about for the whole week.

Releasing all my thoughts at night before bed.

I learned this one from Dickie Bush.

Every night, he would set a 3-minute timer to brain dump on a topic he wants to write about for the next day. That way, he would “marinate” them overnight.

Click link below if you want to read his thread:

This seems like a woo-woo for some. But it started to make sense to me after reading resources on how the subconscious mind works 24/7. Whether you are awake or sleeping, your subconscious minds keep solving problems.

This is the reason why you’ll sometimes have the answers or solutions to your problems out of nowhere:

• When you wake up in the morning

• During a shower

• Or while on a walk

Your goal is to let your subconscious mind do the work. Stop exerting conscious effort because creativity will not come to you that way.

Everyone has access to the power of the subconscious mind. The problem is not everyone puts enough practice to tap into it.

That’s another topic to dive into.

For now, it’s enough to know that preparing the night before will help you write in the morning with ease.

There are a lot of times when I write something in the morning so fast. When I read something I have published, I have no idea how I wrote it. That’s because I didn’t - my subconscious mind did.

My goal is to keep experiencing this over and over again. 

Copy your favorite author's work.

This habit might be a little weird and time-consuming but I’ve seen a lot of great writers talk about it:

Copy (word for word) an article or book from another writer.

It’s been hard to find time to do this but you don’t have to do it all in one sitting. Usually on Sundays, I’ll find at least 30 minutes to copy a chapter or a few paragraphs from my favorite author.

When I do this, I become insanely aware of the tone of voice

I become so conscious of the way he structures the article:

• Where the problem lies

• How to agitate the reader

• Where the solution comes into play

• And a lot more.

I start to come up with a new personality (mixing my own and the author's) for my next articles

Aside from this, it’s oddly satisfying to just write with a pen and paper. (Although I use my iPad and Apple pencil which gives almost the same feeling).

Yes, writing requires a lot of time and effort -- but it's a lifestyle.

It's a game worth playing.

Want to start a 30-Day Writing Challenge with other beginners?

Click this link to join.

Have a blessed Sunday, my friends!