191. Writing Constraints: The Fast Creativity Reset

“For me, writing fiction is a place of play. 

So, yeah, that Aha came to me recently and I thought, okay, I need to dedicate myself to just playing with fiction for the next few days or the next few weeks, not taking everything so seriously. 

Just have some more fun.”

How do you get unstuck in your writing? 

How can you make the process more fun? 

These are a couple of the questions How To Write the Future host, Beth Barany ask you in this episode titled “Writing Constraints: The Fast Creativity Reset” where she describes overcoming a creative slump using writing prompts to rediscover the joy of writing. 

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• SHOW PRODUCTION BY Beth Barany
• SHOW CO-PRODUCTION + NOTES by Kerry-Ann McDade
• EDITORIAL SUPPORT by Iman Llompart

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https://bethbarany.com/

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Transcript

191. Writing Constraints: The Fast Creativity Reset

Introduction: Overcoming a Creative Slump

BETH BARANY: Lately I have been in a creative slump. I'm not sure if it's because it's been winter here in Northern California or family things or who knows what, but it recently unlocked when a fellow writing teacher who I was hosting in my writing community, Bailey Lang, offered a fabulous little writing prompt during her Habits of Mind workshop.

[00:29] The Power of Constraints in Writing

What was so great about this prompt is it had constraints. Constraints are such a great thing to do to help you focus. What do I mean by constraints? It means, she gave us a prompt that had requirements that we had to include and therefore other things had to be excluded. 

[00:49] Crafting a Unique Writing Prompt

What I loved about this prompt is it included all the best ingredients.

She said, have a strong point of view character, could be yourself. She gave us a setting. In this case it was a busy diner, so that means, it implies there's other people around. And then thirdly, she said, only use one of the main senses to describe what's going on. That's all, whether it's sight, smell, sound, hearing, touch.

[01:15] Exploring Character and Setting

So I chose touch. And I know from my teachings and experience that touch, well, is more than just that. It's all the body senses. So I made it kinesthetic and we had like five, ten minutes for this free write. So I sat down and I worked on this free write, and I surprised myself, which was really great.

My protagonist turned out to be somebody that I often, I like to write about women who are, petty thieves who survive. And I've seen this motif many times and other stories and I really like it. This trope-- trope and motif to me mean the same thing. Motif comes from folklore. Trope is often used in fiction writing.

And then I just started writing, kept writing. I tried to use the constraint of writing her experience through her physicality, which is something I already love to do, but proved challenging. And then I came up with a little romantic backstory. And that surprised me. I don't write romance these days.

I write fantasy. I write sci-fi mysteries. I have written romance and I probably will, and I include romance in my work. And it popped out hinting at being a romantasy type story. 

[02:28] Rediscovering the Joy of Writing

And I don't wanna say anything else about the story, but what was really fabulous about this, is it reminded me how much I need to play with my fiction. 

I've been so serious with this novel. I'm revising the fifth book in my Janey McCallister Space Station Mystery series. I'm also working on a script for my Henrietta The Dragon Slayer Project, which is like a lot 'cause I'm learning how to write a feature length script.

Both these projects are really serious to me. They have a lot of weight, they have a lot of history. I need to turn out something that feels just as good and better than what came before. That's a lot of pressure. That's a lot of pressure, and it was getting me down.

And I, I, I have confidence I can figure out the problems I'm having with those stories, but I also need to play. 

Fiction for me, writing fiction is a place of play.

So, yeah, that Aha came to me recently and I thought, okay, I need to dedicate myself to just playing with fiction for the next few days or the next few weeks, not taking everything so seriously.

Just have some more fun. 

[03:38] Invitation to Play with Fiction

So this is my invitation to you. If you are stuck in your writing, how can you make the process more fun? Do you need a palette cleanser? Do you need to go and put your creative energy into some creative projects that are completely different and so playful for you? 

So for me, playful with fiction writing-- I might continue this prompt. I might play with other prompts. I don't know. I might use cards. I love the Mythulu deck for this. Some writers like to pull tarot cards or other cards like it, other, what's the word? I'm spacing on the word right now. 

[04:15] Encouragement and Resources

So yeah, I wanna encourage you to find a way to make your writing playful and even make the process playful, like having someone else give you a writing prompt.

So if you need help with writing prompts, let me know. I have written a little ebook on that. In fact, I'll put that ebook link in the chat so you could grab the writing prompts book.

And also I just wanna encourage you to be playful. What does playful look like for you? It's not gonna look necessarily the same as it does for me.

[04:50] Conclusion

So that is this week's episode on How to Write the Future. I'm Beth Barany. Write long and prosper, and that's a wrap.